Desmond Heeley News

Each year, the Tony Awards release a list of names of friends and colleagues in the Broadway community who have left us during the past year.

Six-time Tony Award-winning costume designer CATHERINE ZUBER and legendary scenic designer TONY STRAIGES are among the 2017 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients which were just announced by Theatre Development Fund (TDF), a not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts.

The Dallas Opera is proud to announce its ambitious 2017-2018 Season, "Motives Unmasked!" consisting of five entertaining and varied mainstage productions, including a dazzling U.S. premiere and a new Dallas Opera production of a very early opera by Viennese wunderkind Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

Legendary scenic and costume designer, MICHAEL YEARGAN (currently represented on Broadway with Fiddler on the Roof and The King and I), and costume designer SUSAN TSU are among the 2016 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony tonight, May 20, at 6:30pm, at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).

Legendary scenic and costume designer, MICHAEL YEARGAN (currently represented on Broadway with Fiddler on the Roof and The King and I), and costume designer SUSAN TSU are among the 2016 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, May 20, at 6:30pm, at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).

HOUSTON, TEXAS – Houston Ballet, America's fifth largest ballet company, unveiled the first phase of a marketing plan for Artistic Director Stanton Welch's new production of The Nutcracker which premieres on November 25, 2016. To build upon the anticipation and excitement surrounding the upcoming production Houston Ballet's marketing team has devised a unique three-phase brand campaign to introduce audiences to the new look and feel of the ballet.  

Houston Ballet, America's fifth largest ballet company, unveiled the first phase of a marketing plan for Artistic Director Stanton Welch's new production of THE NUTCRACKER which premieres on November 25, 2016.

If I need to dance all over the stage, they make sure I can do it. If I need to sing a lot and have extra diaphragm room, they will make that happen. And if I need an extra hook on my waistband, so that I can eat between shows, they have been known to give me that too. (One size for matinees and one size for evenings, we like to say….)

Legendary scenic and costume designer, MICHAEL YEARGAN (currently represented on Broadway with Fiddler on the Roof and The King and I), and costume designer SUSAN TSU are among the 2016 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, May 20, at 6:30pm, at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).  Ms. Tsu was selected to receive the 2016 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for costume design and Mr. Yeargan will receive the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design. The awards are presented through Theatre Development Fund's Costume Collection.

From February 25 - March 6, 2016, in celebration of Artistic Director Emeritus Ben Stevenson's 80th birthday, Houston Ballet will revive his spectacular staging of The Sleeping Beauty. The ballet is a flagship work for the company and a piece that is recognized as one of the supreme achievements of classical ballet. The Sleeping Beauty is based on the classic French fairy tale by Charles Perrault: a beautiful princess is cursed by an evil fairy and doomed to sleep for 100 years - only to be awakened by the kiss of the handsome prince who loves her. Desmond Heeley's spectacular designs beautifully evoke the magic, drama and whimsy of this great work. Houston Ballet will give nine performances of The Sleeping Beauty at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713 227 2787 or by visiting www.houstonballet.org.

BWW Review: Houston Ballet Gives A Luxurious Experience With THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

In tribute to Artistic Director Emeritus Ben Stevenson's 80th birthday, Houston Ballet stages Stevenson's lush version of the preeminent ballet THE SLEEPING BEAUTY for the first time in 5 years. In Ivan Vsevolozhsky's libretto, Carabosse, an evil fairy, curses Princess Aurora (the Sleeping Beauty). The princess sleeps for a hundred years, only to be saved when her handsome prince, Florimund, awakens her with a kiss.

?From February 25 - March 6, 2016, in celebration of Artistic Director Emeritus Ben Stevenson's 80th birthday, Houston Ballet will revive his spectacular staging of The Sleeping Beauty. The ballet is a flagship work for the company and a piece that is recognized as one of the supreme achievements of classical ballet. The Sleeping Beauty is based on the classic French fairy tale by Charles Perrault: a beautiful princess is cursed by an evil fairy and doomed to sleep for 100 years - only to be awakened by the kiss of the handsome prince who loves her. Desmond Heeley's spectacular designs beautifully evoke the magic, drama and whimsy of this great work. Houston Ballet will give nine performances of The Sleeping Beauty at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713 227 2787 or by visiting www.houstonballet.org.

December 27, 2015, Houston Ballet bids farewell to Ben Stevenson's beloved production of The Nutcracker. Created by Artistic Director Emeritus Ben Stevenson, with designs by acclaimed designer Desmond Heeley, Houston Ballet's The Nutcracker has been Houston's premiere holiday tradition since 1987.

Richmond Ballet will welcome one of the world's most popular ballets back to the River City, as Nicolas Beriozoff's Don Quixote, presented by Morgan Stanley, is set to run this weekend, February 20th through 22nd at the Carpenter Theatre. It is also with great anticipation that Richmond Ballet prepares to welcome two principal dancers from the National Ballet of China, Wang Ye and Ma Xiaodong who are scheduled to perform the ballet's lead roles. Ms. Wang and Mr. Ma's guest artist appearance in Richmond is the first stop in the Ballet's year-long Road to China cultural exchange program that will carry the company through to a tour of China in May of this year.

Richmond Ballet will welcome one of the world's most popular ballets back to the River City, as Nicolas Beriozoff's Don Quixote, presented by Morgan Stanley, is set to run February 20th through 22nd at the Carpenter Theatre. It is also with great anticipation that Richmond Ballet prepares to welcome two principal dancers from the National Ballet of China, Wang Ye and Ma Xiaodong who are scheduled to perform the ballet's lead roles. Ms. Wang and Mr. Ma's guest artist appearance in Richmond is the first stop in the Ballet's year-long Road to China cultural exchange program that will carry the company through to a tour of China in May of this year.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - From November 28 - December 28, 2014, Houston Ballet celebrates the holidays with Ben Stevenson's breathtaking production of The Nutcracker, seen by over 1,000,000 people since its premiere 27 years ago. The beloved ballet tells the story of a little girl named Clara who is given a magical nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve. She encounters the frightful King Rat before embarking on a wondrous journey through the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets. Young and old alike will experience the many special effects, including the Christmas tree which "grows" to 40 feet, 200 pounds of "snow" falling during the snow scene, and the firing of cannon onstage. Houston Ballet will give 35 performances of The Nutcracker, to a live orchestra, in the Brown Theater at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713-227-2787 or logging on to www.houstonballet.org.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City opens its 57th season with Giuseppe Verdi's lush and grand opera, La Traviata, September 27, October 1, 3 and 5, 2014 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in Italian with English and Italian titles.

In conjunction with the centennial of World War I and the Kansas City debut of the Pulitzer Prize winning production of Silent Night, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City presents Over There! at the National World War I Museum tonight, August 23. This 1914 field dining experience, co-chaired by Trudy and Jack Gabriel, will include a cabaret performance featuring music of the era.