Credit: hpousner
Credit: hpousner
MUSIC
Atlanta Opera, Rialto partner to present 'Soldier Stories'
The Atlanta Opera's performances of the contemporary opera "Soldier Songs" at the Rialto Center for the Arts from Nov. 11 to 15 will mark two firsts: the Southeastern premiere of David T. Little much-lauded work and the first time the opera company has performed downtown.
The Atlanta Opera-Rialto partnership was announced Tuesday at the Georgia State University arts center. "Soldier Songs" was previously announced as part of the opera's 2015-16 season; now the Rialto will include it in its previously announced 2015-16 subscription season.
Credit: hpousner
Credit: hpousner
“Opera, and music overall, is critical to the growth of any city, but especially to one as diverse as Atlanta,” Atlanta Opera’s General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun said.
The production, part of the company's Discoveries series being launched this weekend with "Three Decembers" at the Alliance Theatre, will feature projections, dramatic staging and Little's score. The libretto by the Opera Philadelphia composer-in-residence was based on interviews with soldiers from five wars.
Baritone Matthew Worth was previously announced for the lead role of a soldier whose story is dramatized over six decades.
The seven-piece accompanying ensemble will include GSU associate professor of percussion Stuart W. Gerber.
"Soldier Songs" tickets will be available in August. For information on it or "Three Decembers," running May 29-31: 404-881-8885, www.atlantaopera.org.
THEATER
Performance benefits wrongfully convicted
Top Atlanta acting talent will join forces for a June 1 benefit for the Georgia Innocence Project, a nonprofit that assists individuals who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit.
The actors will perform a script reading of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s “The Exonerated,” telling true stories of six wrongfully convicted survivors of death row. Bringing it to life will be Keith Arthur Bolden, Amber Chaney, Rob Cleveland, LaLa Cochran, Brian Kurlander, Daniel Thomas May, Robert Mello, Eric J. Little and Stephan Jones. Clarence Harrison and Eddie James Lowery, who themselves were exonerated with the help of the Innocence Project, will speak after the 7:30 p.m. performance.
$35. Synchronicity Theatre, One Peachtree Pointe, 1545 Peachtree St. N.E., #102, Atlanta. Info: 404-617-3555. Tickets: http://bpt.me/1589180.
