Wonderful and informative article on the upcoming Vonnegut premier, HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANDA JUNE, with Indianapolis Opera. “He (Vonnegut) constantly told me (Composer Richard Auldon Clark) “The words are important. The story is the most important.” Read the full article from the Indy Star here.
Happy Birthday Wanda June began life as a play by Kurt Vonnegut in October 1971 at New York’s Theater de Lys. The play was Vonnegut’s first attempt at a stage work. Written to protest the Vietnam War in 1970, the play blends the sacred and the profane to produce off-the-wall and strangely funny satires. Wanda’s plot is based loosely on the Greek legends of Odysseus and Penelope—it involves the unexpected return of a mercenary career solider/hunter named Harold Ryan and his wife, Penelope. When Harold left Penelope, she was a ditzy carhop; when he returns after eight years lost in the Amazon, he finds that she has gone to college, majored in…
Greensboro Opera and Eastern Music Festival present, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves. Greensboro Opera favorites Jill Bowen Gardner, Stephanie Foley Davis and Scott MacLeod, under the direction of Greensboro Opera Artistic Director David Holley, thrill and entertain with the music of Bizet, Verdi, Menotti, and more—followed by musical theater treats by Claude-Michel Schönberg (Les Misérables), Jule Styne (Gypsy) and others! The most famous operatic gypsy? Carmen, of course! Our audience will be treated to famous excerpts such as the Habañera and the “Toreador Song,” along with selections sung by other shady and suspicious operatic characters. After intermission, let us entertain you with musical theatre favorites from Gyspy, Babes in Arms, Les Miserables, and more!…
“Eugene Opera… met and surpassed all of this reviewer’s expectations at the premiere on Friday night. Rather than merely managing this opera, each and every performer presented a jaw-dropping, tear-jerking, stellar production worthy of the best opera houses in the country, let alone the Hult Center… …The true love story of the night, however, was between Jill and Jake Gardner, husband and wife in real life and in the opera. Jake Gardner’s return to Eugene Opera struck a different tone from the sinister and dark characters of last season. His rich and emotive voice as Prince Gremin proved hypnotic and endearing, lending an immediacy to the character that often is overshadowed by…
Eugene Opera brings Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’ to town Randi Bjornstad of The Register-Guard wrote a wonderful lead-up to tonight’s performance of Eugene Onegin. Here is an excerpt… Soprano Jill Gardner seems to get rave reviews wherever she goes. “Lustrous, golden soprano and riveting stage presence,” the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle enthused. “Ability to convey vocally the slightest nuance of emotion, making for gripping theater,” the Opera News gushed. “Dynamite, in voice and acting,” the Honolulu Star-Advertiser concluded. All very good news, given that Gardner is singing the female lead role of Tatiana in Eugene Opera’s “Eugene Onegin” this weekend. She’ll be paired with Anton Belov — whose smoldering baritone has been called…
“Soprano Jill Gardner returns to Eugene for her debut as the romantic Tatiana. Noted for her “effortlessly produced, rich voice” (Opera News), she is swiftly establishing herself among today’s leading operatic heroines and continues to garner national praise for her “lustrous, golden soprano and riveting stage presence” (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) and for “her commitment, passion and ability to convey vocally the slightest nuance of emotion, making for gripping theater” (Opera News). Jill Gardner impressed Eugene audiences as Musetta in La Boheme.” The show: Friday, March 11, 2016 at 7:30 pm Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 2:30 pm Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center Sung in Russian with English supertitles Purchase tickets at the official site of Eugene…
Piedmont Opera and the Carolina Chamber Symphony present an evening celebrating the music of Giuseppe Verdi, hosted by James Allbritten. Jill Gardner and Robert Overman are among the many artists who will perform. VIVA VERDI an evening with Piedmont Opera and the Carolina Chamber Symphony Saturday, August 22 at 7:30pm Calvary Moravian Church 600 Holly Ave, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101 For tickets and venue details, please visit the Carolina Chamber Symphony website http://carolinachambersymphony.org
Don’t miss this streaming radio event! Relive Chautauqua Opera’s dazzling production of Macbeth—August 22nd at 1pm on WNED 94.5’s Saturday Opera radio broadcast. Find it on WNED’s website on the day of the broadcast. Tune in here! http://www.wned.org/radio
“Jill Gardner, in her Chautauqua debut, gave a strong performance…Her acting was generous and her entry from the rear of the auditorium during her sleepwalking scene — holding a lamp — was an apt means of heightening what little pity we can feel for this ruthless figure.” An excerpt from a review appearing in The Chautauquan Daily, written by Arthur Kaptainis. Read the full review here… Photography by Joshua Boucher.
“Jill Gardner, in powerful voice, connected on a deep and visceral level with the title character, offering us a Floria Tosca that continually rose above a one-dimensional diva. Her Tosca might be high-maintenance and annoyingly jealous, but Gardner infused her interpretation with strength and determination. The line between fierce acting and melodrama can be thin, but Gardner never stepped over it. My favorite moment of hers: when her character reels at the brutal Scarpia’s carnal request that she give herself to him in exchange for her lover’s life. I felt in that instant the raw power of a woman unafraid to take control of her own life.” Excerpted from a review of TOSCA…