STEPHANIE BLYTHE TAKES YOU
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 AT 7PM ET
Variety Show Guests Include
Gabrielle Gilliam, Darius Thomas, Dr. Charlene Lotz,
Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and Ryan MacEvoy McCullough
with a Special Appearance by Blythely Oratonio
Tickets are $20 + $3.50 service fee
Opera star Stephanie Blythe invites you to her “Home for the Holidays.” The diva will perform in and host a December variety show special on Friday, December 18, at 7pm at https://ourconcerts.live/shows/blythe-home-for-the-holidays. The concert is presented by
OurConcerts.live in association with the Fort Worth Opera. Tickets are $20 + $3.50 service fee.
Ms. Blythe and her blue ukulele will host and perform from her home in the Poconos. Her
special guests will include soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon and pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough; as well as soprano Gabrielle Gilliam and tenor Darius Thomas, who are Fort Worth Opera Lesley Resident Artists, with pianist Dr. Charlene Lotz. Later in the show, Blythely Oratonio, Ms.
Blythe’s outrageous drag alter ego, will emerge to “sleigh” with a tender, testosterone-filled
tenor performance.
“I grew up adoring the variety show format – never missing ‘Donny & Marie,’ ‘The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, or ‘The Shields and Yarnell Show and most of all I loved watching reruns of ‘The Dean Martin Show.’ Those shows introduced me to incredible artists in a very personal way, and they always made their audiences feel like a part of the family – like we were in in on the jokes, and the songs were being sung just for us,” says Ms. Blythe. “Being able present a show like this for Christmas is an absolute gift. I’ve been describing ‘Home for the Holidays’ as something like musical exhibition skating. And I am thrilled that we have such generous and
wonderful artists joining us for this program – here we get to entertain and be ourselves –
making the audience feel more like a part of the party,” she adds.
The evening promises to enchant with songs richer than hot chocolate, decadent servings of
laughter, and hearts full of friendship. All are invited to don their festive best and join for
merrymaking, holiday standards, sing-alongs, ancient carols, facial hair, blue ukuleles, and the
making and breaking of holiday traditions.
Those who might want to be part of the holiday sing-along (and be featured on the show) are
invited to send in their video singing “Deck The Halls” along to Ms. Blythe’s instrumental track
(youtube version is here) by Tuesday, December 15 to Rachel.sokolow@ourconcerts.live. Alternatively, audience members may email holiday wishes to the same address and Ms. Blythe might read their wish on the show.
Ms. Blythe is an opera star and recitalist, and one of the most highly respected and critically
acclaimed artists of her generation. Since making her Met Opera debut 25 years ago, she has
gone on to perform on many of the world's great stages, including Carnegie Hall, the
Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Paris National Opera, and the San Francisco and Chicago Lyric Operas. When she is not gracing the world’s leading stages as an opera star, she also enjoys a vibrant recital and cabaret career, and will remark on the more immediate and visceral feedback she receives from the audience during those performances. With “Home for the Holidays” she invites her audience in even closer, embracing our shared humanity with
storytelling, curiosity, and gorgeous, heartfelt song.
Ms. Blythe serves as artistic director of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at the Bard College
Conservatory of Music. She is a Lanikai Ukulele Artist; since the pandemic started, during her
time off from teaching, Ms. Blythe has been playing the ukulele and exploring the American
songbook with her own unique point of view. She has thus far recorded and shared more than
twenty videos of herself singing and strumming classic American songs.
Partners in both music and in life, soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon and pianist Ryan McCullough are
regarded for their performances of contemporary works alongside the art song canon. Through the guidance and research of musicologist Mackenzie Pierce, Fitz Gibbon and McCullough have given the U.S. premieres of numerous works by mid-20th century Polish composers, and modern premieres of important Yiddish-language works by Moses Milner and Joel Engel. Individually, Ms. Fitz Gibbon has appeared with such ensembles as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Lucerne Academy Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Tulsa Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra in her Carnegie Hall debut. Mr. McCullough has performed as a soloist with major orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles
Philharmonic, and has performed with the Mark Morris Dance Group and contemporary
ensemble Eighth Blackbird.
Ms. Gilliam and Mr. Thomas were named Fort Worth Opera Lesley Resident Artists through a
nationwide audition process. The program offers professional experience to exceptional
performers every year. This season, Ms. Gilliam will sing The Heavenly Voice in Don Carlo, cover the roles of Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Sandrine/Mercedes in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and perform in concert for the Hart Institute for Women Conductors. During the 2021/22 season, Thomas will perform throughout DFW as a Fort Worth Opera Lesley Resident Artist, and be featured online through the company’s digital platform FWO Green Room, where he will perform the role of Stan in the world premiere film of Joe Illick and Mark Campbell’s Stone Soup. Last season, he made a partial role debut as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in Knoxville Opera’s touring production. Dr. Lotz is the Fort Worth Opera’s head of Music Staff and Director of the Fort Worth Opera Children’s Opera Theatre, and has played solo recitals and concerto performances in the United States, South America, and Europe.
Additional biography materials and photos of the performers are available here.
For Calendar:
What: Opera star Stephanie Blythe and her blue ukulele host a “Home for the Holidays”
December variety show featuring soprano Gabrielle Gilliam, tenor Darius Thomas, pianist Dr.
Charlene Lotz, soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, pianist Ryan McCullough, and a tender, testosteronefilled tenor performance by Blythely Oratonio, Ms. Blythe’s outrageous drag alter ego. Join for an evening of merrymaking, holiday standards, sing-alongs, ancient carols, facial hair, and the making and breaking of holiday traditions. The concert is presented by OurConcerts.live in association with the Fort Worth Opera.
When: Friday, December 18, at 7pm ET, 6pm CT, 4pm PT
Price: $20 + $3.50 service fee
Where: OurConcerts.live - https://ourconcerts.live/shows/blythe-home-for-the-holidays
Ms. Blythe has graciously offered Fort Worth Opera lovers an exclusive 10% OFF voucher code for this one-night-only holiday event!
PLEASE NOTE: Voucher code (fwo10) is case sensitive. This code is valid through December 18, 2020.
Here’s how and where to use the voucher code during the purchase process:
1. Create an OurConcerts.live account, accept terms, register.
2. A pop-up screen appears. Click “Purchase” (do not enter the voucher code in the Access Code spot).
3. A pop-up screen appears. Select the ticket and go to the next screen. When you get to the credit card payment screen, click “+ add voucher”, put in the voucher code, enter payment details, and you're good to go!
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