COT announces casts, schedule changes

January 25, 2012|By John von Rhein | Tribune critic

Chicago Opera Theater has announced the artistic teams for its 2012 season at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, along with several changes from the schedule as originally announced.

The three-opera lineup, marking Brian Dickie’s final season as general director, will open with the Chicago professional premiere of Shostakovich’s satirical “Moscow, Cheryomushki,” presented in a new English adaptation by Meg Miroshnik. Alexander Platt will conduct, with Mike Donahue staging and designs by Anya Klepikov and Julian Pike.

Singers include COT returnees Sara Heaton, Dominic Armstrong and Matt Boehler, along with past and present Ryan Opera Center members Paul Corona, Emily Fons, Paul LaRosa and Paul Scholten. “Moscow, Cheryomushki” runs April 14-25.

American conductor Michael Beattie will replace Christian Curnyn as conductor of Handel’s “Teseo,” which will complete COT’s “Medea trilogy” April 21-May 2. Beattie will pace a production directed by James Darrah, with designs by Francois-Pierre Couture, Darrah and Pike.

The cast includes Ryan Center mezzo Cecelia Hall in the title role, mezzo Renee Tatum as Medea and countertenors Gerald Thompson and David Trudgen as Egeo and Arcano, respectively.

Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” will receive a new production instead of the one by director Diane Paulus and conductor Jane Glover that was to have been given. British conductor Steuart Bedford returns to COT to lead a staging by Michael Gieleta, with designs by James MacNamara and Gregory Gale.

The cast will include Sean Pannikar as Tamino, Elizabeth Reiter as Pamina, Markus Beam as Papageno, Grigory Soloviov as Sarastro, Claudia Boyle as the Queen of the Night and Alex Mansoori as Monostatos. Dates are Sept. 15-23.

The Shostakovich and Mozart works will be sung in English, the Handel in the original Italian. All performances will have projected English titles.

For ticket information, call 312-704-8414, or visit chicagooperatheater.org.