NYS Music 202​1

Tag: sweeney todd

  • Opera Saratoga Announces A New Festival Model for Large Scale Summer Performances in 2022

    Opera Saratoga has announced a new festival model for large scale summer performances in 2022. The season will include big performances of the Barber of Seville, Petite Messe Solennelle, Sky on Swings, Sweeney Todd, and many more. 

    Opera Saratoga Summer 2022

    The performances will take place across June and July across multiple venues throughout the region. Opera Saratoga summer season plans on embracing partnerships with the Proctors in Schenectady; The Egg in Albany; Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs; The Round Lake Auditorium in Round Lake Village; The Barn at French Mountain in Lake George Village; and The Mansion Inn in Rock City Falls.

    Opera Saratoga’s Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson spoke on the new season model saying,

    We began asking, with so many remarkable theaters in our region, might we be able to better serve our mission by reconceiving our Summer Festival in a way that doesn’t limit us to a single venue? While we remain committed to producing in Saratoga Springs, as the opera company of the Capital Region, our goal is to provide access to our Summer Festival programming in the same way we are able to do with our year-round programs. We are incredibly excited by the opportunities of this expanded Festival model, and grateful for the opportunity to partner with so many like-minded organizations across the region to make it possible.

    Lawrence Edelson

    The summer season will start with Petite Messe Solennelle on June 2 and June 3 at 7:30PM. The show will be presented by Opera Saratoga in partnership with The Round Lake Auditorium featuring music by Gioachino Rossini. The season will wrap up with The Barber of Seville – IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA on JULY 8 at 7:30PM and JULY 10 at  2PM. The show will be produced by Opera Saratoga in Partnership with Proctors featuring music by Gioachino Rossin.

    Tickets for the 2022 Summer Festival will be available through Festival Passes and Single Tickets. Festival Passes, which provide a 20% discount on single ticket prices and priority seating for all productions and events, will be available beginning February 1, 2022. Single Tickets will go on sale March 15, 2022.  Audience members will be required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for all performances, and masks will be required based on prevailing conditions at the time of the Festival. All policies may be adjusted in response to changing conditions, and based on the specific requirements of each venue. 

    For more information on the Opera Saratoga’s new festival model visit their website.

    The full lineup for Opera Saratoga Summer 2022 is listed below: 

    PETITE MESSE SOLENNELLE

    June 2 and June 3 @ 7:30pm

    Presented by Opera Saratoga in partnership with The Round Lake Auditorium

    Music by Gioachino Rossini

    A BROADWAY CABARET

    June 12 @ 2pm and 7pm

    Presented by Opera Saratoga in partnership with The Mansion Inn

    A JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION WITH SIDNEY OUTLAW

    JUNE 19 @ 2:30pm

    Produced by Opera Saratoga in Partnership with Proctors

    SWEENEY TODD – THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET A MUSICAL THRILLER

    JUNE 29 and JUNE 30 @ 7:30pm

    Produced by Opera Saratoga in Partnership with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center

    Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

    SKY ON SWINGS

    JULY 7 @ 7:30pm and JULY 9 @ 2pm

    Produced by Opera Saratoga in Partnership with The Egg

    Music by Lembit Beecher

    THE BARBER OF SEVILLE – IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA

    JULY 8 @ 7:30pm and JULY 10 @ 2pm

    Produced by Opera Saratoga in Partnership with Proctors

    Music by Gioachino Rossini

  • Stephen Sondheim, Legendary Broadway Composer, Dead At 91

    Stephen Sondheim, one of the most iconic figures in musical theatre history, has died in his home at the age of 91. Lawyer and friend F. Richard Pappas confirmed his passing to the New York Times on Friday, November 26. Sondheim was both a composer and lyricist for Broadway plays including Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods, and also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy.

    Stephen Sondheim
    Stephen Sondheim | CREDIT: DOUGLAS ELBINGER/GETTY IMAGES

    Sondheim won many awards throughout his career, including nine Tonys, eight Grammys, an Oscar and a Pulitzer Prize. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama. For his 90th birthday in 2020, a virtual concert titled Take Me to the World streamed on the Broadway.com YouTube channel in his honor. The title song comes from Evening Primrose, a musical film Sondheim wrote the lyrics and music for in 1966.

    As a composer and lyricist, Sondheim was in a league of his own. Most major composers don’t write the lyrics to their scores, and vice versa; others on the list include Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Jerry Herman and Noël Coward. While many of Sondheim’s plays have gone down in theatre history, they were often more successful critically than commercially. They had a reputation for being dark, serious and experimental, a sharp contrast to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Disney’s later crowd-pleasers.

    Several of Sondheim’s plays have received Hollywood film adaptations, with the most recent one, a West Side Story remake helmed by Steven Spielberg, out this December. His 1970 musical Company is also returning to Broadway in December. It was set to open on Sondheim’s 90th birthday in March 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before his passing, Sondheim was able to attend the November 15 preview.

    Many actors and musicians have paid their respects on social media, sharing stories of how Sondheim’s work has inspired them. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who previously worked with Sondheim, compared him to William Shakespeare: