The program for the 41st annual Spoleto Festival USA, taking place May 26th through June 11th, has been announced. The 2017 Festival features more than 160 ticketed events, held in 12 venues around Charleston – including the Woolfe Street Playhouse, the Dock Street Theatre, the Memminger Auditorium, and the Gaillard Center.
The Gaillard will once again host the Festival's capstone opera, which will be a production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.
In addition to housing the US premiere of Vivaldi's celebrated opera Farnace, the Dock Street Theatre will also be home to acclaimed Irish theater company Druid's production of Waiting for Godot. Award-winning Garry Hynes, Druid's artistic director, will direct both Dock Street performances.
A few blocks uptown, three other internationally acclaimed theater productions will be held in College of Charleston's Emmett Robinson Theatre: Blind Summit Theatre's The Table, Aurélia Thierrée's Murmurs, and Rezo Gabriadze's Ramona.
The American Express Woolfe Street Series will send audiences to the Upper King playhouse for a wide array of events, including a world premiere from tap choreographer and performer Ayodele Casel, three programs of Spoleto Festival USA Director of Orchestral Activities John Kennedy's contemporary “Music in Time series,” and the world premiere of “Cinema and Sound,” featuring pianist Stephen Prutsman.
Some College of Charleston venues will also host spectacular events:
- Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater will perform at the College's Cistern Yard with Festival-eve and opening-night concerts
- The Sottile Theatre will welcome a range of innovative contemporary dance companies from around the globe, including France's ballet-meets-hip-hop duo Wang Ramirez, Israel's L-E-V, and the New York-based Gallim Dance.
And finally, the Wells Fargo Festival Finale will take place across the Ashley at the historic Middleton Place, giving ticket holders access to a full lineup of local and regional bands headlined by The Revivalists.
The 2017 program and an event calendar can be found here. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 843.579.3100 and online at spoletousa.org. Tickets can also be purchased in person through the Spoleto Festival USA Box Office at the Gaillard Center (95 Calhoun Street) beginning on Monday, May 1.
