OnStage Classical Performance Profiles

Jefferson Performing Arts Society

6400 Airline Drive • Metairie
box office: 504-885-2000 • www.jpas.org

 

Now in its 39th season and at home in the beautiful new Jefferson Performing Arts Center, the organization led by Artistic Director Dennis Assaf offers a line-up of shows sure to excite audiences from around the region. Performances also are on tap at Teatro Wego on the West Bank.

Upcoming:

“Tarzan, the Musical” (March 17-26). Washed up on the shores of West Africa, an infant boy is taken in by gorillas. Raised in the jungle, he navigates clashes as he discovers his human instincts. Adapted from the Edgar Riche Burroughs story.

“Guys and Dolls Jr.” (April 21-23). Set in Damon Runyon’s New York City, a gambler seeks cash to set up the biggest crap game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck, with a score that ranges from Times Square to the cafes of Havana.

Summer Youth Musical Theatre, for 3rd-8th graders, will present three productions:

• “Madagascar, a Musical Adventure” (June 5-25);

• “Disney’s Alice in Wonderland” (June 19-July 16);

“Singin’ in the Rain” (July 10-30). The youth program provides a challenging and high-quality musical theatre education to students of the metro New Orleans area.
 


OnStage Classical Performance Profiles
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

1010 Common Street • New Orleans
Box office: 504.523.6530 • www.lpomusic.com

 

Its 26th anniversary season took the LPO to New York City in February, where the orchestra was presented by Carnegie Hall as part of a season celebrating composer-in-residence Philip Glass. The LPO remains in the hands of director and principal conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, and is at home in the grand Orpheum Theater. Check the website for updated details of all events.

Upcoming:

Augustin Hadelich Plays Bartók (March 10). Featuring “Dances of Transylvania, Violin Concerto No. 2 and Sinfonietta by Jánacek.

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 (March 16).

2017 Opus Ball: LPO Swings (March 18). A tribute to Louis Prima, at Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.

Circus Parade (March 19).  The LPO goes beneath the big top for its final family concert of the season, a carnival-themed musical adventure.

Classical Mystery Tour: Music of The Beatles (March 23-24). More than 30 hits performed in symphonic glory.

Water Music (April 6).

Featuring Bach’s Overture to Suite No. 1; Ibert’s Divertissement; and Handel’s Water Music, Suite No. 2, among others.

Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony (April 20 & 22). Featuring Symphony No. 3, along with Jacobsen’s “Ascending BIrd” and Rouse’s flute concerto.

Fidelity’s Concerts in the Park: Swing in the Oaks (April 25). Presented in New Orleans City Park.
 


OnStage Classical Performance Profiles
New Orleans Opera Association

935 Gravier St., Suite 1940 • New Orleans
Box office: 504.529.3000, 800.881.4459
www.neworleansopera.org

 

Artistic Director Robert Lyall leads another season filled with drama, grandeur and thrilling voices, performed in the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts.

Look for the announcement of the opera’s fall 2017 lineup soon, and for a new schedule of Opera on Tap, presenting fine young local and regional singers in casual, 90-minute performances of opera, Broadway songs and more in the friendly setting of local pubs, including The Rusty Nail.

Upcoming:

“Faust,” (March 31, April 2). The devil made me do it! The age-old story of selling your soul to Satan for youth, happiness and love is one of the masterpieces of French lyric opera. Gounod’s Faust is a profusion of celebrated arias and nonstop drama, with images that are at once delightful and provocative. The production stars Paul Groves, Raymond Aceto and Sarah Jane McMahon.

Mad Hatters’ Luncheon (March 22). The Women’s Guild of the New Orleans Opera Association invites you to join in for “A Day at the Races!” At New Orleans Hilton Riverside.

“As One – Chamber Opera” (June 2, 3 and 4). With humor and empathy, this new 75-minute chamber opera depicts the experiences of its sole transgender protagonist, Hannah, as she endeavors to resolve the discord between herself and the outside world. At Marigny Opera House.
 


OnStage Classical Performance Profiles
New Orleans Ballet Association

Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts • New Orleans
Box office: 504.522.0996
www.nobadance.com

 

The central Gulf region’s premiere presenting organization dedicated solely to dance, the association offers another season of main stage and educational programs featuring world-class dance companies and artists.

The tuition-free Summer Intensive Programs held in June and July 2017 give motivated students the opportunities to study with an exceptional faculty of visiting and local artists. Open by audition to ages 12-18. Information on next year’s program is available on the website.

Upcoming:

2017 Gala (March 17). Stars of the American Ballet meet stars of New Orleans Philanthropy. Featuring a gala raffle for a $3,000 shopping spree. At The Roosevelt New Orleans.

Stars of American Ballet Encore! (March 18). Artistic director Daniel Elbricht brings hand-picked, dazzling dancers for a performance of classical masterpieces.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet (April 22). Returning with its rock concert brand of high-octane ballets and a band of thoroughbred dancers, Complexions is led by former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater virtuosos and So You Think You Can Dance alums, Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson.

Jessica Lang Dance (May 13). The troupe has skyrocketed into a major American dance force led by the remarkably gifted Jessica Lang. Hailed by Dance Magazine as a “master of visual composition,” Lang’s technically stunning dancers are back on the main stage with spellbinding, artfully crafted works.

 

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