Greenbrier Valley Theatre (GVT), partnering with The Met: Live in HD, will present a simulcast of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Jan. 17 at 12:55 p.m. The broadcast will run approximately three hours with one intermission. A complimentary lecture by Dr. James Caplinger from the University of Charleston will start at 12:15 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for children. For tickets, call the GVT Box Office at 304-645-3838.
Renée Fleming returns to the Met stage to add a new role to her extensive repertory in The Merry Widow. Fleming stars as the beguiling femme fatale who captivates all Paris in Lehár’s enchanting operetta, seen in a new staging by Broadway virtuoso director and choreographer Susan Stroman (The Producers, Oklahoma!, Contact). Stroman and her design team, scenic designer Julian Crouch (Satyagraha, The Enchanted Island) and costume designer William Ivey Long (Cinderella, Grey Gardens, Hairspray) have created an art-nouveau setting that climaxes with singing and dancing grisettes at the legendary Maxim’s. Nathan Gunn co-stars as Danilo and Kelli O’Hara is Valencienne. Andrew Davis conducts.
The delightful operetta will be performed in English, in a new translation by Jeremy Sams. Lehár’s best-known composition has been an audience favorite since its 1905 premiere and features a great deal of well-known music, including the Vilja Song, “Then Off to Chez Maxim,” and the “Merry Widow Waltz.”
“The Met went all out for its new production… with the starry soprano Renée Fleming in the title role of Hanna; the debonair baritone Nathan Gunn as the freewheeling bachelor Count Danilo; and the remarkable Kelli O’Hara, a queen of Broadway, in her Met debut as Valencienne, the coquettish wife of an officious ambassador. Enlivened by sprightly dancing, this colorful production is mostly faithful to the style of the piece. And from the glowing, subtle performance that the conductor Andrew Davis coaxed from the Met orchestra, it’s clear that he loves the 1905 score.” —The New York Times
For tickets, call the GVT Box Office at 304-645-3838.
