For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jason M.A. Walter | 808-596-7372 ext. 211 | j_walter@hawaiiopera.org
Hawaii Opera Theatre’s ‘Opera for Everyone’ program
Honolulu, HI – The Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT) Education Program will once more bring Opera for Everyone to the Blaisdell. Since 1991, HOT’s Opera for Everyone Program offers students from elementary through high school and college classes (age 24 and under) the opportunity to enjoy the live opera experience for $7 at the Final Dress Rehearsal of each production. Teachers and others working with Hawaii’s youth may reserve seating for the final full orchestra dress rehearsal. The last day to sign up for tickets is October 7, 2013.
The first Opera for Everyone of the 2013-2014 Opera season features Turandot and will be held on Wednesday, October 9, starting at 7pm. Turandot was composed by Giacomo Puccini, who died before its completion. It was first performed in 1926 after Franco Alfano used Puccini’s own notes and outlines to complete the opera. Famously on its opening night, Maestro Arturo Toscanini did not perform Alfano’s ending. During the performance, the conductor laid down his baton right after Liù’s final scene and addressed the audience, saying, “Here the Maestro died.”
Turandot is based upon Gozzi’s dramatic fairy-tale about a barbarian prince who journeys to an unknown city. There, he is reunited with his father and a faithful servant. He also encounters a cold but beautiful woman, the Princess Turandot, and decides to undertake his greatest challenge—winning her love… Should he fail, the price is death! This story also focuses on the questions of family loyalty, faithfulness to duty, openness to emotion, and honesty with oneself.
HOT’s Education team will also be conducting backstage tours on the morning of the final day of production October 15 (tours at 900a, 1000a, 1100a) for students of its School Residency Program. The HOT Residency program is available for elementary, middle and high schools. During the Residency Program, the HOT Education team leads students and teachers through the process of producing and performing an opera. Schools participating this year include Waikele Elementary, Pearl Highlands Elementary, and Blanche Pope Elementary.
Sung in Italian, with English language translations projected above the stage, HOT’s production of Turandot will be performed by an award-winning cast including Soprano Susan Foster, whose renowned performances as the title character in productions around the world, include stops at San Francisco Opera & Opera Australia. Grammy Award winning Tenor Jay Hunter Morris, whose vaunted performance as a late-addition to Wagner’s Ring Cycle on 8 days notice made him a rising star, returns to HOT, where he last performed in La boheme (2003). Mr. Morris will be making his debut as the courageous Calàf, who despite the odds against him, aspires to win the heart of his beloved Turandot.
To learn more about HOT’s Education Program, please contact Erik D. Haines, Director of Education, at e_haines@hawaiiopera.org. For tickets to Opera For Everyone, please contact Blythe Kelsey, Education Coordinator, at b_kelsey@hawaiiopera.org.
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