Show artwork for Wild

Broadway Takes LA Opera

Posted on: October 10, 2019

Your Italian getaway is right around the corner. Renée Fleming, Dove Cameron, and Brian Stokes Mitchell are here to whisk you away from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and right into the heart of Florence for the Tony Award-winning musical, The Light in the Piazza. We know what you’re thinking. “But you said musical, not opera. Aren’t you supposed to put on operas?”

Well, yes. But also, no (not necessarily anyway). You might not know this, but we actually have a pretty distinguished history of presenting musicals on our main stage. Take a look at some (but not all) of our favorites to ever hit the stage. 

Oklahoma1990 Ohringer Millard001

Oklahoma!, 1990 (Photo by Bob Millard)

Our journey into musical theater started in 1990 with Oklahoma! (one of Broadway’s all-time classics). This Rodgers and Hammerstein partnership (and the first one at that) collected its fair share of Tony Awards and has been performed on stages around the world. In fact, a Tony-winning revival is running on Broadway right now! For its LA Opera premiere, leading operatic baritone Rod Gilfry sang the leading role of Curly alongside Jean Stapleton (All in the Family’s beloved Edith Bunker) as Aunt Eller.

Retouched Weekend in Country LNM5242

A Little Night Music, 2004

We go from Oklahoma to Sweden on our next stop of this tour. A Little Night Music took the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the summer of 2004 with a star-studded cast. Kristen Bell, Zoe Caldwell, Victor Garber, Judith Ivey, Marc Kudisch and Laura Benanti wowed audiences and critics in their performance of this fan-favorite Sondheim show.

Wonderful Town 16207 0023

Wonderful Town Rehearsal, 2016 (Photo by Craig T. Matthew)

Bernstein’s Wonderful Town had its LA Opera run in 2016, taking us from California to the streets of New York City. This love letter to the Big Apple tells the story of two sisters’ move from rural Ohio to Greenwich Village in hopes of making it as a writer and actress (sounds a lot like another city we know...). Beloved Broadway comedienne Faith Prince gave an unforgettable star turn—along with Tony Award-winners Nikki M. James and Roger Bart—and Marc Kudisch memorably returned as her leading man.

cand 0016 pr

Candide, 2018 (Photo by Ken Howard)

Candide, Leonard Bernstein’s witty (and often wacky) operetta based on Voltaire’s 1759 novella, opened in 2018, bringing the music of Leonard Bernstein back to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Headliner Kelsey Grammer, (best known for Cheers and Frasier) actually has a pretty extensive theater background (including a full scholarship to Juilliard and a Tony nomination). The equally talented (and decorated) Christine Ebersole shared the stage with Grammer in one of the highlights of our 2018 season.

So, when you settle in to watch The Light in the Piazza (which opens October 12th), you can rest assured that this isn’t our first (or last) run-in with musical theater. Trust us. We know what we’re doing.