Opera Theater of Pittsburgh

Mildred Miller Posvar, founder

Beggar's Holiday

Brundibar

Die Fledermaus

Porgy & Bess

Djamileh

Gianni Schicchi

Prima La Musica

Opera Theater of Pittsburgh is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Pittsburgh Opera. Opera Theater of Pittsburgh performs at the Byham Theater and at non-traditional venues around the city.

Opera Theater of Pittsburgh (OTP) was established in 1978 by the noted opera star Mildred Miller Posvar and Helen Knox. Its current artistic director, Johnathan Eaton, joined the company in 1999.

As of 2012, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh will be reformed as a summer opera festival lasting three weeks from June 22 - July 8, 2012 at the Hillman Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Shady Side Academy in Fox Chapel. The festival will present staged operas, recitals, and cabaret.^[1]

Activities

Recent initiatives have included a Fusion Festival of American-Asian works at the Andy Warhol Museum which included the world premiere of RedDust, a multi-media opera by Mathew Rosenblum and The Sound of a Voice by Philip Glass and David Henry Hwang. Other major initiatives have included the Pittsburgh Ring, two complete cycles of Wagner’s great operas in collaboration with Long Beach Opera using Jonathan Dove’s reorchestration. Recent American operas include Just Above My Head, a world premiere jazzopera by Pittsburgher Nathan Davis. Operatic versions of classics American plays have included Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke, William Bolcom's A View From the Bridge and Regina, an operatic version of The Little Foxes by Marc Blitzstein.

Aside from forays in the traditional repertory, OTP has sought to present a number of modern masterpieces which are not regularly included on standard programs: Lost in the Stars, The Emperor of Atlantis, Bluebeard's Catle, Brundibar, Der Jasager, and the English language premiere of Weill's Die Bürgschaft.

Most recently it has initiated a "Salon Series" devoted to shorter works performed in unusual spaces, such as Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, performed in a church converted into an art gallery; Bizet's Djamileh, presented in a Persian Carpet Emporium; Thomas Pasatieri's La Divina, and Salieri's Prima la Musica, e Poi le Parole, performed in Pittsburgh's own version of the Petit Trianon Palace.

Jonathan Eaton, Opera Theater’s current General and Artistic director, joined the company in 1999. An internationally renowned stage director^{[citation needed]}, Eaton continues Opera Theater’s mission.

The Millie Awards

Opera Theater annually celebrates The Millie Awards in honor of its founder, Mildred Miller Posvar. Their purpose is to reflect several diverse aspects of her distinguished career - singing, acting, community service and education. The "Millies," as they are affectionately called, recognize and show appreciation for high accomplishments in the performing arts, honoring those individuals whose support has been instrumental in the success of Opera Theater.

Community Outreach

Opera Theater's educational outreach is of primary importance. Working directly with schools as well as in partnership with such educational groups as Gateway to the Arts, OTP has taken opera to more than 500,000 school children. In addition, it actively seeks opportunities to include students in productions, exceeding state standards for direct arts experiences and creating partnerships with the communities and the families for which it performs.

Record of Repertory

^[2] 2010-2011

Euridice and Orpheus by Ricky Gordon - June 9-11, 2011

The Gospel at Colonus by Bob Telson - March 25-27, 2011

Orpheus and Euridice by Gluck - November 5-7, 2010

2009-2010

Beautiful Dreamers by Martin Giles - April 15-May 1, 2010

Love Spell (L'incantesimo) by Italo Montemezzi - February 12–14, 2010

Beggar's Holiday by Dale Wasserman - December 18–20, 2009

Brundibar music by Hans Krasa, designed by Maurice Sendak - November 6–8, 2009

2008-2009

Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini - April 24–25, 2009

Prima la Musica, e Poi le Parole by Antonio Salieri - March 24–25, 2009

Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin - February 14–15, 2009

Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss - December 27–28, 2008

La Divina by Thomas Pasatieri - November 2, 2008

Djamileh by Georges Bizet - October 3–4, 2008

2007-2008

Lost in the Stars by Kurt Weill - February 12–14, 2008

Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, December 27–30, 2007

The Impresario by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, November 11, 2007

The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - September 25, 28-30, 2007

2006-2007

Fusion Festival - The Sound of a Voice by Philip Glass and Red Dust by Mathew Rosenblum - April 26–29, 2007

Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- collaboration with Pittsburgh Opera - March 24, 27, 30, and April 1, 2007

Carmen Jones by Georges Bizet and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein - November 17–18, 2006

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti - December 14–17, 2006

2005-2006

The Ring (Rhinegold, The Valkyrie, Siegfried, Twilight of the Gods) by Richard Wagner - July 14–16 and 21-23, 2006

Noye's Fludde by Benjamin Britten and The Jackleg Testament by Jay Bolotin - March 2–5, 2006

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti - December 14–18, 2005

2004-2005

The Ring (Rhinegold and The Valkyrie) by Richard Wagner with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra - July 15–17, 2005

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti - December 8–12, 2004

The Soldier's Tale by Igor Stravinsky with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra- November 5–7, 2004 with Pittsburgh Symphony

A View from the Bridge by William Bolcom, based on the play by Arthur Miller - September 16–26, 2004

2003-2004

Summer and Smoke by Lee Hoiby, based on a play by Tennessee Williams - September 26 - October 5, 2003

Talking with Tennessee devised and directed by Jonathan Eaton - September 25 - October 5, 2003

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti - December 7–13, 2003

Jazzopera: Just Above My Head by Nathan Davis, based on a novel by James Baldwin - June 9–13, 2004

2002-2003

25th Anniversary Celebration, Gala Concert of American Opera - April 27, 2003

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti- December 12–15, 2002

The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - November 22–23, 2002

2001-2002

Bluebeard's Castle by Bela Bartok - April 26 & 28, 2002

The Emperor of Atlantis by Viktor Ullman - April 6–7, 2002

Brundibar by Hans Krása - March 7, 2002

Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti - December 13–16, 2001

2000-2001

Madrigals of Love and War by Claudio Monteverdi - November 4–5, 2000

Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck

Amahl and Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti - December 14–17, 2000

The Cunning Vixen by Leon Janáček

Limbus - a mechanical opera by Jay Bolotin - March 27–31, 2001

1999-2000

Die Bürgschaft (The Bond) by Kurt Weill - May 25–28, 2000

Songplay by Kurt Weill/Jonathan Eaton - April 26 - May 7, 2000

Weill We're At It by Kurt Weill - collaboration with River City Brass - April 22, 2000

Nogaku-za in Taniko (The Valley Rite) attributed Komparu Zenchiku - April 10, 2000

Der Jasager (The Consenter) by Kurt Weill - April 10, 2000

1998-1999

Susannah by Carlisle Floyd - March 27 & 29, 1998

Candide by Leonard Bernstein - April 16 & 18, 1999

1997-1998

The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – April, 1997

1996-1997

The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - April 16, 1997

The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore

1995-1996

The Bartered Bride by Bedrich Smetana - March 28 & 30, 1996

1994-1995

La Cendrillon by Jules Massenet - May 18 & 20, 1995

Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini - March 22 & 25, 1995

1993-1994

Julius Caesar in Egypt by Georg Frederick Handel - March 3 & 5, 1994

1992-1993

Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini - April 15, 1993

1991-1992

The Crucible by Robert Ward - November 23, 1991

1990-1991

The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti - May 19, 1991

The Abduction from the Seraglio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - January 20, 1991

The Tender Land by Aaron Copland - November 1990

1989-1990

Orpheus and Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck - May 1 & 3, 1990

Regina by Marc Blitzstein - January 18, 1990

Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - November 19, 1989

The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - April 3, 1989

1988-1989

The Triumph of Honor by Alessandro Scarlatti - January 22, 1989

Carmen by Georges Bizet - Summer 1989

Tartuffe by Kirke Meacham - November 20 & 22, 1998

1988

The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, August 27, 1988 at Hartwood Acres

Carmen by Georges Bizet

1987

Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck, May 2, 1987

1986

La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini

1985

Hansel and Gretel by Englebert Humperdinck

Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini

1984

The Brute by Lawrence Moss and A Full Moon in March by John Harbison - May 24, 1984

1982

The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Hansel and Gretel by Englebert Humperdinck, November 29, 1982 with Pittsburgh Symphony

The Music Master by Giovanni Pergolesi, and Combatimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Monteverdi, July 12, 1982

1981

The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, November 14, 1981 with the Greenville Symphony (Touring Production)

1979

La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini (dress rehearsal), June 1978

1978

The Telephone by Gian Carlo Menotti and La serva padrona by Giovanni Pergolesi

References

1. ^ http://blogs.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/arts-a-entertainment/classical-musings/28881-opera-theater-to-be-a-summer-festival
2. ^ www.operatheaterpittsburgh.org