Displaying items by tag: Lyric Opera of Chicago

Going into “La Bohème” with little knowledge of Puccini’s masterpiece, I was just a naive theater-goer seeing it fresh at its opening Saturday night at Chicago’s Lyric. It is beautifully directed by Melanie Bacaling - striking massive two-story sets and colorful, ever varying crowd scenes. Especially intriguing to me are scenes where we see anonymous action through the muslin curtained windows of shops and apartments, imparting vividly a sense of life in every nook and cranny of the stage.

And all this action atop the magnificent and perfectly polished Lyric Opera Orchestra (conducted by Jordan de Souza), and a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, that in supratitles projected above the stage renders the original Italian in fresh and very funny English.

Set in wintry Paris in 1888 - the Eiffel Tower is under construction in the backdrop - its plot centers on the love story between the poet Rodolfo (tenor Pene Pati) and seamstress Mimi (soprano Ailyn Pérez), both poor and she suffering from consumption (tuberculosis in modern parlance).

Rodolfo falls immediately for Mimi. And as Ailyn Pérez sings Mimi’s role, I found myself skipping the translation.This transcendentally wonderful soprano, expressing in synchrony with Puccini’s lush score, articulates what is in her heart and mind - no words required - that she has fallen for Rodolfo hard and quickly. Through four acts we see them fall in together, live happily, separate when Rodolfo realizes he is too poor to sustain Mimi, then reunite as she faces her final hours.

But I saw it also the story of two struggling artists - Rodolfo, and his roommate painter Marcello (baritone Will Liverman) living through winter in an underheated flat. Surrounded by their posse of cohorts, they are hungry for love, and also just plain hungry - so a bit like “Friends” but with less resources. (La Boheme is also quite a bit like “Rent,” the 1996 Broadway musical and film adapted from it.)

Juxtaposed and nearly as important as the relationship of Mimi and Rodolfo is the tempestuous on-again off-again relationship of Marcello to Musetta (Gabriella Reyes), an emancipated woman who’s a strident gold digger, but her aggressive demeanor belies a heart of gold. For me, Musetta steals the show. Also notably delightful are two members of Rodolfo’s crew - philosopher Colline (Peixin Chen) and musician Schaunard (Ian Rucker), who are entertaining as actors along with excellent singing.

But the core of “La Bohème” is the music, and these principals are outstanding. The opera also features the 60-person Lyric Opera Chorus, led by Chorus Director Michael Black, plus the Uniting Voices Chicago children’s choir led by Josephine Lee. So the stage is packed.

If you have never seen opera before, Lyric Opera’s “La Bohème” is a can’t miss experience, and comes highly recommended.

Remaining performance dates for La Bohème are March 22, 25, 28, 31, April 3m, 6m, 7, and 12. All performances take place at the Lyric Opera House, 20 North Wacker Drive, Chicago.

*This review is also featured on https://www.theatreinchicago.com/!

Lyric Opera of Chicago today announces the company's 2025/26 Season, its first complete season under the leadership of new General Director, President & CEO John Mangum. A rich mix of traditional operas and other live performances anchored by the incomparable Lyric Opera Orchestra and Lyric Opera Chorus, the season includes two world premieres, two Lyric premieres, three new-to-Chicago productions, an expansion of the sold-out Movie Nights at Lyric series, a solo recital by one of opera's most legendary stars, and performances by some of the biggest names in musical theater. Lyric also deepens its mission to be the cultural hub for live performance in Chicago by commissioning and producing the work of two iconic Chicago pioneers: alternative rocker Billy Corgan, who presents world-premiere concerts reimagining his era-defining album with The Smashing Pumpkins, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, for the operatic stage to celebrate its 30th anniversary; and Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young, who writes and stars in the world-premiere musical work safronia.

"Next season is filled with a tremendous range of lavish and powerful opera productions that we are excited to share with our audiences," says John Mangum, General Director, President & CEO of Lyric Opera of Chicago. "I'm just as excited about a series of special performances and productions that open the aperture and expand the definition of opera and what an American opera company can be. The season clearly illustrates how this company continues to push the art form forward and create new work that can only happen in Chicago."

"I am also excited to continue the great partnership I share with Lyric's Music Director Enrique Mazzola, and to have Lyric audiences experience his electrifying musical leadership," continues Mangum. "Next season, Enrique will conduct the work of five different composers, an eclectic and wide-ranging list that includes Cherubini, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Orff, and Mozart. Outside of the opera house, Enrique continues to be a strong advocate for our art form throughout the city and a champion for our city in his travels around the world. He has truly earned his title of 'Chicago's maestro-around-town.'"

The company's 71st anniversary season opens on Friday, October 10, 2025, with the Lyric Opening Concert & Gala. Continuing the event's tradition ushering in the start of Chicago's new cultural season, this special concert shines a spotlight on some of Broadway's most beloved talents and showcases a different side of the Lyric Opera Orchestra's vast musical expertise. More information will be announced soon.

The opera season continues the next evening with the Lyric premiere of Cherubini's tragedy of infidelity and vengeance, Medea, October 11–26, 2025. Conducted by Maestro Mazzola and presented in the Lyric coproduction directed by Sir David McVicar, Medea stars Chicago's hometown diva Sondra Radvanovsky, for whom this production was created, in the title role. Performances also feature returning Lyric favorites Matthew Polenzani as Giasone, Zoie Reams as Neris, and rising star Elena Villalón in her Lyric debut as Glauce.

Following its sold-out, one-night-only premiere with Singin' in the Rain earlier in the current season, the Movie Nights at Lyric series expands to include two performances of two beloved films, both steeped in the musical theater tradition, and each powered by the Lyric Opera Orchestra performing the score live on stage in harmony with the film shown on a huge screen above them. The first film is presented October 16 & 18, 2025, and the second film is presented on April 10 & 11, 2026; movie titles will be announced soon.

The season continues with a pair of Italian verismo one-act operas: Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana & Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, on stage November 1–23, 2025. Known together as Cav/Pag, opera's most thrilling double bill is conducted by Maestro Mazzola and presented in director Elijah Moshinsky's Lyric production by revival director Peter McClintock. Cavalleria rusticana stars Yulia Matochkina as Santuzza and SeokJong Baek as Turiddu in their Lyric debuts alongside Lyric favorite Quinn Kelsey as Alfio. Kelsey also appears as Tonio in Pagliacci together with returning favorites Russell Thomas as Canio and Gabriella Reyes as Nedda.

November also brings Orff's blazing cantata Carmina Burana to the stage, for three performances only, November 14–18, 2025. Conducted by Maestro Mazzola and with more than 225 artists on stage — the combined forces of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Lyric Opera Chorus plus a large children's chorus from Uniting Voices Chicago and soloists Jasmine Habersham, David Portillo, and Ian Rucker — Orff's themes of the fickleness of fortune, the joys and sorrows of love, and the fleeting nature of existence are brought to vivid life.

A blockbuster month at Lyric continues with world-premiere performances celebrating the 30th anniversary of the decade-defining album by the legendary Chicago alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins: A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness, for seven nights only, November 21–30, 2025. Iconic frontman Billy Corgan reimagines his magnum opus by marshaling all of Lyric's technical and artistic forces — including the epic sound of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus and special guest artists — for an immersively original sonic and visual experience that blurs the boundaries of opera, rock, and performance art. Featuring newly commissioned arrangements and orchestrations by Corgan and James Lowe, who also conducts, as well as costumes from House of Gilles by Gilles and Chloé Mendel Corgan, these historic performances promise to further magnify the legend of the original album and expand the definition and intention of opera.

"It is thrilling to collaborate with Lyric head John Mangum, my musical partner James Lowe, and all of the artists at Lyric in reimagining this very special and historic album, and to discover how Lyric's full operatic treatment is helping me experience my own compositions in powerful new ways," says Billy Corgan. "Opera and rock both tell stories of heightened emotions, and I am excited for both fans of my music and traditional opera fans to hear some truly inspired work; for the balance here is to honor both traditions in a magisterial way."

Tickets for A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 11 at 10:00 a.m. at lyricopera.org and are available to Lyric subscribers now, as part of a subscription package.

The winter brings a pair of operas that examine the romantic passions of women through startlingly different lenses. Salome, Richard Strauss's explosive opera of obsession and depravity, returns to Lyric for the first time in nearly 20 years, January 25–February 14, 2026. Conductor Tomáš Netopil, the incoming Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, makes his Lyric debut leading a supersized Lyric Opera Orchestra through Strauss's groundbreaking score. Sir David McVicar's decadent and provocative production, revived by Julia Burbach, is set in 1940s fascist Italy and is presented in North America for the very first time. The demanding title role of Salome is sung by Elena Stikhina in her Lyric debut; returning stars Brandon Jovanovich and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner play her demented parents, Herod and Herodias; and Nicholas Brownlee makes his Lyric debut as the object of her deadly affection, Jochanaan.

In repertory with the dark and demanding Salome is Mozart's lighthearted romantic comedy Così fan tutte, on stage February 1–15, 2026. Maestro Mazzola conducts Mozart's sparkling score, and Michael Cavanagh's new-to-Chicago production, set in a 1930s-era seaside country club, is revived by Roy Rallo. The opera — the second in Lyric's exploration of the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy of operas, following the current season's The Marriage of Figaro — stars Jacquelyn Stucker as Fiordiligi, Cecilia Molinari as Dorabella, and Anthony León as Ferrando, all in their Lyric debuts, along with Ian Rucker as Guglielmo, Ana María Martínez as Despina, and Rod Gilfry as Don Alfonso.

International superstar Renée Fleming makes her much-anticipated return to the Lyric stage for one night only on Thursday, February 5, 2026, with a program based on her 2023 Grammy-winning album and performed with pianist Inon Barnatan. Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, created in partnership with the National Geographic Society, which designed the recital's captivating video elements, blends classic Romantic-era works and contemporary selections in a program that captures the evolution of the human experience in nature.

The unforgettable music of Puccini returns to Lyric when Madama Butterfly takes the stage, March 14–April 12, 2026. Conducted by Domingo Hindoyan and presented in a beautiful new-to-Chicago production from Lyric's own Matthew Ozawa, this critically acclaimed presentation reckons with the opera's outdated stereotypes and challenges audiences to reconsider their point of view while respecting the opera's beloved scenic and musical traditions. Karah Son, one of the leading Butterflys of our time, makes her Lyric debut in the title role; the opera also stars Evan LeRoy Johnson as Pinkerton and Nozomi Kato as Suzuki, both in their Lyric debuts. Ozawa's striking new vision for the opera's traditional Japanese setting is executed by an all-female and all-Japanese design team, bringing new dimensions to the age-old story.

Paired with the classic Madama Butterfly is an acclaimed contemporary Spanish-language opera in its Lyric premiere: El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and the librettist Nilo Cruz (librettist for Lyric's world premiere Bel Canto in the 2015/16 Season), March 21–April 4, 2026. Conductor Roberto Kalb and director Lorena Maza, reprising their roles from the work's 2022 world premiere and both in their Lyric debuts, lead this colorful, surrealist production in which Frida and Diego's art comes to life on stage, powered by Frank's lush, evocative music inspired by Mexican folk music traditions. Daniela Mack stars as Frida, and Alfredo Daza makes his Lyric debut as Diego. Ana María Martínez returns for a second appearance in the season as Catrina, and the rising star countertenor Key'mon W. Murrah makes his Lyric debut as Leonardo.

Lyric concludes its opera season with another world premiere: safronia, an Afro-surrealist opera featuring music and libretto by Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young, for two performances only, April 17 & 18, 2026. safronia is young's moving story of the Great Migration, told through the eyes of a family returning from the northern U.S. to their southern hometown to reckon with the ghosts of their past. First conceived following young's galvanizing appearance in Lyric's Twilight: Gods in the 2020/21 Season, safronia marries folklore, poetry, and history with gospel, blues, funk, and soul. These vibrant, immersive, concert-style performances are directed by visionary storyteller Timothy Douglas in his Lyric debut.

"safronia is a deeply personal story to me — it is my story, but it is also our story, and I am honored to tell our story in our city's great temple of culture," says young. "When words and music combine in opera, their powers take on even greater resonance and meaning. I can't wait for Chicago to meet safronia and to come along on her operatic journey."

Continuing Year-Round Programs at Lyric

The excitement of its current 50th anniversary season will continue as The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Lyric's world-class artist-development program, marks another season of excellence in the 2025/26 Season. Members of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble will appear in a variety of onstage roles, and several notable alumni of the program — including Matthew Polenzani, Quinn Kelsey, Lauren Decker, Ryan Capozzo, and Ian Rucker (who is finishing his tenure in the Ensemble this season) — will return to Lyric next season. The Ryan Opera Center Final Auditions, at which more than 20 finalists representing the world's finest emerging artists audition for a spot in the Ryan Opera Center's 2026/27 Ensemble, will be held Sunday, September 14, 2025. Rising Stars in Concert, the program's annual showcase of its current Ensemble, will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2026.

Ryan Opera Center artists and members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra come together to signal a new cultural season is ahead with one of the city's most anticipated free events: Sunday in the Park with Lyric, an annual concert conducted by Maestro Mazzola in the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, will be held Sunday, September 7, 2025.

Lyric Unlimited, the company's Learning & Civic Engagement division, is dedicated to education and community initiatives that connect Lyric to the city of Chicago through collaborative programming. One of Lyric Unlimited's most popular events for Chicago families — Explore Your Lyric, a day of fun and adventure for all ages at the Lyric Opera House —  is set for Saturday, April 18, 2026.

          Lyric Unlimited's Opera in the Neighborhoods program also returns in the 2025/26 Season with both school and public performances of a powerful opera for young audiences. Katie: The Strongest of the Strong — An opera for all —  composed by Faye Chiao with a libretto by Anton Dudley, is inspired by the true story of Katie Sandwina, a circus strongwoman in the early 1900s who helped lead the women's suffrage movement. Opera in the Neighborhoods performances reach more than 5,000 students and their families each season through Lyric's longstanding annual tours that include both school-based and public performances.

Lyric also plans an expansion of its existing program of Student Dress Rehearsals in the 2025/26 Season. In the current season, more than 2,000 Chicago students will attend dress rehearsals of operas, and current goals are to double student participation at dress rehearsals in the next season.

"All year long — whether on the stage with our world-class performances, backstage with our renowned artist-training programs and topflight design shops, or out in the community in classrooms, parks, and other spaces around the city — Lyric is the cultural hub for all of Chicago," says Mangum. "We look forward to continuing to bring Chicago audiences together to see and hear universal stories told through the singular power of live music and the human voice."

Do not believe the hype. AI will not replace the arts. By its very definition it is artificial, the antithesis of reality; false, an illusion, an imitator. Every day we are inundated with the advent of AI, how it will not only automate manual tasks, but how it will soon write our new favorite screenplays, comic strips, news articles and fantasy novels. But mark me: AI will never be able to imitate the feeling one gets by walking into a historic opera house and seeing the grandness and majesty of the venue. AI cannot replicate the incredible resonance of an aria or replace the crescendo of a live orchestra of talented musicians. Said succinctly, AI can never encapsulate the arts, the human experience personified. Don’t believe the hype. It’s just a buzzword. And since 2025 airport rules are in effect, let’s rebrand AI to what we should all seek and be lucky enough to be in our lives: AI=Awe Inspiring. Because those are the only words that could possibly come close to describing the experience that was Sandra Radvanovsky’s incredible performance of Puccini heroines at the Lyric Opera.

Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky is a globally celebrated artist. The depth and exquisite color of her voice are matched by her dramatic acting ability and versatility. She is widely regarded as one of the premiere Verdi sopranos alive today, as well as the leading interpreter of Bel Canto, Verismo, and many others. This February, the Lyric Opera welcomed Radvanovsky back to Chicagoland with open arms as she performed several arias from Puccini’s operas. In this tour-de-force premiere, the world-renowned diva brought her magnificent voice, stylistic command, and incandescent dramatic powers to arias that spanned Puccini’s vast repertoire; favorite leading lady moments from Tosca, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, interspersed with gorgeous melodies from Puccini's more rarely performed works, all supported by the magnificent sound of the Lyric Opera Orchestra led by Music Director Enrique Mazzola.

The moment the lights of the theatre dimmed and the conductor, Mazzola, took his place before the orchestra calling forth the first notes of classic operas, the audience was transported to another time, another world. Unhurried and unbothered by the outside world, for the briefest moment in time we were simply existing in this beautiful theatre, surrounded by lovers of music and the arts. History and art melded together and traveled to every corner of the historic opera house so not a single guest was denied the grandeur of the music. As the Chicago native took the stage, the audience was enraptured by the enchantress, captivated by Radvanovsky’s vocal prowess, and awestruck at the sheer magnitude of her performance. With light banter from the singer to segue between sets, beautiful interludes led by Mazzola, and a double-encore that left audiences wanting more, the Lyric Opera had truly set the tone for what its 2025 season promises to be, nothing short of awe-inspiring, the only true AI we should pursue in the world.

During her final performance in the limited run of Puccini’s Heroines, Radvanovsky alluded of her connection to the arias she chose to perform, remarking on the need for the arts, for love, for kindness and beauty, all the values the Lyric Opera represents through its performances, outreach, and inclusivity. In a year that attempts to erase history, eliminate the arts, and deny the exquisite pleasure of the humanities, let 2025 be the year to double down and embrace all that Chicago has to offer. With performances that celebrate poetry, music, history, and art, the Lyric Opera, located at 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, promises an incredible 2025 year and a reprieve from this fast-paced world. For details and tickets to future performances, please visit www.lyricopera.org with your AI (Awe-Inspiring) heart today.

There is something magical about Chicago at Christmastime. Even if there is no snow on the ground, there is an energy in the atmosphere, peaceful and whimsical. Whether you take in the colorful zoo lights at The Lincoln Park Zoo, or stroll the Christkindl markets downtown, or ice skate in the shadow of Wrigley Field, there is magical nestled in every corner of the city. December winds bring a chill to The Windy City and signals the arrival of the holiday season with lights, cozy fires, warm drinks, and the most cherished of holiday traditions, The Joffrey Ballet’s The Nutcracker, now playing at the Lyric Opera.

For those who are unfamiliar with The Nutcracker, the fairy-tail-like ballet follows the story of a young girl named Clara who receives a nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve from a magical guest at the party. Clara's reality and dreams merge as she and her nutcracker embark on a magical adventure. The nutcracker transforms into a prince, and Clara and the prince travel to the Land of Sweets, where they meet the Sugarplum Fairy.

Joffrey’s Nutcracker follows a similar storyline with a magical Chicago twist. On a magical Christmas Eve, mere months before the opening of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair, Marie and her mother, a sculptress creating the fair’s iconic Statue of the Republic, partake in a festive celebration with a surprise visit from the mysterious Great Impresario. That evening, after awakening to an epic battle between Toy Soldiers and The Rat King, Marie is swept away by a Nutcracker Prince on a whirlwind journey to the dreamlike fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition with sprawling attractions represented by countries from around the globe. Set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score, The Nutcracker features a celebrated creative team, including two-time Tony Award®-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, Tony Award®-nominated set and costume designer Julian Crouch, Caldecott Medal Award-winning author Brian Selznick, Obie and Drama Desk award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist, Tony Award®-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz and Tony Award®-winning projection designer Ben Pearcy. 

I have been seeing The Nutcracker every holiday season, moving from dancing in the ballet and watching in the wings, to the balcony seats to enjoy the performance. There is nothing quite like The Joffrey’s rendition of the classic ballet. The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 storyline works incredibly well with the production, from the humble beginnings of fair workers and their families, a kind and wealthy benefactor bequeathing the nutcracker doll, and a dreamlike world with Clara exploring the World’s Fair and all it had to offer. The 1893 World’s Fair inspired Frank E. Baum, utilizing the famed White City of the fair to inspire the Emerald City of Oz in The Wizard of Oz. The fair introduced the world to the Ferris Wheel, brownies, cracker jack popcorn, and the zipper. There were countries and states represented that visitors could only dream to have visited, right in their own backyard. Historical documents and first-hand accounts mention how magical and awe-inspiring the fair was, it’s easy to see how The Joffrey could look at the fair as a backdrop to The Nutcracker and see magic.

But even with the artistic direction The Joffrey took, it still begs the question of why do we see the same performance year after year after year? Artistic Director Ashley Wheater, MBE pondered the same thing. “I have asked myself, ‘How can we make this a special experience for people who have seen the Nutcracker before and for those attending for the first time?’,” says Wheater. “Part of the beauty of this Nutcracker: it is a Chicago story! We set the scene during an important time in the history of our city: the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1892. We identify with the working spirit of the people. We understand that joy can be found in simple things. We appreciate that magic is all around us, if only we look. The real “magic” of this Nutcracker, though, is that it changes every time we watch it. Each of us in the audience is different. We have loved, lost, struggled, succeeded, grown. We bring our own story to the theater. The beauty of live theater is that no two performances will be the same.”

The year’s opening night of The Nutcracker was nothing short of magical. Joffrey’s current company has to be one of their best in years with outstanding principles including Amanda Assucena, the mother and sculptress for the Fair (the Sugar Plum Fairy) and Alberto Velazquez, the Great Impresario of the Fair, and the darling Anabelle de la Nuez as Marie (Clara) and Maxwell Dawe as The Nutcracker. Each scene is a feast for the eyes with the entire company dancing exquisitely amount wreaths, glittering snow, and before giant Ferris wheels. Whether this is your first time seeing The Nutcracker, or your hundredth, there is nothing in the world like Joffrey’s Nutcracker. It is truly one of a kind and the perfect addition to any holiday plans. But much like The World’s Fair of 1893, the magic won’t be here forever, so don’t delay and get your tickets today.

The Nutcracker is now playing at The Lyric Opera House, (20 North Wacker Drive, Chicago) through December 28^th. The Performance run time is 2 hours, includes one 20-minute intermission. Tickets are available at www.joffrey.org.

When Francesca Zambello, director of The Glimmerglass Festival, commissioned an opera about race in America, the country was reeling from a spate of police shootings of young African-American men in Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. By the time the commissioned work Blue premiered at The Glimmerglass Festival in 2019, police killings of unarmed African-American men and women had soared to nearly 135.

While Blue holds up an often times uncomfortable mirror to racism in America, it is much more than a “protest opera” or an opera about police violence. In the words of director and librettist Tazewell Thompson, an internationally acclaimed director for opera and theatre, “I wrote [Blue] from an obsessive need and responsibility to tell an intimate story behind the numbing numbers of boys and men who are killed.”

And that is exactly the powerful appeal of Blue, which recently premiered at the Lyric Opera. Through Thompson’s intense and profound libretto and the soaring score composed by Tony-Award winner Jeanine Tesori, Blue draws us in beyond the names and the headlines to the unimaginable suffering of the families who have been torn apart by these tragic and senseless deaths.

Blue is a powerful, passionate, and yes, painful depiction of a family and community coming together in crisis and faith. Hailed by critics as a “new American classic,” it was named the Best New Opera of 2019 by the Music Critics Association of North America. Tesori, who won recent Tony Awards for the music to Kimberly Akimbo and Fun House, brought her considerable talent and success as a Broadway composer to create a score that is both contemporaneous and timeless. Thompson drew on a canon of African-American literary greats, including James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Claude Brown, to write a libretto that is passionate and unapologetic.

The story centers on a Black middle-class couple living in Harlem, whose lives are shattered when their teenage son is shot and killed by a white police officer. Compounding the tragedy is the fact that the Father himself is a so-called “Black in Blue” – a member of the very same police force.

The two-act opera opens with the Mother performed by Lyric favorite Zoie Reams, who has gathered her girlfriends to share her wonderful news of her pregnancy. As her girlfriends, a charismatic trio led by Ariana Wehr in her Lyric debut and Lyric veterans Adia Evans and Krysty Swann, titter and exclaim over the Mother’s husband (“Damn girl,” they sing), the mood shifts suddenly as they learn her child is a boy. Oh no, no, no, they lament, reminding Mother that she is breaking the cardinal rule – “You shall not bring a black baby boy into the world.” Through a poignantly performed plea, Mother prevails upon her girlfriends to bless her child, whom she vows to bring into this world with love and hope.

The scene segues to Father, expertly performed by bassist Kenneth Kellogg in a role written specifically for him, as he reveals the news of his pending fatherhood with his three fellow police buddies (Terrence Chin-Loy, Jonathan Pierce Rhodes, and Christopher Humbert, Jr.) at the local watering hole, who can barely tear their eyes from watching the football game. Yet, they share in Father’s joy, peppering him with lighthearted advice and warnings about being a dad.

The first act concludes sixteen years later, when the Son, performed magnificently by tenor Travon D. Walker, and the Father engage in a bitter argument. The father confronts his son, who has been frequently at odds with the law for his involvement with non-violent political protests. “Look at yourself,” the Father intones. “Pull up your pants. Take off that hoodie.” The son pushes back, derisively accusing the Father of being “a cop,” “A clown in a blue suit,” upholding an oppressive system. Act 1 concludes with the Father, despite his son’s bitter words, offering an emotion-filled pledge to love and hold his son always.

As the second act opens, we discover that the Son has been shot and killed by a white police officer at a protest. The heartbroken Father meets with the Reverend, powerfully performed by Lyric veteran baritone Norman Garrett, who attempts to console him and encourages him to forgive. But the Father, in an ironic twist, adopts much of his son’s attitude and words, angrily lashing out at the Reverend. “I’m not here for redemption,” the Father says, “I’m here to confess” the revenge he plans to exact against the white officer. Yet, the Reverend continues to console the Father, and in a groundswell of pain, the two perform the beautiful heartrending duet “Lay my burden down.”

Meanwhile, the grief-stricken mother is attended once again by her girlfriends, to support her as she buries her son. In a particularly heartbreaking moment, Mother falls to her knees and begs God to return her son to her. “I don’t care if he’s blind; if he has no hands or feet. Just that he is alive,” she laments. But then, she bitterly remembers that “We are not God’s favorites.”

At the funeral, Father and Mother together wrestle with their grief. But with the prayers and support of the congregation, as the theme of “lay my burden down” is reprised, the two find consolation in their faith and community. The opera concludes with a flashback to the Son’s last night at the dinner table with his father and mother, pledging that this will be his last protest and promising that “nothing will happen. Nothing.”

Blue is an important, relevant opera, touching on themes and issues in a way that is not confrontational but heartfelt and profound. You may feel uncomfortable, but you will not walk away from this performance untouched and hoping for a better world.

Blue is in a limited engagement at the Lyric, with performances on Nov. 20, 22, 26 and December 1. For ticket information, visit Lyricopera.org.

Sometimes history has a way of repeating itself and it’s not always for the better. Try as we might to learn from history, some of us are simply doomed to repeat it. But not everything that is repeated is necessarily bad. Historical music, art, and opera transcend history, where repetition is not only encouraged, but exalted. There is something magical about watching a live performance of an artform that was performed for audiences over two hundred years ago and think about the audience’s reaction then and now; did they laugh the same way? Did they like it as much then as we do today? Did they really use the word ‘b*$%h?’ There is truly a magical and historical connection happening at The Lyric Opera as they put on one of the most beloved operas of all time, The Marriage of Figaro.

The Marriage of Figaro continues the plot of The Barber of Seville several years later, and recounts a single "day of madness" (la folle journée) in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville, Spain. Rosina is now the Countess. Dr. Bartolo is seeking revenge against Figaro for thwarting his plans to marry Rosina himself, and Count Almaviva has degenerated from the romantic youth of Barber, (a tenor in Paisiello's 1782 opera), into a scheming, bullying, skirt-chasing baritone. Having gratefully given Figaro a job as head of his servant-staff, he is now persistently trying to exercise his droit du seigneur – his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night – with Figaro's bride-to-be, Susanna, who is the Countess's maid. He keeps finding excuses to delay the civil part of the wedding of his two servants, which is arranged for this very day. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess conspire to embarrass the Count and expose his scheming. He retaliates by trying to compel Figaro legally to marry a woman old enough to be his mother, but it turns out at the last minute that she really is his mother. Through the clever manipulations of Susanna and the Countess, Figaro and Susanna are finally able to marry.

The company of The Marriage of Figaro at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

For those who have never seen an opera before, I could not recommend The Marriage of Figaro enough. The storyline is easy to follow despite the number of colorful characters. The opera is a musical comedy in four acts that first premiered in Vienna in 1786 and follows a comedy of errors as the players scheme and plot to catch each other in lies, all centered around a lascivious man who wants to have his way with a brushing bride, and the many men and women who don’t want that to happen. Mix in some humorous cross-plots and you’ve got yourself a comedy of errors that could have been written today. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, audiences old and young will instantly recognize the harmonies and familiar songs that have been featured in everything from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Mrs. Doubtfire, to countless Looney Tunes cartoons, and even viral TikToks. Considered one of the greatest operas ever written, The Marriage of Figaro is consistently ranked as one of the top ten most frequently performed operas. While the opera is sung in Italian, don’t worry, there are English translations displayed above the stage for the audience to understand what is being sung. With a minimalist but grand stage, vibrantly colored costumes, and voices of actors that are remarkably otherworldly, The Lyric Opera pays homage to history of this opera with their production. Helmed by incredible talent from Peter Kellner as Figaro, Ying Fang as Susanna, Federica Lombardi as Countess Almaviva, and Gortdon Bintner as Count Almaviva, this opera is an incredible introduction to the artform for both seasoned and novice operagoers.

When we look back in history, we sometimes wonder if those from the past thought about how they’d be perceived by future generations. Did Mozart know his masterpiece would still be played hundreds of years later? Do the opera singers feel history captured in the libretto they are singing? Not everything in history that repeats itself is bad. The things that bring life, laughter, love, and light into our lives should be repeated, and frequently. When history does inevitably repeat itself, be sure it is pulling you into the light and not into a pit of despair. After all, we could all use a little bit of light and laughter in our lives right about now. So make a night of it in Chicago and see The Marriage of Figaro at The Lyric Opera (20 N Wacker Dr, Chicago) during its limited run through Nov 30^th. Tickets are available at www.lyricopera.org.

In the two hundred (and five) years since Mary Shelley jolted to life her eponymous mad scientist and his monster and set them loose, Frankenstein has invaded just about every cross-section of culture. Motion pictures, of course. And literature. Sitcoms and cereal. And, based on the late Liam Scarlett’s production of the romantic novelist’s tale, now "Frankenstein" has found the stage of the Joffrey Ballet for a beautiful reimagining of the heartbroken doctor and the heartbroken creature he creates, one that embraces Shelley’s gothic 19th century original.

Like recent literary reimaginings by the Joffrey (at its old home at the Auditorium Theater), Anna Karenina and Jane Eyre, the set and stage are beautifully done—scenic and costume design by John McFarlane for the Scarlett production. The Joffrey’s staging—by Kristen McGarrity, Laura Morera, and Lauren Strongin, and Joe Walsh—nicely incorporates the ballet’s “new” and cozier home at the Lyric Opera; while the Auditorium’s scale and gravitas might have added their own touches to such a production, the Lyric and the Joffrey are a great match. Gothic scientific projections—programmed by Troy Fujimura—set the feel (which I guess one could call “steampunk,” but doing so might trivialize the vibe. Yet, it’s not all doom and gloom and bloody surgical theaters here, as we also spend much time in happier, more comfortable days with the Frankenstein family at their estate.

Jose Pablo Castro Cuevas, in the lead role of Victor Frankenstein, nicely straddles these two worlds, as his character grows up in one and longs to go to the next—in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Frankenstein, played by Miguel Angel Blanco—Cuevas’ Victor falls in love with the adopted orphan Elizabeth, played by Amanda Assucena, a favorite in past Nutcracker productions, as well as the title character in Jane Eyre. Cuevas and Assucena make a fine couple, as do Blanco and Anais Bueno, in the role of Alphonse Frankenstein’s wife and Victor’s mother, whose sudden demise gives the story its direction, sending Victor off to medical school determined to reverse death.

But before Victor goes to school and begins to amass the knowledge with which he’ll wreak his timeless monster on our world, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Christine Rocas as the Frankenstein family’s governess and Jeraldine Mendoza (another Joffrey favorite from Nutcrackers past) as her daughter, Justine. Both bring life to their roles, and I couldn’t take my eyes off either.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the production’s musical score, by Lowell Liebermann for the original, played by the Lyric Opera Orchestra and conducted by Scott Speck. The music brightens the story when needed, but even more hints at the doom to come, and the gloom always lurking.

And now, on to the anatomy theater at Ingolstadt University, where the doctor creates his monster and where the story creates its mythology, now two centuries old. Devastated by his mother’s death in childbirth, Victor leaves these loved ones (and his newborn baby brother) behind to study medicine. Here, in the same manner he towers over 1893 Chicago each Christmastime for the Joffrey’s Nutcracker as that production’s empresario, Dylan Gutierrez looms over his youthful pupils in the round, the stern and statuesque Professor Waldman.

It is here in the anatomy theatre, fueled by heartbreak, exuberant with youth, and armed with the burgeoning science of the looming industrial revolution, where Victor Frankenstein fashions his monster. The set and pyrotechnics (by Gateway Pyrotechnic Productions) rival the scale in any Hollywood Frankenstein of yore. And the monster, slippery and scarred, is given a grace and humanity many of those silver screen adaptations neglect. Jonathan Dole wonderfully plays the role of the Creature—confused and contorted, a counterfeit creation in a world it can never understand or be understood by. He is there, and then he is gone, and upon his return, we are ready to be horrified, brokenhearted, and amazed by the Joffrey Ballet’s 21st century reimagining of a centuries-old tale of horror, heartbreak, and amazement. See it at the Lyric Opera, now through October 22.

Ahoy matey! Climb aboard Lyric’s thrilling, new-to-Chicago production of Wagner’s ‘The Flying Dutchman’ This spooky, nautical classic opens the 2023/24 season and is a perfect way to kick off the Halloween season. While short by Wagner standards, this two-and-a-half-hour opera is performed without intermission, but the cinematic score and dazzling theatrics make the time sail by. This Dutchman leaves its audience spellbound all the way through the final curtain call.

Despite its fantastical elements, ‘The Flying Dutchman’ might be one of Wagner’s most straightforward and easy to follow operas. Based on a century’s old myth, ‘The Flying Dutchman’ spins a yarn about a ghost ship doomed to sail the sea for all eternity unless the supernatural captain can have the true love of a mortal maiden. When the Dutchman suddenly appears on sea captain Daland’s ship offering riches for his daughter Senta’s hand in marriage, an eeriness starts to creep into the port town where Senta awaits her father’s return. If the Dutchman can have Senta’s unwavering love, he can remain mortal and bring about his sinister plans on land.

What’s always striking about Wagner’s operas are how much they sound like today’s movie scores. Though sung in German with English subtitles to guide you, there’s something immediate about the way Wagner’s score conveys emotion. A creepy plot paired with abundant full-cast choruses all add up to an exciting and suspenseful final act.

Dialed-up vocals up under Christopher Alden’s direction really pay off. Part of what keeps people coming back to the same operas time after time are the beautiful moments of song that seem almost fleeting amidst something as sprawling as an opera. Such moments are plentiful too many to count in this production. This is especially true of Tamara Wilson as Senta. Not only can the Chicago native sing to the rafters, but she can also act. The same can be said of her co-star Tomasz Konieczny as the Dutchman.

When an opera takes place on the sea, staging is crucial. Kudos to the cast for doing this entire show on a diagonally slanted stage. Allen Moyer’s vision is more or less minimalism with touches of the old school. The ghostly wedding alone is worth spending two hours in the dark for. Each act though similarly staged provides an uneasy sense of suspense to match Wagner’s haunting music.

Some operas are just plain fun and ‘The Flying Dutchman’ much like Gounod’s ‘Faust’ is a devilishly good time. Wagner’s classic has a little bit of everything and it’s here you start to hear the beginnings of what would become musical theater as we know it today. An enormously talented cast of singers along with reliably sumptuous staging will have audiences under its spell and wondering where the evening went.

Through October 7 at Lyric Opera of Chicago. 20 N Upper Wacker. www.lyricopera.org (312) 332-2244.