Richmond, VA (October 20, 2015) – Kyle Lang knows his way around a stage. As a seasoned dancer and choreographer he has already worked at some the greatest Opera Houses in the country including The Metropolitan Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera. Nevertheless, opening night of Virginia Opera’s La Bohème will mark an important accomplishment for Lang: his first opportunity at tackling the Puccini masterpiece as a stage director.
Perhaps the transition from choreographer to stage director is a natural one; yet the ability to make precise decisions about placement of singing actors, dancers, chorus, supernumeraries and in some cases, live animals on a stage in order to tell a story is no simple task. The opening of Act 2 of La Bohème presents the perfect storm for a young stage director as far as preventing a huge traffic snarl. The confluence of a large children’s chorus, adult chorus, principal singers and extras or “supernumeraries” creates an explosive bustle that must excite and entertain the audience with musical sparkle and theatrical exuberance. Kyle has tackled such challenges before as a choreographer but as a stage director he will flex much more creative muscle in La Bohème.
La Bohème offers Lang a wide range of emotional territory with uninhabited comic moments between the four male comrades and then heartbreaking loss between the lovers. Such physical interpretative breadth is certainly part of the choreographer’s mission but in opera a stage director has the additional vehicle of the human voice which must touch an audience with surgical depth.
The shift between intimacy and madding crowd is the stuff of great opera and precisely what makes an audience engage with the storyline. La Bohème has captivated audiences for nearly 120 years and Kyle Lang is about to become a part of a legacy of stage directors who have helped create a lasting musical memory for new and seasoned fans of great opera.
Kyle Lang stats:
From – Bogalusa, Louisiana
Lives in – North Bethesda, Maryland
Studied at – NYU Tisch School of the Arts
About Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera Association, Inc., in its 41st season, is known and respected nationwide for the identification and presentation of the finest young artists, for the musical and dramatic integrity of its productions, and for the ingenuity and variety of its education and outreach programs. Mainstage performances in three markets across the Commonwealth reach nearly 50,000 attendees annually. In March of 1994, by unanimous vote of the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia Opera was named The Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia in recognition of the organization’s contribution to the state as well as to the world of opera.
For tickets and information visit vaopera.org or call 866.673.7282.