Deborah Voigt presents “Voigt Lessons” in Boston’s Celebrity Series (Nov 21 & 22)
As the Associated Press observes, Deborah Voigt boasts “a stage presence that radiates an endearing charm.” This fall, the superstar soprano returns to Boston’s Celebrity Series with two performances of Voigt Lessons at the Calderwood Pavilion on Thursday, November 21 and Friday, November 22, with Kevin Stites on piano. An intimate one-woman show, Voigt Lessons was developed in working sessions with award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and director Francesca Zambello at the famed MacDowell Colony, and takes the leading dramatic soprano’s life and career as the basis for a revealing script that incorporates 18 songs and arias of special importance to her. At its premiere at the 2011 Glimmerglass Festival, Voigt Lessons impressed the New York Times as “chatty, witty, and sometimes painfully poignant,” while Toronto’s Globe and Mail pronounced it “an absolute gem.”
The Globe and Mail elaborated:
“Voigt Lessons…presents the soprano at her folksy best. Working with famous playwright Terrence McNally, director Zambello, and pianist Kevin Stites, the singer has created an intimate show that is both poignant and very funny. The script is a chronicle of her ups and downs, including a failed marriage, and battles with weight and alcoholism. She’s just ‘Debbie’ here, letting it all hang out; and doing so through 18 songs—from pop to opera—that illustrate her life in music. The result is an absolute gem and a theatrical love-in. Voigt wins the audience with her vulnerability, honesty and, most of all, her ability to laugh at herself.”
When she first launched Voigt Lessons, Deborah Voigt explained:
“This is the first time that I’ll speak directly to the audience in a performance environment about my life and my career. I’ve made little quips and comments during a recital, but I’ve never talked about myself that openly on stage. It’s exciting, but because it’s so personal, it’s also a little daunting.”
About the upcoming performances of Voigt Lessons in Boston, Voigt adds: “I am so happy to return to this piece that means so much to me and allows me to tell my personal story.”
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This spring, after making her role debut opposite Thomas Hampson in Berg’s Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera (March 6-22), the soprano looks forward to returning to the Celebrity Series of Boston for a recital of Amy Beach, Richard Strauss, Respighi, Tchaikovsky, and Bernstein at Symphony Hall (April 27). As the New York Times remarks, “The first thing to be said about Deborah Voigt…is that she knows how to put together a compelling recital program.”
Further details of Deborah Voigt’s fall engagements are provided below, and more information is available at her web site: www.deborahvoigt.com.
Deborah Voigt: fall engagements
Nov 15
Miami, FL
Adrienne Arsht Center
Recital
Nov 21 & 22
Boston, MA
Celebrity Series of Boston presents:
Wimberly Theatre at Calderwood Pavilion
Voigt Lessons
With Kevin Stites, piano
Nov 27
Geneva, Switzerland
Victoria Hall
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Neeme Järvi
Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder
Nov 28
Lausanne, Switzerland
Palais de Beaulieu
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Neeme Järvi
Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder
Nov 29
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Neeme Järvi
Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder
Dec 12–15
Salt Lake City, UT
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Christmas concerts
www.deborahvoigt.com
www.facebook.com/DeborahVoigt
twitter.com/debvoigt
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© 21C Media Group, November 2013