Molly Korroch

The new opera Florida with music by Randall Eng and libretto by Donna Di Novelli, premiered last week at Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street. With its heavy handed melodrama and awkwardly balanced narrative, Sunday's matinee plodded along (well over Urban Arias' usual 90-minute-or-less promise) before concluding rather lukewarmly. This said, the production was not without its merits.

While not entirely rare for a single family to possess multiple musical talents, it's certainly unusual to see two people from the same family as leads in the same performance. Washington Concert Opera's Sunday evening performance of Maria di Rohan was such an anomaly: an opera featuring sisters. Maria di Rohan is a seldom-seen Donizetti gem that bridges the gap between Donizetti's contemporary on the Bel canto scene, Rossini, and the earlier vocal works of Verdi.

Composers and librettists were the stars Saturday night at The Kennedy Center's triple world premiere. For six years, the American Opera Initiative Festival (AOI) has selected three composer-librettist teams to create their own 20-minute operas under the guidance of a seasoned composer and librettist. This year, the teams worked with Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, who won a Pulitzer prize for their opera 'Silent Night' in 2011. The teams produced what Festival Director Robert Ainsley called, 'A snapshot of the contemporary American music scene.' It's an opportunity for creators and audiences alike to explore what is possible in opera today.

It can be difficult to write a review without some sort of spoiler. With 'The State' it's nearly impossible, but I'm going to try. This is a show where, for better or worse, what's being said takes a back seat to how it is being said. Alexander Manuiloff's experimental concept 'The State' is part of politically charged Forum Theatre's fourteenth season.

Washington Concert Opera brings a nicely performed La Straniera to Lisner Auditorium nearly two hundred years after its premiere at La Scala Milan. Vincenzo Bellini's first Milanese success took place in 1827 in the form of Il pirata. Two years later, he stood in a shadow of his own making. He needed to compose an opera that was not only could meet the success of Il Pirata, but also surpass it. He met this challenge with La Straniera, which reviewers and contemporaries of the time proclaimed a glittering success. Despite this, La Straniera is rarely performed in the United States.

'It looks like they forgot to clean up from the last performance!' joked a man in the audience. It's true. The stage at the Dance Loft on 14 looks like the remnants of a bad garage sale. It's littered with cardboard boxes and paper scraps, an old table and chairs, and a huge heap of empty Fanta cans spills from a metal garbage can.

Alcina showcases all the best aspects of Handel's skill without getting bogged down by melismatic asides. Every aria has a purpose. Every word moves the plot forward or gives depth to the characters. Indeed, the show moves briskly. (The 'approximately three hour' run time is a bit of an overstatement.)

Composer Daron Hagen and librettist Paul Muldoon's opera is a musical homage to architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The production by Urban Arias at Atlas Performing Arts Center is a delight. World class singers deliver a larger than life story and an historical tragedy few have ever heard of.

Creative Cauldron in Falls Church, VA is dedicating their season to women and their unique stories. The season's current nod to its dedication is The Mistress Cycle. Appropriately, two women wrote the book and music: Beth Blatt and Jenny Giering. At its core, The Mistress Cycle is a show by women for women.

Queenie and Burrs are the story of a once steamy love gone stale. Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party tells their story as they lash out in manipulation and jealousy. Directed by Allison Arkell Stockman, The Constellation Theatre's production opened on September 21. Told against the backdrop of a seedy New York City apartment in the 1920's, this musical is good dirty fun. As all musical theatre fans know, nothing is sexier than the sound of a muted trumpet in low lighting.

History and theatre buffs alike will love Clover, a new full-length play by Laura Rocklyn and Ty Hallmark. Rocklyn stars as Marian Hooper Adams-called 'Clover' by friends and family.