Stage Director

Opera Philadelphia proudly presents the American premiere of "The Listeners," a thrilling new opera with music by Missy Mazzoli and libretto by Royce Vavrek. This captivating work, based on an original story by Jordan Tannahill, is performed in English with English supertitles and explores the seductive power of cults and charismatic leaders in a divided nation. The opera delves into the lengths Americans are willing to go to find a sense of place and purpose, and how confident, charming leaders can exploit these needs.

Set in a southwestern U.S. suburb, "The Listeners" follows a middle-class mother, soprano Nicole Heaston in her company debut, who notices a mysterious hum that only a select few can hear. As a community organization forms to investigate, meetings led by the de facto leader Kevin Burdette take on a cult-like atmosphere, leading to a potentially destructive path.

The opera is scheduled for performances at the Academy of Music on Wednesday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m., Friday, September 27 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, September 29 at 2:00 p.m. The runtime is approximately 2 hours and 23 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.

"The Listeners" is a co-commission and co-production with Norwegian National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season's production is supported by the Artistry Now Matching Fund, Barbara Augusta Teichert, and major support from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program.

The cast and creative team feature Corrado Rovaris as conductor, Lileana Blain-Cruz as director, and a talented ensemble including Troy Cook, Lindsey Reynolds, Kevin Burdette, Aaron Crouch, and many more, bringing this powerful story to life.

Don't miss the opportunity to experience this groundbreaking opera that examines the sound of a divided nation through the lens of an extraordinary musical and theatrical journey.

EPSG:4326

The Listeners

Academy of Music

A thriller about social rejection, suburban loneliness, and the seductive power of cults and charismatic leaders in a divided nation.

Eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed opera-oratorio, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day, in an extraordinarily dramatic retelling of the Nativity. El Niño brings together three of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all of whom make highly anticipated company debuts: Marin Alsop, one of the great conductors of our time, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres; soprano Julia Bullock, a leading voice on and off stage; and pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Radiant mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack take turns completing the principal trio. The moving, fully-staged new production also marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, who received universal acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth.

El Niño

Lincoln Center

FLEX tells the story of a girls’ high school basketball team from Plainnole, Arkansas. It’s 1997, and the women of the Lady Train team are inspired by the successes of the WNBA. With aspirations of going pro, they must first navigate the pressures of being young, Black, and female in rural Arkansas. Will their fouls off the court tear their team apart? Or can they keep their pact to stick together through hell or high water? This powerful new play by Candrice Jones celebrates the fierce athleticism of women’s basketball with all the adrenaline and swagger of a four-quarter game. Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz (The Skin of Our Teeth, Pipeline, Marys Seacole).

Flex

The first thing the composer will tell you is that “Stranger Love is not practical.” It’s six hours of music and theater with an orchestra built on three microtonal pianos. But at a time when everything in our lives is cut shorter and shorter, taking six hours to discover “a world where time bends to love like gravity, and moments of bliss, of fear and of rapture—the moments in which you’ve felt most alive—are the pillars that hold up the fabric of the stars” is entirely the point. Not practical? Perhaps. But in this modern world, it might be essential.
Stranger Love is the fruit of a conversation between Mattingly and librettist Thomas Bartscherer about music and language over many years. It follows two lovers whose romance unfolds to the rhythm of the seasons. Inspired in part by the structure of Plato’s Symposium and set on a vast time scale against the ever-expanding universe, it broadens in scope and frame over the course of three acts, moving from the personal to the archetypical to a vision of the divine—a love supreme.

Stranger Love

Walt Disney Concert Hall

An exploratory journey through an artist’s mind. Moving between memory and fiction, recollection and contemplation, joy and despair, we follow a woman reconciling with what it means to be an artist from a country in crisis. Journeying between the mountains of Haiti, the beaches of Miami, and the skylines of New York City she wrestles with the chaos of the world and memories of what other artists have done in the midst of political turmoil.  Create Dangerously is a compassionate and brave look at what it means to make art in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Create Dangerously

Colony Theatre

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 Greek myth and opera are re-imagined through a classical and jazz-infused score and deeply poetic libretto. Two of the most visionary and daring musical voices of our time embark on a staged intervention into myth-making. spalding leads a company of nineteen vocalists and chamber orchestra, with Shorter's venerated jazz trio at its center.

(Iphigenia)

The Broad Stage

A living legend of jazz collaborates with one of the brightest lights of the younger generation in the West Coast premiere of a Cal Performances co-commission that reimagines what opera can be, and asks us to reexamine the stories we have inherited and the choices we make as a society.Wayne Shorter, 11-time Grammy-winning composer and saxophonist, has written the music, and esperanza spalding, 2022 Grammy nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album, four-time Grammy-winning bassist, composer, and vocalist, is the librettist and plays the title role in Iphigenia, a radical new take on Euripides’ ancient Greek play Iphigenia in Aulis. Classical and jazz forms collide in an expansive score that features Shorter’s groundbreaking method of symphonic improvisation, lifting up Spalding’s artfully poetic and fractured libretto.The fully staged work is performed by a 28-piece chamber ensemble; the rhythm section of Shorter’s venerated quartet (Shorter himself does not perform); a cast of nine vocalists; and a chorus of 10 singers; with set design by icon Frank Gehry and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. As spalding explains, “Our Iphigenia has at its core a sense of autonomy—in this adventure of life, you have freedom of choice. The overarching sentiment is one of humanistic love, of wanting to re-awaken the dreams of youth free of the pressures of adulthood.”

Jazz: WAYNE SHORTER & ESPERANZA SPALDING’S …(Iphigenia)

University of California, Berkeley

**Event: BUST**

**Dates:** February 13 - March 16, 2025

**Location:** Coca-Cola Stage, Alliance Theatre

**Overview:**
BUST is a groundbreaking, form-defying new drama that promises to be a laugh-out-loud experience with a deep and poignant message. Written by Pulitzer-Prize finalist playwright Zora Howard and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, this world premiere is a co-production with Goodman Theatre and produced in association with Sonia Friedman Productions, Khaliah Neal, and Thomas Swayne.

**Synopsis:**
The play unfolds on a typical evening with Retta and Reggie enjoying their time on the porch, when their longtime neighbor encounters a police stop just before reaching his driveway. What starts as a routine incident spirals into an unexpected and surreal examination of freedom and the cost of being Black in America. Through humor, spectacle, and surrealism, BUST interrogates these themes under the masterful direction of Lileana Blain-Cruz, acclaimed by The New York Times for her ability to curate chaos.

**Venue Information:**
The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre is renowned for its state-of-the-art proscenium theater. It offers an intimate and comfortable setting that is acoustically sensitive, ensuring an unparalleled theater experience for all patrons.

**Location Details:**
- **Address:** Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
- **Parking:** Available at the Woodruff Arts Center Parking Garage on Arts Center Way between 15th & 16th Street, with rates ranging from $10-15.
- **Public Transit:** Easily accessible via the Arts Center MARTA Station and the Arts Center Transit Station.

**Become a Member:**
Attendees are encouraged to become members of the Alliance Theatre to enjoy a range of benefits and support the arts.

**For More Information:**
To learn more about BUST, view the program, or meet the generous sponsors of this event, please visit the Alliance Theatre's official website or contact the box office for tickets and additional details.

BUST

Alliance Theatre

The Lyric Opera of Chicago proudly presents "The Listeners," a compelling new opera by the acclaimed composer/librettist team Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek. This gripping narrative follows Claire, a woman tormented by an incessant, low-frequency hum that only she can hear. In her quest for relief, Claire joins a group called The Listeners, dedicated to uncovering the source of the noise and eliminating it. However, the organization takes a dark turn, evolving into a cult-like entity with catastrophic consequences. 

Under the baton of Music Director Enrique Mazzola and the visionary direction of Lileana Blain-Cruz, the production promises a vocally and dramatically powerful experience. The opera is sung in English with projected English titles, ensuring accessibility for all attendees. The performance features a stellar cast, including Nicole Heaston as Claire, Kyle Ketelsen as Howard, and Jasmine Habersham as Ashley, among others. 

The Lyric Opera House will host this event, offering additional accessibility features such as audio-described performances, touch tours for patrons with low vision, and ASL-interpreted performances. The innovative SoundShirt technology will also be available, allowing wearers to feel the music through touch sensations. 

"The Listeners" is co-commissioned and co-produced by Lyric Opera of Chicago, Norwegian National Opera, and Opera Philadelphia, with generous support from the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation and the Zell Family Foundation. This production is set to be one of the most significant operatic events of the 2024/25 season, showcasing the exceptional talents of its cast and creative team.

Lileana Blain-Cruz

Stage Director

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 13 - Mar 16, 2025

BUST · Alliance Theatre

Mar 30 - Apr 11, 2025

The Listeners · Lyric Opera of Chicago

Past events

25 - 29 Sep, 2024

The Listeners · Opera Philadelphia

25 - 29 Sep, 2024

The Listeners · FringeArts

About

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