Overachiever
The program for Jasmine Rice LaBeija’s concert as part of Works & Process at the Guggenheim on Wednesday, March 8 read a bit like a curriculum vitae.
drag
Dragoon race
Jamie Barton makes her highly-anticipated debut as Carmen opposite the legendary Stephanie Blythe as her alter ego Blythely Oratonio. As Don José!
Sissy that Walküre
The tiny but mighty Divas In Drag Italian Opera Company returns with a true Gaysamtkunstwerk.
E sogno? o realness?
Meet the Divas In Drag Italian Opera, “bringing to life operatic divas of the past, through drag-matic lip syncs.”
Teach me tonight
Virtual vocal coach Karen takes on the lean, lovely, lustrous larynx of Dusty Pörn.
Tales of the citrus
Opera Philadelphia’s Love of Three Oranges is never less than extravagantly entertaining theater.
Venusberg in furs
Le Gateau Chocolat will make his Bayreuth Festival debut in a new production of Tannhäuser on July 25.
Ringing in my queers
Stonewall threads some difficult needles with great success overall in this last installment of New York City Opera’s Pride Month Programming.
Chenez turn
Dapper countertenor Ray Chenez is temporarily putting aside the turbans of his operatic career for, well, the turbans of a Broadway diva as he appeals via Indiegogo for funding to record a CD of show tunes.
Separated at paillette
Christopher Maltman’s “Liza with a Z” drag for the finale of Così fan tutte at the Met recalls another iconic diva of the opera’s 1960s setting.
Opera = Drag
Cher public, you are invited to submit your own choices of images best illustrating the tenuous line between Kunst and female impersonation.
Turandon’t
From the perspective of current identity politics, Puccini’s Turandot is a disaster of epic proportions.
Py shy
This black-box recital was an aggressively Gallic affair
Erschlage!
Meet Andreas Rosar, assistant director and hero/heroine of the 2017 Bayreuth Festival.
Wig schlock
Despite the participation of venerable composer Carlisle Floyd, the only distinction Prince of Players can claim is as the worst drag show in Manhattan.
When divas collide, part infinity
La Royale hostessed a Fridays Under 40 reception before the opera, then graced a parterre box during the performance.
Tales of Stefan
This video everything: transgender muses, planted hecklers, Offenbach, serendipitous allusions to Caitlyn Jenner, reassigned music and the origin of the world.
How’s your head?
Now here’s a competition for a parterrian: the Bayerische Staatsoper is looking for a drag performer to lip sync the final scene from Salome!
French tips
Valerian Ruminksi, that bass-baritone who shot off his mouth all over Facebook about a drag queen’s manicure and got fired from a prestigious gig with Opera Lyra—remember him?
Kind of a drag
La Cieca hopes her cher public will not be at cross purposes when addressing this week’s off-topic and general interest subjects.
Platée du jour
What must have raced through the mind of the none-too-comely Spanish Infanta when she learned that the opera to be performed during the celebrations for her 1745 wedding to the French Dauphin revolved around the comeuppance of an ugly yet vain water nymph tricked into believing Jupiter was her ardent suitor?
The diva wears Prada
“Oubliez le XVIIIè siècle. A l’Opéra Comique, Platée s’installe sur les podiums d’une fashion week parisienne!”
I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy
Freud, who hails from London, spent five years as the general director of Houston Grand Opera and is no stranger to bolo ties and 10-gallon Stetsons.
O Caftan! My Caftan!
Unconcealed by the voluminous folds of this Jessyesqe muumuu is queen-sized talent Jeffery Roberson (also known as Varla Jean Merman.)
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
