Fiddler and King and I Director Bartlett Sher to Direct Operatic Romeo and Juliet

Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher, currently represented on Broadway with Fiddler on the Roof and The King and I, will bring his production of Charles Gounod's opera Romeo and Juliet to Lyric Opera of Chicago. It will run February 22-March 19 in conjunction with the Shakespeare 400 Chicago international arts festival.

Sher's staging of the work premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 2008. It features his frequent Tony-winning design collaborators, Michael Yeargan (sets) and Catherine Zuber (costumes), as well as lighting by Jennifer Tipton. Emmanuel Villaume serves as conductor, with Michael Black as chorus master. The work will be sung in French, with projected English supertitles.

The Lyric staging will star noted soprano Susanna Phillips as Juliet. Tenor Joseph Calleja will open the production as Romeo, with Eric Cutler taking on the role beginning March 11. Calleja will play his final performance on February 22.

Inspired by Shakespeare's play, the work is described as follows: "He's a Montague and she's a Capulet — families who have hated each other for centuries. Yet when Romeo meets Juliet, they fall instantly and rapturously in love. Secretly, they marry — but Shakespeare's famed young couple is ultimately doomed. Featuring five iconic love duets and soaring music for the chorus and orchestra, Charles Gounod’s music breathes life into the world’s most iconic romantic tragedy."

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