Happenings at Skylark - March 2022

Did you know that March is Women’s History Month, set aside each year to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society? It is a wonderful time to remember the great women of opera, internationally, nationally, regionally and in our very own backyard. It is a privilege for Skylark Opera Theatre to have amazing, local female talent to draw upon for our productions including the upcoming production of Eugene Onegin with Elena Stabile (Tatyana), Melanie Ashkar (Olga), Colleen O’Shaughnessy (Larina), Momoko Tanno (Yelena), KrisAnne Weiss (Fillipyevna) and Carson Rose Schneider, our music director for the production.

AND you won’t want to miss the performances of Eric Smedsrud (Onegin), Benjamin Dutcher (Lenski), Robert Riordan (Saretsky/Petrovich/Gremin) and James Ahrens (Triquet/Guillot), who round out our cast of talented, Minnesota-based artists.

Eugene Onegin Opens March 25th, tickets at skylark.booktix.com

Skylark Opera Theatre and The Museum of Russian Art will present Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin March 25-27 and April 1-3, 2022. Sung in English, the performance will immerse you in a 90-minute, spell-binding adaptation designed to change the way you experience this exquisite opera. American Sign Language interpretation will be available for the performances on Friday, March 25th and Sunday, April 3rd. As a special bonus for ticketholders, the Museum gallery and gift shop will open at 6:30pm before each performance. Come early and view the wonderful artwork and shop. COVID protocols will be in place.

Seating for this special production is limited to 104 per performance, so be sure to purchase your tickets now at skylark.booktix.com. You will find more information about the opera on Skylark’s website, the Museum of Russian Art website, and the website of our co-promotion sponsor, Russian-American Business & Culture Council (rabcc.org). Also check out Twin Cities Arts Reader's fascinating look at our production and the opera's parallels with Tchaikovsky's and Pushkin's lives here.

Skylark’s 2022-2023 Season

Skylark Opera will continue to offer our unique brand of opera and music theater during our 2022-2023 season. In December of 2022 we will return to the Park Square Theatre for a 2nd season of performances of Amahl and the Night Visitors, and be sure to watch for announcements of our Spring 2023 production. Keep up with all of the plans and announcements on our website.

Skylark Connections

Minnesota Opera’s production of Carmen will feature tenor Won Whi Choi playing the role of Don Jose. Skylark Opera Theatre audiences heard his thrilling voice in our production of La Rondine in 2015. Performances will be May 7-22, 2022 at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul.

Nautilus Music-Theater has announced its Wesley Balk Opera/Music-Theater Institute dates of June 26-July 16, 2022. There are also a limited number of positions as Stage Director/Dramatic Coach or as Music Director. Included among the faculty are Skylark connections Ben Krywosz, stage director and Jerry Rubino, music director.

Board member Jack Neveaux is putting his theater talents to work again. Jack is directing Agatha Christie’s Love From A Stranger playing March 17-19 and March 24-26 in Delano. For more information visit 4communitytheatre.

Be sure to check out the productions at Great Theatre in St. Cloud, where board member Allyson Tolbert is the project manager. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! will be presented March 19th and Mamma Mia! will be staged April 8-24. Learn more by visiting Great Theatre’s website.

Megan Millett