Cultural Arts in February
McCartney Tribute, Comedy, Dance Highlight Month

The 2011-2012 Cultural Season in New Orleans continues into the final month of winter with a spate of indoor performances that will warm you up on those few remaining cool nights before the early arrival of spring.

Opera, ballet, classical music and live theatrical productions headline the schedule, even as the city heads into another busy, festive Mardi Gras season. Carnival balls and parades will dominate the action for two weeks in mid-February but, immediately after Fat Tuesday, the live onstage action goes back into full swing.

Here, in chronological order, is a look at what's coming up over the next month:

Opera Returns to Bourbon Street with Bon Operatit!
February 8, 2012

Venue: Inn On Bourbon
Sponsoring Organizations: Bon Operatit!
Tickets: None (FREE and Open to the Public); $5.00 Valet Parking Rate Available for Attendees

Although the old French Opera House is long gone, the opera tradition lives on at the same site. A local ensemble calling itself Bon Operatit! has revived the great operatic tradition in the at The Inn on Bourbon - the site of the famous old French Opera House that stood on the site from 1859 until it burned down in 1919.

Consisting of tenor Jesse Nolan, mezzo-soprano Mary Penick Akin and soprano Lauren Mouney Gisclair, Bon Operatit! performs arias from some of the classic operas in the standard repertoire, plus a sampling of Broadway show tunes and other popular musical fare. Performances are at 7 p.m. and they run for two hours.

Opera on Tap
February 8, 2012

Venue: The Rusty Nail
Sponsoring Organizations: New Orleans Opera Association
Tickets: None (FREE and Open to the Public)

The New Orleans Opera Association reprises its highly popular "Opera on Tap" program of light operatic and live stage fare at the Inn on Bourbon in the heart of the French Quarter. The performances start at 7:00 p.m. and run until 8:30. They are free and open to the public.

Beethoven Symphony No. 7
February 9, 2012

Venue: First Baptist Church New Orleans
Presenting Organization: Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Tickets: Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

One of the most popular of his symphonies, Beethoven's Seventh Symphony has continually elated audiences from its 1813 Viennese premiere through the present day. Also performed on this evening's bill is Jorge Sarmientos' Marimba Concertino featuring LPO Principal Percussionist/Assistant Timpanist Nena Lorenz.

Rounding out the bill is Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1. Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto, LPO Music Director, conducts. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. The church is located at 5290 Canal Boulevard, New Orleans.

The Bikinis
February 24-March 11, 2012

Venue: Westwego Performing Arts Center
Presenting Organization: Jefferson Performing Arts Society
Tickets: Jefferson Performing Arts Society

Back together after 20 years, The Bikinis, an all-girl group from the '60s, is bringing back the sun, fun and all the great songs they sang down on the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore... all to raise money for the good folks at Sandy Shores RV Resort on Florida's Gold Coast.

With a show that promises to get everyone dancing in the aisles, The Bikinis, (nicknamed "The Jersey Girls") relive their heyday and beyond, beginning in the summer of 1964. These four inseparable friends got their name by winning the Belmar Beach Talent Contest wearing just their bikinis! The group began with the four teens, Jodi and Annie, two sisters from Paramus, New Jersey; Karla, their slightly manipulative first cousin from Philly; and best friend Barbara, from Staten Island, NY.

 The Bikinis is a nonstop celebration of song filled with familiar hits from that innocent, pre-Vietnam War era. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. The theatre is located at 177 Sala Avenue in the Salaville Historic District of Westwego, approximately ten miles west of downtown New Orleans.

Shostakovich Symphony No. 1
February 25, 2012

Venue:Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts
Presenting Organization: Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Tickets:Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

It's an all-Russian night as Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto conducts the Louisiana Philharmonic through the works of three immortal Russian composers. On the bill for the evening are Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, Opus 25; Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 1, Opus 1; and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, Opus 10.

Featured with the orchestra will be pianist Alexander Korsantia from the Republic of Georgia whose performances have been heard in many of the world's foremost concert halls. He has performed as soloist with orchestras throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia and collaborated with many renowned artists.

Curtain time is 8 p.m.

Stephen Petronio Company
March 2-3, 2012

Venue: Freda Lupin Memorial Hall
Presenting Organization: New Orleans Ballet Association
Tickets: New Orleans Ballet Association

Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, Stephen Petronio is widely regarded as one of the leading dance-makers of his generation. His instantly recognizable style combines fiercely kinetic movement with the most innovative collaborators from music, visual art and fashion. His intrepid dancers move with whiplash speed and crystalline beauty. The program features Underland, a provocative work originally created for the Sydney Dance Company set to the dark, bittersweet songs of Australian rocker Nick Cave, plus City of Twist, a homage to New York City with an enigmatic commissioned score by performance art legend Laurie Anderson.

Show times are March 2 at 8 p.m., March 3 at 2 p.m. and March 3at 8 p.m. NOCCA, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, is located at 2800 Chartres Street, about ten blocks above the French Quarter.

Salome
March 2 and 4, 2012

Venue: Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts
Presenting Organization:New Orleans Opera Association
Tickets:New Orleans Opera Association or Mahalia Jackson Theater

The third of New Orleans Opera's four mainstage productions of the current season, Richard Strauss' one-act opera has stirred controversy ever since its 1905 premiere. The title character's Dance of the Seven Veils is widely considered to be "the most sensual eight minutes of music in opera" and the question that almost always arises before any given performance is, "Will she or won't she?" In recent years three Salomes actually "did" and appeared nude onstage after the seventh and final veil was dropped. In most performances, however, a soprano in a sheer stocking suit is what audiences see at the end of that scene.

Salome is the biblical story of King Herod's obsession with his wildly temperamental step-daughter. It unfolds shockingly before your eyes when the lecherous monarch is forced to grant Salome's special demand in payment for her performance of the famous dance – the head of John the Baptist on a platter! Salome's macabre obsession with the severed head and the unrequited love of the victim caused even more of a stir with censors than the dance scene in the opera's early years.

The title role is sung by Mlada Khudoley. Jochanaan (John the Baptist) is sung by Ryan McKinny and Herod is John MacMaster. Robert Lyall conducts the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the opera is in German with English supertitles (translations) projected above the stage. Show times are 8 p.m. for the Friday performance and 2:30 for the Sunday matinee.

Please Note – Parental guidance is advised as some material may not be suitable for young children.

Flanagan's Wake
March 2-18, 2012

Venue: Teatro Wego! Theatre
Presenting Organization: Jefferson Performing Arts Society
Tickets: Jefferson Performing Arts Society

"The hilarious interactive Irish wake!" That's what this show has been dubbed by its fans.
Join the villagers of the beautiful fictional village of Grapplin, County Sligo, Ireland, as they tell tales, sing songs and mourn the passing of one of their own. You'll be transported to the Emerald Isle to grieve as only the Irish can and you'll meet a cast of family and other villagers who will have you in stitches with their eulogies and other remembrances. James Joyce this ain't.

Show times are Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Teatro Wego! is located at 177 Sala Avenue, Westwego, adjacent to the Westwego Performing Arts Center.

AND A REMINDER . . .

The Lion King
March 14-April 15, 2012

Single tickets are on sale for the Broadway Across America production of The Lion King, which opens on March 14 and runs through April 15.

Based on the multi-award-winning Disney animated feature, you will experience the phenomenon of this heartwarming story. You will marvel at the breathtaking spectacle of animals brought to life by a cast of more than 40 actors. Award-winning director Julie Taymor created visual images for this show that you'll remember forever. And, above all, you will thrill to the pulsating rhythms of the African Pridelands and an unforgettable score including Elton John and Tim Rice's Oscar-winning song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and the equally memorable "Circle of Life."