The Lyric Opera is opening the door for experimental opportunities: Best of KC 2019
The Lyric’s exploration series continues to surprise. // Photo courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Our annual Best of Kansas City 2019 issue is out now. Go grab a copy. Alternatively, you can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also includes a list, compiled and written by The Pitch’s editorial staff, shouting out some of our current favorite things about KC. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout the month of October.
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Opera’s large form and expensive talents make it almost impossible to truly innovate on the main stage. You can bring in a fresh voice and slap some new paint on the traditional sets, but year to year the stories don’t tend to change much. Enter Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s Explorations Series, which is introducing intimate, risky, mixed-genre, and socially aware new work to local audiences. In recent years, the Lyric has reimagined Elvis Costello’s 1993 string-quartet-backed album The Juliet Letters and produced “High Fidelity Opera,” a celebration of 1930s and 1940s radio plays. “As One”—based on the experiences of filmmaker and librettist Kimberly Reed, featuring music by Laura Kaminsky and co-authored by Mark Campbell—followed a trans woman’s journey of discovery and self-acceptance. Two more productions in the Explorations series are scheduled for 2020, and we’re eagerly awaiting what surprising moments those shows have in store for us.
