Christine Goerke Leads Michigan Opera Theatre’s 2021-22 Season

By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Arielle Doneson)

The Michigan Opera Theatre has news on its new season.

The company revealed all of the productions will come in 2021-22, with backup plans, as the course of the coronavirus pandemic continues to be uncertain. All productions will be performed either outdoors or in unusual venues until April 2022.

The company also announced that Christine Goerke will become associate artistic director and noted that she will not reduce her performance schedule due to the new position.

Act One: Out and About

The season will open on May 15 with a concert performance of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana.” Goerke makes her role debut as Santuzza and will be presented at the Meadow Brook Amphitheater in Rochester Hills, Mich. The opera will be conducted by Jader Bignamini.

From Sept. 11-12, Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s opera “Blue” will receive a new production by Kaneza Schaal. Daniela Candillari will conduct. The location and timing have not yet been determined.

Yuval Sharon will stage “Bliss,” Ragnar Kjartansson’s marathon performance piece that loops the same three minutes from Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” for 12 hours.

Act Two: Coming Home 

The company will return indoors on Feb. 26 for Robert Xavier Rodríguez and Migdalia Cruz’s “Frida.” The opera will be conducted by Suzanne Mallare Acton, the company’s assistant music director and will showcase the production by Jose Maria Condemi. Catalina Cuervo as Frida and Ricardo Herrera star in the production which will be shown at the Music Hall.

On April 2 the company will perform Yuval Sharon’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème.” Vimbayi Kaziboni will conduct the opera which will mark the return of the company to teh Detroit Opera House. Matthew White as Rodolfo, Brandie Sutton as Musetta, and Edward Parks as Marcello star.

The new season will close with a newly revised version of Anthony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.”  The production will be presented in May and be conducted by Kazem Abdullah. Davóne Tines stars in the title role and Robert O’Hara directs.

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