Boston Opera House tickets 17 May 2024 - Spring Experience: Blake Works III (The Barre Project). Bella Figura. New Work by Ken Ossola | GoComGo.com

Spring Experience: Blake Works III (The Barre Project). Bella Figura. New Work by Ken Ossola

Boston Opera House, Boston, USA
All photos (4)
Select date

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Modern Ballet
City: Boston, USA
Starts at: 19:30
Cast
Performers
Ballet company: Boston Ballet
Creators
Composer: Alessandro Marcello
Composer: Antonio Vivaldi
Composer: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Composer: James Blake
Composer: Lukas Foss
Choreographer: Jiří Kylián
Choreographer: Ken Ossola
Choreographer: William Forsythe
Overview

Experience the vibrant living art of dance. Explore the three ballets that are part of Boston Ballet’s Spring Experience program.

William Forsythe returns to Boston with the dynamic and masterful ballet, Blake Works III (The Barre Project). This work pushes our artform into new territory yet again. The masterpiece was created for Boston Ballet in 2022 and is set to the propulsive and beautifully structured music of composer James Blake. An absolute powerhouse of dance, it is riveting to watch Boston Ballet dancers master Forsythe’s challenging and innovative technique.

A beloved favorite, Jiří Kylián’s Bella Figura returns to the Boston stage. An exploration of the human form, this sensuous ballet captivates viewers with its raw beauty, sense of curiosity, and delicate intimacy. Known for its enticing music, the ballet is set to a selection of Baroque music, including selections by Lukas Foss, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, and Giuseppe Torelli.

Ken Ossola will create a world premiere for Boston Ballet, pulling inspiration from Michelangelo’s “non-finito” sculptures Prisoners. Ossola explores the tensions between our mind and body and the perpetual human state of both emergence and incompleteness. Featuring a score composed by Boston Ballet Music Director Mischa Santora, the ballet will envelop audiences into a world of sound, music, and dance.

Please Note: This program contains moments of partial nudity and open flames on stage. There may also be moments of loud music and flashing light that could be challenging for people with sound and light sensitivities.

History

Bella Figura is a one-act ballet by Jiří Kylián, first presented in 1995 by Nederlands Dans Theater.

Venue Info

Boston Opera House - Boston
Location   539 Washington St

The Boston Opera House, also known as the Citizens Bank Opera House, is a performing arts and esports venue located at 539 Washington St. in Boston, Massachusetts. It was originally built as the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, a movie palace in the Keith-Albee chain. The chain became part of RKO when it was established just before the theater opened on October 29, 1928, and it was also known as the RKO Keith's Theater. After operating for more than 50 years as a movie theater, it was rededicated in 1980 as a home for the Opera Company of Boston, which performed there until the opera company closed down in 1990 due to financial problems. The theater was reopened in 2004 after a major restoration, and it currently serves as the home of the Boston Ballet and also hosts touring Broadway shows. The theater serves as the home arena of the Boston Uprising of the Overwatch League.

The Boston Opera House was originally designed as the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, a lavish movie theater in the Keith-Albee chain. The Keith's Memorial was one of his most elaborate designs of the prominent theater architect Thomas W. Lamb. It was dedicated to the vaudeville pioneer B.F. Keith. On October 23, 1928, just before the theater opened, the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) company was formed and became the owner of the theater. The theater opened on October 29, 1928, presenting first-run films along with live vaudeville. By 1929, the theater had converted to showing only films and remained a leading Boston movie showcase through the 1950s. It became known as RKO Keith's, and bore signage that said both "B.F. Keith's" and "RKO Keith's" (see the 1938 photo shown at right).

In 1965 the Sack Theaters company acquired the theater and renamed it the Savoy Theater. Sack later added a second smaller cinema in the theater's stage space, separated from the original auditorium by a masonry wall built across the proscenium.

In 1980, after closing as a movie house, the theater became the home of opera director Sarah Caldwell's Opera Company of Boston and was renamed the Boston Opera House. The theater was acquired and renovated by the opera company with the help of Boston arts patron Susan Timken. After a decade of opera productions at the house, Caldwell's company collapsed due to financial troubles in 1991. Having previously produced opera since 1958 in rented theaters, the company was not financially prepared to cope with the substantial costs of upkeep for the large theater which had previously been poorly maintained for decades. The company's failure left the theater dark and without funds to maintain it.

Unheated, the building fell prey to extensive water damage, severely damaging the electrical system and the decorative plaster interior of the auditorium. The company's costumes, collected for decades and stored under the damaged roof, were lost. In 1996, the former opera company relinquished ownership of the building.

Mayor Thomas Menino, with the aid of Senator Edward Kennedy (whose father, Joseph, was the first owner), helped to get the theater landmark status in 1999 through the Boston Landmarks Commission. After a series of failed or delayed development proposals, the Clear Channel Company agreed to renovate the theater. The need to enlarge the trapezoidal stage house into the street between buildings provoked a multi-year court fight with the neighboring Tremont on the Commons condominium building, whose concerns with fire safety were eventually overcome with the persuasion of Mayor Menino.

The Boston opera community welcomed the efforts of Mayor Menino and Clear Channel to refurbish the Opera House and the damaged interior was restored in a $38 million renovation. It reopened on July 16, 2004, with the Broadway production of The Lion King. Clear Channel kept the historic theater busy and active with long runs of touring Broadway musicals and pop concerts. While its agreement with city included a clause that opera be produced at least two weeks a year, no opera company has yet returned to make the Opera House its home.

The current owner of the theater is Boston Opera House Ventures, LLC, a partnership of local Boston businessmen Don Law and David Mugar. Its primary tenants are Broadway Across America, Boston Uprising and the Boston Ballet. Home to Boston Ballet's annual production of The Nutcracker since 2005, the theater became the company's permanent home in 2009.

Important Info
Type: Modern Ballet
City: Boston, USA
Starts at: 19:30
Top of page