All the Best. All Year Long!

Written By: Mary Adair Trumbly - Highlands PAC | Issue: 2017/01 - Winter

The Highlands Performing Arts Center brings performances Live via Satellite to the Highlands-Cashiers area from the Metropolitan Opera, the National Theatre (London) and the Bolshoi Ballet (Moscow).  

January and February offer many opportunities to see all three venues. 

Beginning Saturday, January 7, at 12:55 P.M., the Met Opera offers “Nabucco.” Met Music Director James Levine conducts Verdi’s early drama of Ancient Babylon, with Plácido Domingo adding a new role to his repertory as the title character.

The National Theatre presents “No Man’s Land” with Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Patrick Stewart at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, January 14: 1:00 P.M.  Following their hit run on Broadway, McKellen and Stewart return to the West End stage in the glorious revival of Harold Pinter’s comic classic.

At 12:55 P.M. Saturday, January 21, the MET Opera presents “Romeo et Juliette.”  The electrifying team of Vittorio Grigolo and Diana Damrau reunites for a new production of Gounod’s opera, based on the Shakespeare play. 

The Bolshoi Ballet will perform “The Sleeping Beauty” at 12:55 P.M. Sunday, January 22. The classic fairy tale brings to life Princess Aurora, the evil witch, and the handsome Prince.

At 12:55 P.M. Sunday, February 5, The Bolshoi Ballet presents an encore performance of “Swan Lake.” Fashioned from Russian folk tales, “Swan Lake” tells the story of Prince Siegfried and of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse.

On Saturday, February 11, at 1:00 P.M. National Theatre presents “Amadeus.”  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives in Vienna, the music capital of the world – and he’s determined to make a splash.  Awestruck by his genius, court composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy his name.  Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music, and ultimately, with God.

The National Theatre will perform “Saint Joan” at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, February 18.  Bernard Shaw’s classic play follows the life and trial of a young country girl who declares a bloody mission to drive the English from France.  She threatens the very fabric of the feudal society and the Catholic Church across Europe.

The Met Opera offers “Rusalka” at 12:55 P.M. Saturday, February 25.  Dvorák’s fairy-tale opera about the tragic water nymph Rusalka and the human prince who captures her heart is a timeless classic.

Tickets are available online at Highlandspac.org, at the door, or by calling (828) 526-9047.  Highlands Performing Arts Center is located at 507 Chestnut Street.