Long Beach Opera offers three shows next season

For over 30 years, the Long Beach Opera has been making waves with shows that continue to impress and provide the viewer with a vivid cultural experience and 2011 will be no exception as three memorable shows make their way to the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.

Show Dates and Times:

Akhnaten – Terrace Theater
Saturday, March 19th, at 730PM
Sunday, March 27th, at 2PM

Moscow, Cherry Town – Center Theater
Sunday, May 15th, at 2PM
Wednesday, May 18th, at 7:30PM
Sunday, May 22nd, at 2PM

The Difficulty of Crossing a Field – Terrace Theater
Wednesday, June 15th, at 7:30PM
Saturday, June, 18th, at 2PM and 7:30PM

AKHNATEN

The story of a Pharaoh who abandoned traditional Egyptian polytheism, Akhnaten is an opera that portrays the rise, reign, and fall of the first recorded monotheist who ruled Eighteenth Century Egypt.

The third in the Philip Glass' trilogy of operas about men who changed the world in which they lived through the power of their ideas, Akhnaten’s underlying theme is religion.

Akhnaten was the first monotheist in recorded story, and his substitution of a one-god religion for the multi-god worship was ultimately responsible for his violent overthrow. He ruled Egypt for 17 years and died around 1336 BC.

MOSCOW, CHERRY TOWN

Moscow, Cherry Town is a Long Beach Opera production that mocks the corruption and idealism of the USSR in the post-Stalin era. This satiric romp through Khrushchev’s Moscow is a charming but irreverent operetta full of memorable tunes.

The story exploits the failed idealism and bureaucratic corruption of the Soviet housing system as it follows a group of young people. Displaced from their old city apartments, they are promised homes in the new community, but are denied the keys by the corrupt managers. The musical becomes an uplifting comic saga about the power common folk can exert when they band together in the collectivist spirit.

THE DIFFICULTY OF CROSSING A FIELD

In The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, the plot is based on a story by the writer Ambrose Bierce. Centering on a slave owner in the pre-civil war American South, the owner walks across his field in bright daylight and disappears in plain view of his family, his neighbors and his slaves, forever altering the relationships among them.

This chamber opera creates a more intimate setting and boasts a surprising twist as all audience seating will be on stage, while the production is presented from the Orchestra section of the Terrace Theater.


"The Long Beach Opera pushes the boundaries of modern opera once again with their presentation of these three thrilling shows," said Dan Spellens, Director of Theaters & Entertainment for the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center. "We are very pleased to welcome the Long Beach Opera to the Convention Center once again," he concluded.

Tickets are on sale now at all TicketMaster outlets and the Long Beach Performing Arts Center Main Box Office. Ticket prices range from $25.00 to $110.00. To charge by phone, please call TicketMaster at (800) 745-3000 or ww.ticketmaster.com. The Box Office is located at 300 E. Ocean Boulevard, and is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and Saturday from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM. For Season Subscriptions, please visit www.longbeachopera.org or call the Long Beach Opera Box Office at (562) 432-5934.

One of the few ocean front arena and convention facilities in the country, the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center attracts approximately 2 million people each year for conventions, trade shows, theater and sporting events. Managed by SMG, the Center offers state-of-the-art facilities including unique entertainment venues at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, which includes the Terrace and Center Theaters, as well as the Long Beach Arena. For further information on the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, please call (562) 436-3636 or visit www.longbeachcc.com.

Headquartered in West Conshohocken, PA, SMG provides facility services to over 200 public assembly facilities including arenas, stadiums, performing arts theaters and convention and trade centers. With facilities across North/Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, SMG controls over 1.5 million entertainment seats worldwide and manages more than ten million feet of exhibition space.