Robert Innes Hopkins News

San Francisco Opera inaugurates its 99th season and first under the baton of Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim, with five performances of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, August 21–September 5.

San Francisco Opera announced today repertory, casting and reopening plans for its 99th season. Commencing with a performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca on Saturday, August 21, the 2021–22 Season marks the inauguration of Eun Sun Kim’s tenure as Caroline H. Hume Music Director and a reemergence of opera at the War Memorial Opera House.

In celebration of Valentine's Day, on Saturday, February 13, at 5:00 P.M. PST, Russell Thomas, Los Angeles Opera’s new Artist in Residence, welcomes Ashley Faatoalia, Tiffany Townsend, Alaysha Fox and pianist Leonard Hayes to the On Now digital stage for the first episode in its After Hours series, 'Black Love.” Enjoy sweet renditions of works by composers such as H.T. Burleigh, Undine Smith Moore, and Margaret Bonds.

San Francisco Opera’s weekly, free opera streams continue in February with Wagner’s Lohengrin (February 6–7), Mozart’s Così fan tutte (February 13–14), Puccini’s La Rondine (February 20–21) and Verdi’s Falstaff (February 27–28).

The tragedy of warrior-maiden Brünnhilde and her beloved hero Siegfried unfolds amidst the utter greed and evil machinations of revenge-driven Alberich and his malevolent son Hagen. Love triumphs as one world ends and a new one begins bringing Wagner's magnificent Ring cycle full circle.

 A four-opera saga that unfolds over the course of a single week. Three weeklong cycles to be presented at Lyric in a thrilling new production that has earned rave reviews and attracted audience members from every corner of the planet. One magical lump of gold that leads to the end of one world and the beginning of another. In opera's most monumental undertaking, characters inspired by Norse mythology battle over power and love, violate sacred oaths, and make unimaginable sacrifices a?" all set to Richard Wagner's brilliant, glorious music. The word 'epic' is often overused, but it truly applies to the Olympian achievement that is The Ring of the Nibelung.

Tickets for Lyric Opera of Chicago's enthralling new production of Richard Wagner's epic Der Ring des Nibelungen are now on sale. 

Edmond Rostand is a broke poet who's going through a seemingly endless writer's block. His plays are critical flops, his investors don't have any more patience nor money to waste on him, and his wife needs him to provide for their family. In an attempt to help his actor friend Leon charm young Jeanne, he starts penning letters under his name, getting more and more involved in the pretense and kicking off the idea for his 1897 masterpiece Cyrano de Bergerac.

Edmond de Bergerac, Alexis Michalik's hilarious comedy and French theatre phenomenon, will have its UK premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 15 30 March with a star cast led by Freddie Fox as Edmond Rostand, alongside Henry Goodman as Constant Coquelin, Josie Lawrence as Sarah Bernhardt and Chizzy Akudolu as Maria.

Edmond de Bergerac, Alexis Michalik's hilarious comedy and French theatre phenomenon, will have its UK premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 15 30 March with a star cast led by Freddie Fox as Edmond Rostand, alongside Henry Goodman as Constant Coquelin, Josie Lawrence as Sarah Bernhardt and Chizzy Akudolu as Maria.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's Don Quixote must end its strictly limited 14-week engagement at the Garrick Theatre on 2 February 2019. The critically-acclaimed production originally premiered at the RSC's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in spring 2016 and transferred to the West End on 27 October.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's Don Quixote must end its strictly limited 14-week engagement at the Garrick Theatre on 2 February 2019. The critically-acclaimed production originally premiered at the RSC's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in spring 2016 and transferred to the West End on 27 October.

Join the fearless young Siegfried on his adventure-filled journey to manhood (and discovery of love) over the course of this playful, musically magnificent opera. This is the third part of Richard Wagner's epic four-part Ring of the Nibelung cycle, of which each opera is a feast on its own. No prior Ring experience is necessary.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at San Francisco Opera's new production of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, with a cast led by Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio in her Company and role debuts as Tosca, tenor Brian Jagde as Cavaradossi and baritone Scott Hendricks as Baron Scarpia with conductor Leo Hussain leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in his first performances with the Company. Puccini's monumental work, which has a distinguished history at San Francisco Opera, will be staged by American director Shawna Lucey with new sets and costumes designed by Robert Innes Hopkins and built entirely in San Francisco Opera's scenic and costume shops. Check out photos below!

San Francisco Opera unveils a new production of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca on Wednesday, October 3, with a cast led by Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio in her Company and role debuts as Tosca, tenor Brian Jagde as Cavaradossi and baritone Scott Hendricks as Baron Scarpia with conductor Leo Hussain leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in his first performances with the Company. Puccini's monumental work, which has a distinguished history at San Francisco Opera, will be staged by American director Shawna Lucey with new sets and costumes designed by Robert Innes Hopkins and built entirely in San Francisco Opera's scenic and costume shops.

San Francisco Opera unveils a new production of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca on Wednesday, October 3, with a cast led by Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio in her Company and role debuts as Tosca, tenor Brian Jagde as Cavaradossi and baritone Scott Hendricks as Baron Scarpia with conductor Leo Hussain leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in his first performances with the Company. Puccini's monumental work, which has a distinguished history at San Francisco Opera, will be staged by American director Shawna Lucey with new sets and costumes designed by Robert Innes Hopkins and built entirely in San Francisco Opera's scenic and costume shops.

Full casting is announced today for the Royal Shakespeare Company's Don Quixote, which originally premiered at the RSC's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in spring 2016. The production will play at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End from 27 October 2018 to 2 February 2019.

San Francisco Opera announces updated casting for its 96th Season, which opens Friday, September 7, with the double bill of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and two galas, Opera Ball 2018: ¡Viva La Noche! and the BRAVO! CLUB Opening Night Gala. The 2018-19 Season features eight productions that are new to the War Memorial Opera House stage, including a new staging of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca and the West Coast premiere of Jake Heggie's It's a Wonderful Life. Highlights also include Placido Domingo in Concert on October 21 and a roster of returning artists, debuting soloists and conductors.

It is announced today that the Royal Shakespeare Company's Don Quixote, which originally premiered at the RSC's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in spring 2016, will transfer to the Garrick Theatre in London's West End from 27 October 2018 to 2 February 2019.

At the Deutsche Oper Berlin on Saturday night, David Pountney, director of CAV/PAG saddled these beloved works with a concept so profound in its stupidity that it was often mind-blowing and jaw-dropping in its inanity. If there is a special club in Hell exclusively for bad stage directors, Mr. Pountney has earned a lifetime membership.