Opera Surprise
Expect some showboating in upcoming Dallas Opera season
The Dallas Opera has announced the lineup for its 2015-2016 season, one that will feature five productions, including two world premieres and, for the first time in TDO history, a musical theater selection.
Additionally, TDO revealed plans for its 10th free public simulcast, as it will once again take over AT&T Stadium for a performance of La Bohème on Saturday, March 21. Over the past four years, more than 50,000 people have attended Dallas Opera simulcasts at various locations.
The 2015-2016 season, collectively titled “Seeking the Human Element,” will kick off with the world premiere of Great Scott by Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally.
The opera, which will star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, follows a famous opera star who returns to her hometown to try to save the opera company that started her career, only to find challenges in an up-and-coming singer and excitement over the local football team. The opera will run October 30-November 15.
It will run in repertory with Tosca, running November 6-22. The classic by Giacomo Puccini has the titular Tosca and her beloved painter, Cavaradossi, trying to protect their love from the tests and tortures of Baron Scarpia.
The opera then will present a rare holiday production, which also happens to be a world premiere: Becoming Santa Claus by Mark Adamo, who was tapped by TDO late in 2013 to create the new opera. The family-friendly production will follow a 13-year-old Claus as he discovers that material possessions are not all that life is about. It will run December 4-12.
The season’s fourth production, Manon by Sir David McVicar, is a timeless tale of young love and the sacrifices necessary to sustaining it. It will run March 4-12, 2016.
The final show will be a reinterpretation of the classical musical theater staple, Show Boat. Running April 15-May 1, 2016, the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II masterpiece, set on the Mississippi River, features such well-known songs as “Make Believe,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Ol’ Man River.”
If history is any indication, expect Show Boat to be given the simulcast treatment at some point during its run.
All productions will take place at Winspear Opera House. Those who have previously subscribed to the Dallas Opera can renew their subscriptions now online, while new subscribers can have their chance starting in April. Single tickets will go on sale in July, with tickets starting at $19.