Making the transition from opera singer to cabaret performer isn’t an easy one, but Janice Hall has made the journey seamlessly and successfully. After a long career on the international opera stage, Hall joined the New York cabaret scene in 2007 and just four years later won a Bistro Award and MAC Award for her critically acclaimed solo show, Grand Illusions: The Music of Marlene Dietrich. Hall has now created a truly unique new act—The Opera Show (With No Opera)–that merges the two art forms and that will be launched at the Urban Stages Winter Rhythms Series on Saturday, December 16 at 3:00 PM .
In The Opera Show (with No Opera), Hall recounts her own operatic journey, telling the stories of her favorite heroines from productions such as La Boheme, The Barber of Seville, La Traviata and Salome, but relates these tales through music by writers as diverse as Noel Coward, Stephen Sondheim, Maury Yeston, Jimmy McHugh, Van Morrison, Alicia Keys, The Smashing Pumpkins, Ahrens & Flaherty, the late Barry Levitt (to whose memory the series of concert events is dedicated) and director Peter Napolitano, and more. Press notes promise, “At this cabaret show, you’ll laugh and you’ll cry . . . just like at the opera.” Musical direction by Matthew Martin Ward.
About Janice Hall: As a child growing up in Aurora, Colorado, Janice Hall wanted to be an actress (or a movie star), but was instead seduced by the opera world and that led to a career that has taken to the Vienna State Opera, London’s Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival, the Komische Oper Berlin, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and to Israel and Australia. In the U.S., she has appeared with the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Santa Fe Opera and the New York City Opera, among others. She has worked with some of the world’s great directors, and starred in the 1996 Emmy Award-winning telecast of La Traviata in the PBS series “Live from Lincoln Center,” directed by legendary soprano Renata Scotto. After living for many years in Europe, Janice returned to the U.S. and in the fall of 2010 she presented her first solo cabaret show, the aforementioned Grand Illusions: The Music of Marlene Dietrich, at New York’s Metropolitan Room. Her performances earned her the 2011 Bistro Award for Outstanding Tribute Show, and the 2012 MAC Award (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) for Best Female Vocalist.
About the Urban Stages Winter Rhythms Series 2017: Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and Producer/Director of Musical Theatre Peter Napolitano are presenting this ninth annual award-winning series from December 12-23 at the Urban Stages Theatre on 259 West 30th Street. The 12-Night celebration featuring more than 100 performing artists in 22 different cabaret, musical theatre, and jazz shows benefits the Urban Stages Arts & Education Outreach Program. This year’s series, and opening night concert on December 12 at 7:00 PM, is dedicated to the life and music of the late Barry Levitt, celebrated musician, musical director and composer. For complete schedule and ticket information and reservations, go to: www.urbanstages.org.
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Urban Stages Theatre is located at 259 West 30 Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) in Manhattan.
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