Jack’s Notes: Gigi

Observations on Lyric’s season from our Artistic Director, J. Sherwood Montgomery

Well, here we are about to open our thirty-second season, and the very fact that we are still here is more than a miracle. We are grateful to all in the community who continue to allow us to bring you music for everyone, at a high artistic level, at the lowest ticket price for this kind of entertainment in town. No other company gives you a full orchestra and chorus for every show in an attractive and intimate setting, with no seat farther than sixty feet from the stage, in an historic movie palace that is an ideal “house of dreams.” This season we are on a journey that we have never taken in this way before: four shows that are each a classic in their own right, that seen together, promise to give you thrilling music making and memorable theater.

We open with our first ever Lerner and Loewe show, Gigi, which represents the final collaboration of this great team of music theater masters. The stage version of their 1958 film was the final time they worked together. The show has California roots as it was presented by Edwin Lester, the fabled producer of the Los Angeles and San Francisco Civic Light Opera, which guaranteed eighteen sold-out weeks of tryout to any new show or national touring company that was lucky enough to get the gig. The stage production featured a cast of music theater marquee names, Alfred Drake in the Maurice Chevalier role of Honoré, Agnes Moorehead in her final role ever (she died of cancer during the run), Daniel Massey as Gaston, and Lila Kedrova as Mamita. This is the first time the show will have been mounted in San Diego in twenty years, and it will feature Laura Bueno as Gigi, J. Sherwood Montgomery (myself) as Honoré, Benjamin Robinson as Gaston, and two debuts of local stage personalities, Leigh Scarritt as Aunt Alicia, and Rita Cantos Cartwright as Mamita.

The film Gigi represented the last hurrah of the Freed unit at MGM and Vincente Minnelli pulled out all the stops in casting and sets and costumes to bring this French novel by Colette to vivid life. Maurice Chevalier himself gave the composer and lyricist the idea for one of his songs on the occasion of their first meeting. Lerner and Lowe met with Chevalier in Paris to sign the contract and talk about the film. They began by sharing some hot Hollywood scandal gossip and Chevalier smiled and said: “I'm glad I’m not young anymore.” Immediately a hit number was added to their canon of great songs, and we look forward to bringing this charming diversion to our stage for the first time in all its splendor and sophistication.

Gigi runs from September 24 to October 3. Tickets and season subscriptions are available online so please make a plan to join us today!

"Pirates" Ready to Sail

Well, the invited audience at last night's final dress rehearsal for "Pirates" gave it a standing O, and from all the laughing we heard throughout the evening, we're pretty sure we have a hit on our hands.


Tenor Benjamin Robinson is a real find as Frederic, making his debut with LOSD. Young, handsome, and what a voice! And the other debut, Ashraf Sewailam as the Pirate King, is a true operatic bass-baritone who looks and sounds great on stage. Our returning favorites Megan Weston (Mabel), Fran Hartshorn (Ruth), and Walter DuMelle (Police Sergeant) are as great as ever. As for J. Sherwood Montgomery as Major-General Stanley... well, he simply owns this role. He's "San Diego's favorite funnyman," the king of slapstick and the master of the patter song, and those are few and far between these days.


Here are some of Craig Deutsch's photos to give you a little preview... see you on opening night!

Love Letters, Dessert and Champagne

We know you're tired of the same old fancy-pants fundraising galas, and so are we. So this year, we said to ourselves: "Selves, why not have a little fun? All we want is to get together with our favorite people, see some of the artists we love do something fun, eat a little chocolate, drink a little bubbly, and raise a little money for the company." (Okay, a LOT of money - hey, we can dream, right?)


So our own Artistic Director, J. Sherwood Montgomery, and the lovely and talented San Diego stage veteran Kandis Chappell, who recently graced the stage as Madame Armfeldt in our critically acclaimed February production of A Little Night Music, will team up in A.R. Gurney’s Pulitzer-nominated play, Love Letters, on June 6, 2010 at the Birch North Park Theatre. Longtime Lyric Opera family member Joseph Grienenberger will serve as Musical Director.


Love Letters centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. They share the nearly 50 years of notes, letters and cards that have passed between them throughout their separate lives, in which they discuss their hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, victories and defeats.


The one-night-only event is a benefit for our terrific Lyric Opera Summer Academy and will include a show, champagne, and dessert for only $40. That's right - I said JUST FORTY DOLLARS. Order tickets here or here or by calling our Box Office at (619) 239-8836.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Us

Arr, mateys! Break out the Jolly Roger, the peg legs, and the eye patches, because it’s time to head back to Penzance!

You won’t find Captain Jack Sparrow anywhere near the place, but yes, Lyric Opera’s 31st season is coming to a rousing close with the most beloved of Gilbert and Sullivan classics, “The Pirates of Penzance”! These beloved high-seas bumblers, their lady loves, and the hapless police who pursue them return to the Birch North Park Theatre on Friday, March 26, 2010 -- running for three weekends.

We do so love performing this show for you, and we have two exciting new artists to introduce to you in leading roles: tenor Benjamin Robinson as Frederic and bass-baritone Ashraf Sewailam as the Pirate King. As Mabel, one of our favorite people, the luminous soprano Megan Weston, returns to our stage. And last but not least, “San Diego’s favorite funnyman,” our own Artistic Director J. Sherwood Montgomery, the master of the patter song, returns in one of his signature roles as Major General Stanley. General Director Leon Natker will direct and conduct the production.

The show opens March 26 and runs through April 11. Watch this space for closer looks at the show and the artists in days to come!

Announcing our 2010-11 Season!

Oh boy, are we going to have fun next season! Ready for a musical trip around the world?

It’ll be our 32nd season, if you can believe that. We find it a little hard to believe ourselves sometimes. But you can bet that after 32 years of doing this, we know what works, what’s great, what audiences will love, and what will give both our veteran artists and the new up-and-comers the best possible showcase for their talents on our stage.

(A reminder: all our productions feature our own live orchestra and talented singers, performed at our own Birch North Park Theatre. Why do we always mention that? Because there just simply aren’t all that many musical theatre companies that consistently offer that these days.)

We’re starting the season in Paris, with Lerner & Loewe’s Gigi, based on the classic film musical of the same name. The musical is by the same talented guys that gave us My Fair Lady. Gigi hasn’t been seen live in San Diego in more than 20 years. Our J. Sherwood Montgomery will take the Maurice Chevalier role, singing that famous ditty “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.”

“Figaro, Figaro!” Next it’s off to Seville, Spain, for one of the most popular comic operas of all time - The Barber of Seville. The lovely Emily Douglass, most recently seen here as our Daughter of the Regiment, will be back as Rosina.

Our Venice Beach staging of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers is a real crowd-pleaser, so we’re bringing it back with a fresh new cast. The show is full of tuneful melodies and snappy patter that keep the story moving between the imaginary kingdoms of Venice and Barataria, poking fun of nobility and royalty as only G&S can.

And finally, we wrap up with a trip back in time to Tsarist Russia as our own G.D. Leon Natker reprises one of his signature roles, Tevye in the record-breaking, award-winning Broadway smash Fiddler on the Roof. If you’ve never seen Leon perform this role – here’s your chance. He’ll be joined by Jimmy Ferraro (who was our Sancho in Man of La Mancha) for his first turn as Lazar Wolf. This will be a show not to be missed.

Here’s the bottom line: you can get all four shows for $108 to $188. That’s less than it costs to see just one show at some musical theatre or opera companies. Want to subscribe? www.lyricoperasandiego.org  or (619) 293-8836.