Vroman & Little Headline 'Kiss Me, Kate' at Glimmerglass Opera

Glimmerglass Opera has announced that Lisa Vroman will sing the role of Lilli Vanessi/Kate, and Brad Little will sing Fred Graham/Petruchio in the company's 2008 summer production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate. The production opens the Glimmerglass Opera Festival Season on July 5 at the Alice Busch Opera Theater in Cooperstown, New York, and runs through August 23.

David Larsen will sing the role of Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, and Courtney Romano will sing the role of Lois Lane/Bianca. Also featured will be Damian Norfleet as Paul, Michael Mott as First Gangster, Brad Nacht as Second Gangster, Martin C. Hurt as Harry Trevor/Baptista and T.K. Durham as Harrison Howell.

Vroman starred on Broadway for several years as Christine Daae in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. She recently made her New York City Opera debut as Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella and has been a guest soloist with the theater/opera companies and orchestras of San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, National, Vancouver, Pacific, Utah, Dallas and Boston. Little has been seen on Broadway as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera and as the Phantom in the production's national tour. His other Broadway and national tour credits include Captain De Castel Jaloux in Cyrano, the Musical and Perchic in Fiddler on the Roof. Larsen was most recently seen on Broadway as Bobby in Good Vibrations.

Diane Paulus will direct the production; David Charles Abell will conduct the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra in the production's original 1948 orchestration. Darren Lee will choreograph. The production will feature costumes by Anka Lupes and lighting by Jane Cox.

Performances run July 5, 7m, 13m, 24, 31, August 2m, 4m, 8, 11, 16, 19m, and 23. Kiss Me, Kate will run in repertory with three other works linked to Shakespeare: Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Wagner's Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love, based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure) and Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. The four productions will be staged on a set inspired by an Elizabethan theater, designed by Glimmerglass Opera Associate Artistic Director John Conklin.

The Glimmerglass Opera 2008 Festival Season runs July 5 to August 24. Subscriptions are on sale now, and single tickets go on sale March 10, 2008. For tickets and more information, visit www.glimmerglass.org or call the Glimmerglass Opera Box Office at (607) 547-2255.