Maryland Opera Studio presents Proving Up at Clarice Smith, Feb 18

Maryland Opera Studio presents Proving Up at Clarice Smith, Feb 18

Maryland Opera Studio presents
Proving Up
Craig Kier, music director
Missy Mazzoli, composer
Royce Vavrek, librettist

Saturday, February 18, 2023 . 8:00PM

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Based on a 2013 short story by Karen Russell, Proving Up, is a surreal and haunting commentary on the American dream as experienced by the Zegners, a fictional family of 1860s homesteaders. This narrative feels newly relevant at this fraught moment in the nation’s history, when people are examining and reevaluating the achievability of the American Dream. The Zegners are a family that does everything “right” and are still undermined by forces beyond their control. These characters have parallels in our contemporary world: a mother who tries to maintain control through domestic order, a father who turns to the bottle under the pressures of supporting a family, children forced to take on responsibilities beyond their years and a lone, deranged man who resorts to violence and destruction. Pushed to the edge by poverty and ultimately undermined by fate, the Zegners’ fixation on “proving up” never wanes.
 
About the Maryland Opera Studio:
 
Under the direction of Craig Kier, the Maryland Opera Studio is dedicated to the future of opera. Preparing the next generation of great singers and offering performances ranging from classic repertoire to provocative new works, it is building contemporary audiences for opera and advancing the art form to sustain those audiences.
 
Tickets: Free, no tickets required. Click here.

Voices of Woodlawn at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Feb 18

Voices of Woodlawn at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Feb 18

Voices of Woodlawn
Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 7:00 PM

Location: Joe’s Movement Emporium.

In a unique collaboration, three Black poets and a white poet from the D.C. area will share their moving poetry about the troubled history of the Woodlawn Plantation in Alexandria, Va. Featuring Patrick Washington, Ladi Di Beverly, Diane Wilbon Parks, Dr. Hiram Larew and Cliff Bernier on harmonica.

Tickets: Pay-what-you-wish. Click here.

Upstage Artists presents Arsenic and Old Lace, Feb 17-26

Upstage Artists presents Arsenic and Old Lace, Feb 17-26

Upstage Artists presents:
Arsenic and Old Lace
by Joseph Kesselring
Directed by Rick Bergemann

February 17 – 26, 2023

Location: Upstage Artists, performing at the Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 11416 Cedar Lane, Beltsville MD, 20705

Drama critic Mortimer Brewster’s engagement announcement is upended when he discovers a corpse in his elderly aunts’ window seat. Mortimer rushes to tell Abby and Martha before they stumble upon the body themselves, only to learn that the two old women aren’t just aware of the dead man in their parlor, they killed him! Between his aunts’ penchant for poisoning wine, a brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, and another brother using plastic surgery to hide from the police—not to mention Mortimer’s own hesitancy about marriage—it’ll be a miracle if Mortimer makes it to his wedding. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic black comedy about the only thing more deadly than poison: family.

Tickets: $11.50. For more information click here.

Maryland Opera Studio presents TWA at Clarice Smith, Feb 17<

Maryland Opera Studio presents TWA at Clarice Smith, Feb 17

Opera New Work Reading
TWA
Maryland Opera Studio
Friday, February 17, 2023 . 7:30PM

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

This new opera inspired by the popular folk ballad THE TWA SISTERS, explores the eternal conflict between the opposing forces of love and jealousy; and why this ancient ballad resonates even more deeply today with the proliferation of social media and virtual sharing platforms.
 
With a tone reminiscent of Guillermo Del Toro’s popular cinematic fables, this opera sheds light on the joy, wonder, humor and pain in the relationship between sisters within a unique episodic structure which spans continents and centuries.
 
About the Maryland Opera Studio:
 
Under the direction of Craig Kier, the Maryland Opera Studio is dedicated to the future of opera. Preparing the next generation of great singers and offering performances ranging from classic repertoire to provocative new works, it is building contemporary audiences for opera and advancing the art form to sustain those audiences.
 
Tickets: Free, no tickets required. Click here.

Let it Shine at the Publick Playhouse, Feb 16

Let it Shine at the Publick Playhouse, Feb 16

Prince George’s Publick Playhouse presents:
Education on Stage: Let It Shine

Thursday, February 16, 2023, 10am

Prince George’s Publick Playhouse.
This powerful production introduces audiences to poignant events and notable names of the civil rights movement. The show focuses on the tumultuous years between 1955 and 1968 and shines a light on important milestones in our history. Highlighted events include the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), Brown v. Board of Education, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and more. Join us as these major events come to life through stories and songs.

$8. Click here.