Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, December 11, 2012: Fresh from a highly successful European tour, Toronto’s Queen of Puddings Music Theatre is proud to bring the opera SVADBA-WEDDING to Western Canada. Edmonton audiences will see the fully staged version of the Dora Award winning production at C103 (formerly Catalyst Theatre), presented by Edmonton Opera. Concert versions of SVADBA-WEDDING will be performed in Calgary at the Leacock Theatre, Mount Royal University (presented by New Works Calgary) and in Vancouver at Heritage Hall (presented by Music on Main). An intoxicating tour de force for six female opera singers ‘a cappella’ by Montreal composer Ana Sokolovic, the work was commissioned by Queen of Puddings and premiered in Toronto in June 2011 to great critical acclaim.
Performances in Western Canada feature Laura Albino, Carla Huhtanen, Andrea Ludwig, Shannon Mercer, Elizabeth Turnbull and Jacqueline Woodley. The creative team is comprised of Dáirine Ní Mheadhra & John Hess (music direction); Michael Cavanagh (stage direction); Michael Gianfrancesco (set and costume design) andKimberly Purtell (lighting design). Nathalie Bonjour acts as producer.
SVADBA-WEDDING is a raucous and intoxicating a cappella tour de force for six female singers. Sung in Serbian, the action takes place the night before a wedding, when girlfriends stay up all night long preparing the fiancée Milica for her impending marriage. Using existing Slavic/Balkan peasant folk tales, myths and traditions as her text source, composer Ana Sokolovic draws on her native Balkan folk music as a source of inspiration for SVADBA-WEDDING. She transforms the music and text into her own unique onomatopoeic language. The scenes unfold, not in a linear narrative, but in a playful interconnection animated through drama, distilling magic and fantasy from ordinary moments.
"...These days, it’s hard to find an opera composer whose theatrical instincts are daring and sure-footed at the same time. So let’s be thankful that Ana Sokolovic chose Canada as her home... " - The Globe and Mail
The Toronto based Queen of Puddings Music Theatre creates boundary bursting music theatre – a music theatre that is dynamic, provocative and precedent setting. The company, founded in 1995 by Artistic Directors Dáirine Ní Mheadhra & John Hess, is acclaimed for its unique aesthetic based on a physical, singing theatre. Visit www.queenofpuddingsmusictheatre.com for more information.
QUEEN OF PUDDINGS MUSIC THEATRE
SVADBA – Wedding
By Ana Sokolovic
DORA Award-Winning Production Travels to WESTERN CANADA
Calgary – January 8, 2013
Edmonton - January 12, 13, 16, 18 & 19, 2013
Vancouver – January 21 & 22, 2013
"Svadba - Wedding is a beautiful work where music, movement, acting and design combine to create an invigorating and satisfying theatrical experience." -- Opera News, New York
WINTER 2013: WESTERN CANADIAN TOUR
· January 8: Calgary, AB: New Works Calgary, Leacock Theatre at Mount Royal University
New Works Calgary supports the creation and performance of contemporary concert music. It encourages the exploration of relationships between music and other artistic disciplines, offering inquisitive audiences thought-provoking, enriching and unique experiences, creating a more vibrant cultural environment.
http://www.newworkscalgary.ca/
· January 12, 13, 16, 18 and 19: Edmonton, AB: Edmonton Opera, C103 (formerly Catalyst Theatre). For the last 48 years Edmonton Opera has given voice to opera in the community and throughout northern Alberta. It is the 4th largest opera company in Canada and the oldest, largest, year round opera company in the Prairie Provinces.
http://www.edmontonopera.com/season/svadba.php
· January 21, 22: Vancouver, BC: Music on Main, Heritage Hall
Vancouver's Music on Main is dedicated to great music in casual but stimulating environments, with top-flight musicians, an ear for contemporary music, and refreshing concert formats.
http://musiconmain.ca/?page=concert&series=mainseries&season=2012-2013&id=196
http://musiconmain.ca/?page=concert&series=mainseries&season=2012-2013&id=197
Queen of Puddings acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $154 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and BMO Financial Group.
Photo: Shannon Mercer, Krisztina Szabó, Jaqueline Woodley, Carla Huhtanen, laura Albino and Andrea Ludwig. ©2011 John Lauener.
2012-12-11
Toronto: Queen of Puddings tours “Svadba - Wedding” to Western Canada