Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell. Don't get her mad.
We’ve talked about THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and THE CHERRY ORCHARD here, so, thrilled as we are to be bringing them to our huge screen from Broadway and London, we won’t go on about it. But: once you’ve seen EARNEST on 6/6, you will want to join us for a TONY AWARDS PARTY on 6/12, if only to root for Brian Bedford as Best Actor for his brilliant turn as Lady Bracknell.
So here’s something else exciting. The Metropolitan Opera’s amazing program of satellite transmissions, The Met: Live in HD, is very popular here at the Lark, with most live broadcasts selling out. But we know there’s an audience we’ve yet to reach: people who maybe love theater and musicals but haven’t quite made it over to opera yet, or people on fixed incomes for whom the ticket prices pose a challenge.
Is this you? Then you’ll want to know that starting in June we have the Met’s Summer Encore Series, six of the most popular and accessible shows from the past season, for only $15 each.
Simple gestures movingly convey a child's curiosity, concern and tenderness.
We start with Puccini’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY on Sat, 6/18 at 10am. The insanely beautiful, colorful staging of Anthony Mighella’s production and the music – you’ve heard the heart-piercing aria “Un bel di vedrema,” even if you don’t know it – make this a great introduction if you’re new to opera, or new to opera onscreen. Film-goers know Minghella from THE ENGLISH PATIENT). The production is also graced by the astonishing work of London’s Blind Summit Theatre, which created Cio-Cio San’s puppet child. Read about the production here.
Cio-Cio San and her puppet son. Puppeteers are fully visible but go unnoticed.
As always, there’s lots going on here at the Lark. The Moore-o-Nettes’ Marionette show (Saturday, 3/21) is almost sold out. Great to see so much local enthusiasm for this special form of performing art, which is so deeply traditional and yet which invites such wildly original creativity. We always welcome an opportunity to use our space – designed for film but also a beautiful concert setting – in a new and different way.
In Met Opera news, our live transmission and first encore performance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly sold so quickly that we had to add a second encore, coming up on Wednesday, 3/18 at 7:00pm. The insanely beautiful, colorful staging of this production and the music – you’ve heard the heart-piercing aria “Un bel di vedrema,” even if you don’t know it – make this a great introduction if you’re new to opera, or new to opera onscreen. Just days later we’ll be showing the next opera in the Met’s season, La Sonnambula with soprano Natalie Dessay. There are still tickets available for the encore presentation on Sunday, March 22. The New Yorker magazine had an interesting profile of Dessay in its March 2 issue which will give you some juicy background if you’re already planning coming to the show, and probably convince you to come if you weren’t. Here’s a run-down.
Also upcoming is that family classic you have to see at least once on the big screen, The Sound of Music; some great live music; and our annual Youth Film Festival. Please check our website for details: www.larktheater.net. You can find us on Facebook too!
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