||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER |||
The gold standard in opera and live theatre comes to Orcas Island with this season’s On Screen series. Running from now until June, you can view a diverse sampling of the world’s best performers at the height of their careers in productions from The Met: Live in HD and National Theatre Live. These on-screen events give you the best seat in the house from the comfort of your own island. In November, Orcas Center is showing four performances: La Sonnambula, Inter Alia, La Bohème and Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
La Sonnambula from the Met: Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. Runtime is approx. 3 hours, with intermission. Following triumphant Met performances in Roméo et Juliette, La Traviata, and Lucia di Lammermoor, Nadine Sierra summits another peak of the soprano repertoire as Amina, who sleepwalks her way into audiences’ hearts in Bellini’s poignant tale of love lost and found: La Sonnambula. In his new production, Rolando Villazón — the tenor who has embarked on a brilliant second career as a director — retains the opera’s original setting in the Swiss Alps but uses its somnambulant plot to explore the emotional and psychological valleys of the mind. Tenor Xabier Anduaga returns after his acclaimed 2023 Met debut in L’Elisir d’Amore, co-starring as Amina’s fiancé Elvino, alongside soprano Sydney Mancasola as her rival, Lisa, and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Count Rodolfo. Riccardo Frizza takes the podium for one of opera’s most ravishing works.
Inter Alia from NT Live: Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. Runtime time is 120 minutes. Oscar-nominated Rosamund Pike is Jessica in the much-anticipated play from the team behind Prima Facie. Jessica is a smart Crown Court Judge at the top of her career. Behind the robe, she is a karaoke fiend, loving wife and a supportive parent. When an event threatens to throw her life completely off balance, can she hold her family upright? Writer Suzie Miller and directorcJustin Martin reunite following their global phenomenon Prima Facie, with this searing examination of modern motherhood and masculinity. This production contains flashing lights, references to sex, violence, rape and other criminal activity.
La Bohème from the Met: Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. Runtime is approx. 3.5 hours, with intermission. With its enchanting setting and spellbinding score, the world’s most popular opera La Bohème is as timeless as it is
heartbreaking. Franco Zeffirelli’s picture-perfect production brings 19th-century Paris to the Met stage as Puccini’s young friends and lovers navigate the joy and struggle of bohemian life. Sopranos Juliana Grigoryan, Angel Blue, and Aleksandra Kurzak trade off as the feeble seamstress Mimì, opposite tenors Freddie De Tommaso, Stephen Costello, Adam Smith, and Long Long as the ardent poet Rodolfo.
Mrs. Warren’s Profession from NT Live: Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. Runtime time is 120 minutes. Five-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (The Crown) joins forces with her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (Bridgerton) for the very first time, playing mother and daughter in Bernard Shaw’s incendiary moral classic. Vivie Warren is a woman ahead of her time. Her mother, however, is a product of that old patriarchal order. Exploiting it has earned Mrs. Warren a fortune – but at what cost? Filmed live from the West End, this new production reunites Staunton with director Dominic Cooke (Follies, Good), exploring the clash between morality and independence, traditions and progress.
Ticket prices range from $12-$65 with an additional $2 ticketing fee. Tickets are available online at
www.OrcasCenter.org by phone at 360-376-2281 ext 100, or in-person at the Box Office an hour prior to the
performance.
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