Phoenix Big Cinemas

  Legends 14 Theatre –
    913-428-2992
    1841 Village West Parkway
    Kansas City, KS 66111
 

  Worldgate 9 Theatres –
    703-318-9290
    13025 Worldgate Drive
    Herndon, VA 20170
 

Otello, Verdi

PERFORMED AT THE SALZBURG FESTIVAL, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre



Showings:

   Thurs, Feb 11 at 7:00pm

   Sun, Feb 14 at 1:00p

CAST
Aleksandrs Antonenko (Otello)
Marina Poplavskaya (Desdemona)
Carlos Alvarez (Jago)
Barbara Di Castri (Emilia)
Stephen Costello (Cassio)
Antonello Ceron (Roderigo)
Mikhail Petrenko (Lodovico)
Simone Del Savio (Montano)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Director: Stephen Langridge
Sets: George Souglides 
Costumes: Emma Ryott
Lights: Giuseppe Di lorio

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Running time: 2 hours 37 min plus one intermission

THE STORY

Otello, the haunting Shakespearian tale of revenge and jealousy, has captivated audiences for centuries. The wicked Iago convinves Otello that Desdemona, Otello’s new wife, is unfaithful. Iago insinuates that she is having an affair with Cassio, who just received a promotion that Iago wanted for himself. Otello is driven mad with jealousy, despite the scant evidence of his wife’s alleged infidelity. The frightened and innocent Desdemona tries in vain to defend herself, but Iago’s treachery takes its final toll: Otello strangles his wife in her bedchamber. Horrified, Iago’s wife (and  Desdemona’s handmaiden) Emilia reveals Iago’s scheme, Iago escapes, but Otello, devastated by his own actions, kills himself, while his lips kiss the pure Desdemona one final time.

Don Quixote, Minkus

PERFORMED AT MARIINSKY THEATRE, ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thurs, Feb 25 at 7:00pm

Sun, Feb 28 at 1:00pm

CAST

Vladimir Ponomarev (Don Quixote)
Anton Lukovkin (Sancho Panza)
Igor Petrov (Lorenzo)
Olesia Novikova (Kitri)
Leonid Sarafanov (Basil)
Vladimir Lepeev (Gamache)
Andrei Merkuriev (Espada)
Yekaterina Kondaurova (Street dancer)
Yana Selina, Yana Serebriakova  (Flower-sellers)
Alina Somova (Queen of the Dryads)
Yevgenia Obraztsova (Cupid)
Galina Rakhmanova (Mercedes)
Alexander Efremov (The tavern owner)
Polina Rassadina, Nikolai Zubkovsky (Gypsy dance)
Ti Yon Riu (Oriental dance)
Elena Bazhenova, Karen Ioannisyan (Fandango)
Olga Esina (Variation)

PRODUCTION

Music: Ludwig Minkus
Conductor: Pavel Bubelnikov

Choreographer: Alexander Gorsky after Marius Petipa
Scenographer: Alexander Golovin & Konstantin Korovin
Costume Designer: Konstantin Korovin
Lighting: Igor Suvorov

Running time: 110 minutes

THE STORY

Don Quixote is a ballet known for its colorful characters that portray their personalities and emotions through distinct choreography. Petipa's version of Don Quixote, to the music of Minkus, is the standard ballet version of the tale and features the popular virtuoso pas de deux that has been performed countless times as a concert piece.

Carmen, Bizet

PERFORMED AT TEATRO ALLA SCALA, MILAN, ITALY

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thurs, March 18 at 7:00pm

Sun, March 21 at 1:00pm

PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Staging & Costumes: Emma Dante
Sets: Richard Peduzzi
Lights: Dominique Bruguière

Running time: 3 hours plus one intermission

THE STORY

Carmen is the story of fatal attraction between Carmen, the hot-blooded gypsy, and Don José, the upstanding corporal in the Spanish army who’s already engaged to another woman. Don José begins to fall for Carmen as she sings the famous song of seduction, the Habañera. When he helps her avoid arrest, he is thrown in prison. Upon his release, he seeks her out; as a result, his life continues to unravel. Upon hearing his mother is dying, he heads home, vowing to Carmen that they will be together again soon. When he returns, he discovers Carmen in a rapturous affair with Escamillo, a dashing toreador. Don José, now bitter and angry, stabs her to death just as Escamillo wins the fight in the bullring. As the spectators leave the arena, Don José throws himself on her dead body and confesses his guilt.

Stravinsky & The Ballets Russes:
Firebird, The Wedding and The Rite of Spring

PERFORMED AT MARIINSKY THEATRE, ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thurs, March 25 at 7:00pm

Sun, March 28 at 1:00pm

CHOREOGRAPHED BY

Michel Fokine

Bronislava Nijinska
Vaslav Nijinsky

STARRING

Alexandra Iosifidi

Yekaterina Kondaurova

Running time:  110 minutes

THE STORY

The Firebird

Young prince Ivan finds himself in the terrible realm of the Kashchei, the immortal, who imprisons women and transforms men into stone. Not realizing the danger, Ivan wanders through the bewitched garden of Kashchei where he meets the dazzling Firebird.  Struck by the Firebird’s beauty, Ivan chases and eventually captures her.  She tries to escape and begs for her freedom, promising to help Ivan in exchange for it. That evening Ivan encounters 13 maidens and falls passionately in love with one of them. The next morning, when the maidens, who are Kashchei’s prisoners, are forced by magic to return to the castle, Ivan follows them. Ivan is captured by Kashchei's servants, but the Firebird, true to it’s pledge, intervenes & bewitches them.  She then tells Ivan the secret of Kashchei’s immortality: his spirit, in the form of an egg. Ivan destroys it, killing Kashchei, and all celebrate their freedom.

The Wedding: A ballet in four scenes

The ballet goes through the entire story of a Russian peasant wedding. The 1^st scene the bride prepares for her coming marriage. We then see the bridegroom asking his family to give the marriage their blessing. The 3^rd scene depicts the bride’s departure from her family, and finally the ballet culminates in the actual wedding feast.

The Rite of Spring

The ballet is a series of episodes depicting a wild pagan spring ritual. The elders are offering a young girl as a sacrifice to the God of Spring, in order to gain his benevolence. Divided in two parts: Adoration of the Earth and The Sacrifice.

Il Trovatore, Verdi

PERFORMED AT GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU, BARCELONA, SPAIN

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thurs, April 15 at 7:00pm

Sun, April 18 at 1:00pm

CAST
Fiorenza Cedolins (Leonora)
Marco Berti (Manrico)
Luciana D'Intino (Azucena)
Roberto Frontali (Conte Di Luna)
Paata Burchuladze (Fernando)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor: Marco Armiliato
Stage Director: Gilbert Deflo
Sets & Costumes: William Orlandi
Lights: Joël Hourbeigt

Running time: 2 hours 45 min plus one intermission

THE STORY

Count Di Luna and Manrico, the wandering minstrel or “Il Trovatore” of the title, are rivals for Lady Leonora’s love. When Leonora declares her love for Manrico, Count Di Luna and Manrico duel. Although Manrico has the chance to kill Di Luna, a mysterious force from within him allows Di Luna to live. That force, revealed later in the opera, is a fraternal bond: Manrico and Di Luna are actually brothers, separated at birth by a gypsy who placed a curse on Di Luna. The gypsy was burnt at the stake for her witchcraft. As revenge, her daughter Azucena attempted to throw Di Luna’s brother into the fire, but accidentally threw her own baby instead. She took the  brother, Manrico, and raised him as her own son! Azucena’s identity is discovered by Di Luna, and he orders her to be burnt at the stake, just like her mother. Leonora and Manrico postpone their elopement so that Manrico can save his adoptive mother, but he is captured by Di Luna. Di Luna agrees to let them live—but only if Leonora will give herself over. Leonora agrees, but secretly swallows poison. Leonora bursts into the prison cell to tell Manrico that he has been saved. He realizes the terrible price of his freedom and denounces her, but very quickly the poison takes effect, and Leonora dies in his arms. Angry at losing his ransomed bride, Di Luna orders Manrico executed immediately. Azucena sees him killed and cries out that her mother has been avenged: Di Luna has murdered his own brother!

LIVE Performance

The Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart

          (Die Entführung aus dem Serail)

PERFORMED AT GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU, BARCELONA, SPAIN

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Wednesday, April 21:

    LIVE 2pm EST/ 1pm CST

    Replay 8pm EST/ 7pm CST

CAST
Diana Damrau (Constanze)

Olga Peretyatko (Blondchen)

Christoph Strehl (Belmonte)

Norbert Ernst (Pedrillo)

Franz-Josef Selig (Osmin)

Christoph Quest (Selim)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor: Ivor Bolton

Stage Director: Christof Loy       

Stage & costume design: Herbert Murauer  

Lighting Design: Olaf Winter

Running time:  3hrs 20 min plus intermission(s)

THE STORY

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Escape from the Seraglio) is a Singspiel by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. First performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1782, it was composed under the patronage of Emperor Josef  II as part of his plan to create a German national opera, though in fact it follows the pattern of Italian opera buffa and French opéra-comique. The quality of the music - both vocal and instrumental - did however signify the renewal of the genre. In terms of plot it is a turquerie, a type of work that conjured up the exotic image of the Near East that was fashionable at the time, while providing a vehicle for social and political criticism. Konstanze, a noble Spanish lady, her English servant Blonde, and Pedrillo, the servant of Konstanze's fiancé Belmonte, have been abducted by Moorish pirates and handed over to the Pasha Selim, who imprisons them in his seraglio. Selim soon falls in love with Konstanze, while Osmin, their coarse, cruel jailer, attempts to woo Blonde. Belmonte manages to enter the palace in a bid to rescue them. But just as the two couples are about to flee, they are captured by Selim, who is the counter-figure of the modern, enlightened monarch, but decides, nevertheless, to pardon and release them.

LIVE Performance

Simon Boccanegra, Verdi

PERFORMED AT TEATRO ALLA SCALA, MILAN, ITALY

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thursday, April 29:

    LIVE 2pm EST/ 1pm CST

    Replay 8pm EST/ 7pm CST

CAST
Plácido Domingo  (Simon Boccanegra)
Ferruccio Furlanetto (Jacopo Fiesco)

Amelia (Adriana Damato)

Fabio Sartori (Gabriele Adorno)

Massimo Cavalletti (Paolo Albiani) Ernesto Panariello (Pietro)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim

Staging: Federico Tiezzi

Sets: Maurizio Balò

Costumes: Giovanna Buzzi

Lights: AJ Weissbard

Running time: 2 hrs 50 min plus 1 intermission

THE STORY

Simon Boccanegra is a story about politics and love—a deadly combination. Simon Boccanegra is the Doge of Genoa, but twenty-five years earlier he fathered a child with Marie, the daughter of his then-political rival Fiesco. Marie died while still young, and their daughter disappeared. Ever since Boccanegra came to power, Fiesco has lived under an assumed name out in the country with his adopted daughter Amelia. Amelia is actually Boccanegra’s daughter, and thus Fiesco’s granddaughter, but at first neither man knows it. Fiesco attempts to give her in marriage to man she doesn’t love, but once Boccanegra find out her true identity, he lobbies to have her wed to her true love, Gabriele, even though Gabriele has been secretly plotting against the Doge with the exiled Fiesco. Gabriele and Fiesco still do not know Amelia’s true identity, so they continue with their plans to kill the Doge. Boccanegra is tricked into drinking poison by one of Fiesco’s friends, but shortly before he dies, Amelia’s identity is revealed to Gabriele, who begs the Doge for forgiveness. The benevolent Boccanegra forgives him and blesses the marriage of Gabriele and Amelia. Soon, Fiesco also finds out Amelia’s lineage, and when the Doge dies, everyone—even his former rivals—mourn the passing of the great man.
 

L’Orfeo, Monteverdi

PERFORMED AT TEATRO ALLA SCALA

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thurs, May 20 at 7:00pm

Sun, May 23 at 1:00pm

CAST
Georg Nigl (Orpheus)
Roberta Invernizzi (Music, Eurydice)
Sara Mingardo (Messenger, Hope)
Luca Dordolo (First shepherd)
Leonardo Cortellazzi (Second shepherd)
Martin Oro (Third shepherd)
Luigi De Donato (Charon)
Raffaella Milanesi (Proserpine)
Giovanni Battista Parodi (Pluto)
Furio Zanasi (Apollo)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor: Rinaldo Alessandrini
Staging, Sets & Lights:
 Robert Wilson
Director's Collaborator:
Giuseppe Frigeni
Costumes: Jacques Reynaud

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Running time: 1 hours 53 min plus one intermission

THE STORY: An Opera in 5 acts.

The Prologue begins with a narrator, The Music, as she explains the power of music illustrated by the story of Orfeo. Orfeo and Euridice are celebrating their wedding day. While recalling his past, Orfeo receives the news that Euridice has been bitten by a snake and died. Determined to bring her back, he goes to Hades to bargain with the King of Shadow. Hope accompanies Orfeo to the entrance. Orfeo charms Caronte, the guardian of Hades, by using his lyre and the beauty of his singing. As Caronte falls asleep, Orfeo plunges into the depths. Proserpina, the queen of Hades, is moved by Orfeo’s music, and persuades Plutone, King of Hades, to let Euridice go. Plutone agrees on one condition: Orfeo shall not look back as Euridice follows him back to Earth. Orfeo begins his ascent from Hades; his doubts, however, urge him to look at Euridice and she dies. Orfeo is consumed by grief. Apollo, his father, takes him to the heavens, where he will be able to cherish the image of Euridice forever.

LIVE Performance

Das Rheingold, Wagner

PERFORMED AT TEATRO ALLA SCALA, MILAN, ITALY

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Wednesday, May 26:

    LIVE 2pm EST/ 1pm CST

    Replay 8pm EST/ 7pm CST

CAST
René Pape (Wotan)

Stephan Rügamer (Loge)

Johannes Martin Kraenzle (Alberich)

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperracke (Mime)

Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Fasolt)

Timo Riihonen (Fafner)

Katharina Kammerloher (Fricka)

Anna Samuil (Freia)

Anna Larsson (Erda)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Music and Libretto: Richard Wagner

Conductor: Daniel Barenboim

Staging and Sets: Guy Cassiers

Sets and Lights: Enrico Bagnoli

Costumes: Tim Van Steenbergen

Sung in German with English subtitles

Running time:  2 hours 47 minutes (no intermission)

THE STORY

Das Rheingold begins Wagner’s four-opera epic, Der Ring, or “The Ring Cycle,” as it commonly called in the US. Alberich, a dwarf from Nibelheim, steals the gold from the Rheinmaidens fashioning it into a ring bearing limitless power. Wotan, supreme ruler of the gods, has cut a deal with the Giants, Fasolt and Fafner; they will build Valhalla in exchange for his wife’s sister, Freia. The Giants hear of Alberich’s ring and demand it as payment in lieu of Freia, who they take as a hostage. Wotan and Loge (god of fire) journey to Nibelheim to find the ring, where they discover that Alberich has enslaved the Nibelung dwarves and acquired a magic helmet, rendering him even more powerful. Wotan and Loge trick Alberich, who is forced to surrender his gold , the helmet, and the ring. Distraught, Alberich lays a curse on the ring; whoever does not possess it will desire it, and whoever possesses it will receive unhappiness and death. Fasolt and Fafner return with Freia, demanding payment. Erda, the earth goddess warns Wotan to surrender the cursed ring for his own good. The Giants are left to fight over the ring and Fafner kills Fasolt. As the gods prepare to enter their new Kingdom, Loge considers destroying them for what they have wrongly acquired while the Rheinmaidens mourn the loss of their gold.

Falstaff, Verdi

PERFORMED AT OPÉRA ROYAL DE WALLONIE, LIÈGE, BELGIUM

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thurs, June 17 at 7:00pm

Sun, June 20 at 1:00pm

CAST
Ruggero Raimondi (Sir John Falstaff)
Luca Salsi (Ford)
Virginia Tola (Mrs Alice Ford)
Sabina Puértolas (Nannetta)
Tiberius Simu (Fenton)
Cinzia De Mola (Mistress Quickly)
Liliana Mattei (Mrs. Meg Page)
Gregory Bonfatti (Dr. Caius)
Pietro Picone (Bardolfo)
Luciano Montanaro (Pistola)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Conductor: Paolo Arrivabeni
Director, Choreographer, Sets, Costumes and Lights: Stefano Poda
Chorus Master: Marcel Seminara

Sung in Italian with English subtitles

Running time: 2 hours 50 min plus one intermission

THE STORY

Falstaff, the bumbling, portly knight who has a habit of stealing the show in various Shakespeare plays, takes center stage in Verdi’s final opera. Two wealthy matrons, Alice Ford and Meg Page, receive identical love notes from Falstaff. The offended (and slightly amused) women decide to have their revenge by pulling some pranks on Falstaff, with the help of Nannetta (Alice’s daughter) and Dame Quickly. Alice feigns attraction to the oaf, but when her husband returns home, angered after hearing word that his wife was having a romantic rendezvous, Alice convinces Falstaff to hide in a tub of dirty laundry which she tosses out the window and into the muddy river. Falstaff plays the fool again when he agrees to meet Alice in the park at midnight. The entire ensemble dresses up as goblins and fairies and tricks him into believing that the park is haunted. Only after he begs for mercy do they reveal their true identities. In the confusion, Mr. Ford accidentally blesses the marriage of his daughter Nannetta to her true love, of which he had previously disapproved. Both Mr. Ford and Falstaff are in good humor about being tricked, though, and the opera ends with everyone celebrating the mirthful aspects of life.
 

LIVE Performance

The Queen of Spades, Tchaikovsky

PERFORMED AT GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU, BARCELONA, SPAIN

Theatres:
Worldgate 9 Theatre
Legends 14 Theatre


Showings:

Thursday, July 1:

    LIVE 2pm EST/ 1pm CST

    Replay 8pm EST/ 7pm CST

CAST
Emily Magee (Lisa)

Ben Heppner (Gherman)

Lado Ataneli (Tomsky/Zlatogor)

Ludovic Tézier (Prince Yeletsky)

Ewa Podlés (The Countess)

Elena Zaremba (Pauline)

Francisco Vas (Chekalinsky)

Alberto Feria (Tsurin)

Mihail Vekua (Chaplitsky)

Kurt Gysen (Narumov)       

Stefania Toczyska (The Governess)

Claudia Schneider (Masha)             

Jon Plazaola (The Master of Ceremonies)

Michelle Marie Cook (Prilepa)

PRODUCTION TEAM
 Conductor: Michael Boder

Stage Director: Gilbert Deflo

Sets &Costume Design: William Orlandi

Lighting Design: Albert Faura

Choreography: Nadejda Loujine

Running time:  3hrs 45min plus 2 intermissions

THE STORY

Gherman, a soldier, falls in love with the wealthy Lisa, who is already engaged to Prince Yeletsky. Lisa confesses to Gherman that she is actually in love with him and not her betrothed. Gherman’s friends tell him that Lisa’s grandmother knows a card trick that makes her win every time, thus her nickname, “The Queen of Spades.” Gherman becomes obsessed with learning the secret, convinced that once he discovered it, it would solve all his problems. When Gherman tries to intimidate the old woman into revealing her secret, she dies of fright. Lisa sends Gherman away, distraught.

Alone in a wintery cabin, the ghost of Lisa’s grandmother appears to Gherman and reveals the card trick. Gherman rushes to meet Lisa by the banks of a frozen river, but it soon becomes apparent that he has gone mad. After he abandons her, Lisa realizes that all hope is lost, and throws herself into the icy river. Gherman goes to the army barracks and joins a game of cards, using the secret that the apparition of the Queen of Spades taught him. It was a trick, however, and Gherman ends up losing everything—all his money, and the love of his life. He kills himself, asking for forgiveness.