Luck Be An Arizona Lady Tonight! Arizona Opera Opens Season With U.S. Opera Company Premiere of Arizona Lady
Arizona Opera opens its 2015/16 Season as the first U.S. opera company to present the comic operetta Arizona Lady. The story revolves around leading lady Lona Farrell, whose hopes and dreams ride on the back of one horse, "Arizona Lady", winning the Kentucky Derby. Set on a historic ranch in Tucson and reminiscent of the greatest Golden-age Hollywood musical comedies, Arizona Lady is full of lively, upbeat music, cheerful, soaring arias and a wacky libretto, sure to make you smile as bright as the Arizona sun.
Arizona Lady is an operetta by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán who fled Europe to escape Nazi persecution. In 1953, he wrote Arizona Lady as a love letter to the Southwest where he had sought refuge. Kálmán was one of numerous composers who escaped Europe and moved to the United States. Many of these composers landed in Hollywood where they began composing for the movie studios. Arizona Lady harks back to those classic films with grand scenery, screwball comedy and the big Hollywood sound we think of today.
Arizona Opera will be the first major U.S. opera house to perform Arizona Lady. The piece has recently received international attention as the Komische Oper Berlin presented a new production in December 2014.
Arizona Lady's cast is led by Angela Fout (Lona Farrell) whose "soaring spinto voice takes a high C easily, trills beautifully, and handles coloratura like a dream" (Post and Courier). Robert Orth, beloved by Arizona Opera audiences in 2013's H.M.S. Pinafore, returns as Sheriff Harry Sullivan and Octavio Moreno, who starred in last season's smash mariachi opera, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, takes the role of rancher Lopez Ibañez.
Conductor Kathleen Kelly and Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto "Tito" Rios have created a brand new English, German and Spanish translation of the libretto, which was originally written by Alfred Grünwald and Gustav Beer.
Tickets for Arizona Lady start at $25 and go on sale August 23. Tickets will also be available at azopera.org or by calling 602.266.7464 (Phoenix) or 520.293.4336 (Tucson). Tickets will also be on sale at the Arizona Opera Center Box Office at 1636 N. Central Ave., Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
A limited number of tickets for Student Night in Tucson (October 8) are available to schools and community groups. Click here for details and ticket reservation information.
Click here to hear sound clips from Arizona Lady
Click here for Conductor Kathleen Kelly's Essential Arizona Lady Playlist
Click here to download Arizona Lady Ringtones (for Android and iPhone)
Arizona Lady
Music by Emmerich Kálmán
New English/German/Spanish translation by Kathleen Kelly and Alberto "Tito" Rios
Original libretto by Alfred Grünwald and Gustave Beer
Tucson Performance Information
October 10, 7:30 p.m.
October 11, 2 p.m.
Tucson Music Hall
260 S. Church St., Tucson
Phoenix Performance Information
October 16 & 17, 7:30 p.m.
October 18, 2 p.m.
Symphony Hall
75 N. 2nd St., Phoenix
Arizona Lady
Rediscovered Voices Festival
(September 17 - October 18)
Arizona Opera's Rediscovered Voices Festival celebrates and explores Arizona Lady and the inspiring story of Emmerich Kálmán's - a Jewish-Hungarian composer who fled Europe in WWII and wrote Arizona Lady as a love letter to his new home in the Southwest.
All Redicsoverd Voices Festival events are free to the public unless indicated otherwise.
Arizona Opera's Rediscovered Voices Festival is supported by the Jewish Community Foundation of Phoenix.
Phoenix Events
- Brown Bag Lunch Recital
September 17, 12:15-12:45 p.m.
Bring a bagged lunch and listen to opera highlights.
Arizona Opera Center
1636 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
- The Music & Stories of the West
September 24, 11 a.m.
Free concert and lecture with composer Craig Bohmler
Scottsdale Museum of the West
3830 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale
- Brundibár by Hans Krása
September 27, 1 p.m.
One-act children's opera that premiered in the Theresienstadt concentration camp
Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center
12701 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale
- Coffee @ Kerr
September 30, 10:30 a.m.
Free lecture discussion open to the community
Kerr Cultural Center
6110 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale
- Operátif
October 2, 6:30 p.m.
Glass of wine and behind the scenes tour
Arizona Opera Center
1636 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
$25; RSVP at 602.266.7464
- The Music & Stories of Jewish Composers
October 7, 7 p.m.
Free concert and lecture about Jewish refugee composers
Congregation Beth Israel
10406 N. 56th St., Scottsdale
- Arizona Opera Book Club Meeting: Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the Southwest
October 12, 7 p.m.
Discussion of Sandra Day O'Conner's Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the Southwest
Changing Hands Bookstore
300 W. Camelback Rd., Phoenix
- Film Festival: Calamity Jane
October 13, 7 p.m.
Film about the life of Calamity Jane in the American West
Arizona Opera Center
1636 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
- Film Festival: Cowgirls: Portrait of American Ranch Women
October 15, 7 p.m.
Film celebrating women who pioneered the Western frontier
Arizona Opera Center
1636 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
Arizona Opera is proud to partner with No Festival Required for the Rediscovered Voices film screenings.
Tucson Events
- Brundibár by Hans Krása
September 20, 3 p.m.
One-act children's opera that premiered in the Thresiendstadt concentration camp
Tucson Jewish Community Center
3800 E. River Rd., Tucson
- The Music & Stories of Jewish Composers
September 26, 2 p.m.
Free concert and lecture about Jewish refugee composers
Tucson Museum of Art
140 N. Main Ave., Tucson
- Say Hello to Opera
September 30, 3 p.m.
University of Arizona vocal arts students sing arias from Arizona Lady
Oro Valley Library
1305 W. Naranja Dr., Oro Valley
- Film Festival: The Brothers Warner
September 30, 7 p.m.
Film about filmmakers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner
Tucson Jewish Community Center
3800 E. River Rd., Tucson
- Brown Bag Lunch Recital
October 2, noon
Bring a bagged lunch and listen to arias from Arizona Lady
Grace St. Paul Episcopal Church
2331 E. Adams St., Tucson
- Arizona Opera Book Club Meeting: Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the Southwest
October 5, 7 p.m.
Discussion of Sandra Day O'Conner's Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the Southwest
Antigone Books
411 N. 4th Ave., Tucson
- Translation with Alberto "Tito" Rios
October 6, 7 p.m.
Arizona poet laureate Albert "Tito" Rios discusses the art of translation
The University of Arizona Poetry Center
1508 E. Helen St., Tucson
- Student Night
October 8
Lecture begins at 6 p.m.
Performance begins at 7 p.m.
Tucson Music Hall
260 S. Church Ave., Tucson
Registration is required for all Student Night performances. Visit www.azopera.org to register.
About Arizona Opera
Founded in 1971, Arizona Opera is our state's only professional opera company that produces fully-staged opera performances as well as in-school touring productions, and outreach programs to reach over 70,000 schoolchildren and adults annually. Since its inception, Arizona Opera has produced over 200 fully-staged operatic masterpieces and concerts including Richard Wagner's complete Ring Cycle; and in 2014 the company embarked on a new artistic initiative, "Arizona Bold" which incorporates new repertoire into each season, works that celebrate the rich cultural fabric that makes up our diverse state.