ASU Lyric Opera Theatre announces upcoming season

Internationally recognized as one of the few undergraduate and graduate programs providing training in both opera and musical theater, ASU’s Lyric Opera Theatre (LOT) ventures into its 54th season with two operas, two musicals, two new works readings, two student lab productions, and ongoing partnerships with multiple local and national arts organizations.

“Our season features three LOT premieres and two Arizona premieres,” said Brian DeMaris, artistic director of the Lyric Opera Theatre program and associate professor in Arizona State University's School of Music. “We are also proud to continue to represent a diverse array of repertoire and authors. In addition to our four main-stage productions, we have expanded our student lab offerings and will continue our new works series at ASU Kerr Cultural Center. We are also excited to build on our on-going partnerships with Arizona Opera and Phoenix Theatre, and we will be collaborating with the Phoenix Symphony again this year. The academic and professional performance opportunities ASU students receive are extraordinary.”

In addition to four main-stage productions, the program will continue its series of new works readings at ASU Kerr Cultural Center, which were a great success last season. The October reading will be a collaboration with American Lyric Theater presenting a reading of “The Halloween Tree” by Theo Popov and Tony Asaro, based on the novel by Ray Bradbury. The spring reading will feature “Til Death,” a new musical by ASU MFA Playwriting candidate Amanda Prahl and composition alumnus Alexander Tom, in collaboration with the School of Film, Dance and Theatre.

In 2016, ASU musical theater students had the honor of performing with Kristin Chenoweth and the Phoenix Symphony. This season, ASU students will again have the opportunity to be involved with the Phoenix Symphony in a workshop and concert staging of Leonard Bernstein's “West Side Story.” 

Lyric Opera Theatre’s ongoing collaboration with Phoenix Theatre reaches new heights through select classes held in downtown Phoenix and ASU students appearing in numerous Phoenix Theatre productions. The year culminates with the second annual Musical Theatre showcase and alumni night at Phoenix Theatre.

To order tickets and find more information on the complete season, call the Herberger Institute Box Office at 480.965.6447 or visit music.asu.edu/events/lot. 

Ticket prices: $11: Flash Friday; $21: adult (for all dates except Flash Friday); $15: faculty, staff, alumni; $12: senior; $10: group (minimum of 10 tickets); $8: student.

Tickets will go on sale Aug. 1 for the general public. Save 25 percent by ordering tickets to three or more Herberger Institute events per person by Sept. 15. A $2 handling fee applies to all orders, and a web per ticket purchase fee will apply.

Summer box office hours are 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 1:30–4:30 p.m. Monday–Thursday.

ASU Lyric Opera Theatre
2017–2018 Season

“The Bartered Bride”
Music by Bedřich Smetana
English translation by Marion Farquhar
7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, 28 and 30; 2 p.m. Oct. 1
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre

New Works Reading
“The Halloween Tree”
Music by Theo Popov
Libretto by Tony Asaro
Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury
Commissioned by American Lyric Theater
Lawrence Edelson, producing artistic director
6 p.m. Oct. 29
ASU Kerr Cultural Center

“A New Brain”
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by William Finn and James Lapine
7:30 p.m. Nov. 16, 17 and 18; 2 p.m. Nov. 19
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre

Student Lab Production
“Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe”
Book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Christenson
7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 and 13; 2 p.m. Jan. 14
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre

“The Breasts of Tiresias”
Music by Francis Poulenc
Based on the play by Guillaume Apollinaire
 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22, 23 and 24; 2 p.m. Feb. 25
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre

Student Lab Production
“The Fairy Queen”
By Henry Purcell
After Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
 7:30 p.m. March 23 and 24
Diane and Bruce Halle Skyspace Garden
ASU Tempe Campus Biodesign Institute

New Works Reading
“Til Death”
Book and lyrics by Amanda Prahl (ASU M.F.A. Playwriting candidate)
Music by Alexander Tom (ASU alum)
6 p.m. March 25
ASU Kerr Cultural Center

To Be Announced
7:30 p.m. April 13, 14, 20 and 21; 2 p.m. April 15 and 22
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre

Musical Theatre Showcase
8 p.m. April 23
Phoenix Theatre
Free admission

Opera Scenes Performance
7:30 p.m. April 28
Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Free admission