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| The Cole Porter Project (Photo: Angelisa Gillyard) |
From our friends at the In Series...
The In Series’ new season, A Musical Feast, begins on Saturday, September 6th with the return of the company’s run-away hit The Cole Porter Project, a contemporary, inside-the-Beltway DC tribute to the American master. The Porter cabaret runs in repertory with Fatal Song: The Great Opera Murders, a cabaret-opera-whodunit spoof featuring top-drawer great opera scenes and a side-splitting script by Kathleen Cahill.
Next on the menu are two signature pocket opera productions, both presenting rarely performed masterpieces: the gypsy opera La Vida Breve [The Short Life], Manuel de Falla’s 1905 intensely dramatic work graced by universally famous Spanish dances, and the Italian Romantic gem La Sonnambula [The Sleep-Walker] with Vincenzo Bellini’s bel canto score of 1831 rendered in English, in a new adaptation by DC’s Steven Scott Mazzola. The grandest entrée comes in March, with a new English adaptation of Mozart’s Don Giovanni by DC’s Bari Biern. Appetizers and desserts of the season include a lounge-opera evening with irrepressible DC area soprano Fleta Hylton, a Wagner/Liszt salon evening and an irresistible classic-pop eruption of Latino Music Fever.
The In Series’ free community offerings related to major productions include popular Directors’ Salons and Artist/Audience Dialogues. The company is also launching its first Family Series this year with a sweet English update of Bastian & Bastianna, the comic fairy tale musical by 12-year old Mozart.
The performance venues are a trio of mid- & downtown, metro-accessible sites: Source Theater, 1835 14th St. NW, where In Series is a resident company; frequent host-venue GALA Hispanic Theatre at 3333 14th St. NW, and new partner venue Casa Italiana, at 595 Third St. NW. Tickets are affordably priced between $16 and $45. Early-Bird Subscription discounts available through September 5th. For tickets & information, please call the In Series at 202-204-7763 or visit www.inseries.org.
The In Series 2014-15 Season
The Cole Porter Project
September 6, 7m, 12, 13, 14m, 19, 20, 21m at Source.
Our “delightful, delicious and de-lovely tribute to Porter” returns! “The puckish new show bobsleds through 35 Porter tunes in less than two hours. Most of it hits a cute comic bull’s-eye." says the Washington Post.
Writers: Steven Scott Mazzola & Greg Stevens - Director Greg Stevens - Music Director Alex Tang
Fatal Song: The Great Opera Murders
September 10, 13m, 14, 20m, 21 at Source.
A cabaret-opera/whodunit by Kathleen Cahill featuring all-time opera hits by Bizet, Puccini,Verdi… A bunch of opera heroines start to notice that someone or something is killing them off. They then wink their way through some of opera’s most celebrated moments. A delightfully daffy send-up of the opera genre - The Salt Lake Tribune.
Book by Kathleen Cahill - Director Rick Davis - Conductor/Pianist Frank Conlon
Manuel de Falla’s La Vida Breve (The Short Life)
Saturday October 18, 19m, 26m, November 1 at GALA Hispanic Theatre.
Despite her grandmother’s fateful warnings, the young gypsy Salud confronts her faithless lover, Paco. Sun-drenched Andalusia and the mysterious, ritualistic soul of its people are the core of this passionate gypsy opera (1904-1905) and its universally famous Spanish dances.
Pianist/conductor Carlos C. Rodríguez - Choreography & Staging: Jaime Coronado, Abel Lopez
Bellini’s La Sonnambula (The Sleep-Walker)
January 11m, 15, 17, 13, 25m at Source.
An infrequently performed Romantic (1831) story of innocent young love, jealousy, intrigue…and sleepwalking! Experience the exquisite thrill of Vincenzo Bellini’s bel canto (beautiful song) style.
New English adaptation Writer & Director: Steven Scott Mazzola - Music Director Stanley Thurston
What I Wanted To Sing When I Grew Up
Jan. 18m & 24 at Source.
Lounge opera event with Fleta Hylton.
Mozart’s Bastian & Bastianna
Jan. 10m & 17m at Source.
The comic fairy tale musical by 12-year-old Mozart. Family show.
Mozart’s Don Giovanni
March 14, 15m, 21, 22m, 28, 2015. At GALA Hispanic Theatre.
The fearless team that brought us last season’s blockbuster transplantation of Mozart’s Abduction to America’s Wild West is at it again! This time with Don Giovanni, Mozart & DaPonte’s ‘funny tragedy’ - dramma giocoso - about seduction, obsession, honor, and justice.
English Adaptation Bari Biern - Director Tom Mallan - Music Director Stanley Thurston.
The Romantics: Wagner & Liszt
April 18 & 19 at Casa Italiana.
A unique Salon-style concert.
Latino Music Fever
May 28, 29, 30 at Source, plus June dates and alternate venue TBA.
Many pop hits from the Golden Age of American Song came from down South, bringing gorgeous melodies and sensual rhythms. Young Latino crooners explore that legacy with pianist Mari Paz.
The In Series: Innovative opera + Intimate cabaret + Intriguing Latino vibes:
The In Series works with and for DC artists to bring to the community affordable pocket opera, fresh looks at American & International popular music classics, and plenty of dance and performance flair. The company’s annual season fills a unique niche of innovative and affordable mostly-opera, mostly-classical music programming. From Mozart, Duke Ellington and Spanish zarzuela to Cole Porter, Bellini and Mexican bolero, all are in at the In Series!
The In Series 2014-2015 season is made possible in part by The Board of Directors of The In Series; the Evenor Armington, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz, Dallas Morse Coors, Max and Victoria Dreyfus, Reva and David Logan and Billy Rose Foundations; Friends of the In Series (FINS); DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About the In Series:
The In Series was founded by Producing Artistic Director Carla Hübner in 1982 as the Concert Series of the former Mount Vernon College. During the 1990’s the company expanded to produce full chamber operas alongside a broader multi-disciplinary season. The In Series became an independent non-profit arts organization in 2000, and is a resident company at Source since 2008. Its annual season fills a unique niche of innovative and affordable mostly-opera, mostly-classical music programming. More at inseries.org.
