"Don Giovanni," "Guys and Dolls" among highlights of 2026-27 season at Lyric Opera
Mozart's "Don Giovanni," the local premiere of the 2022 opera "Omar," and a fresh production of "Guys and Dolls" are among the highlights of the 2026-2027 season for Chicago's Lyric Opera.
The Lyric Opera announced the schedule for its 2026-2027 season on Thursday.
The season begins with "Don Giovanni" (Oct. 10-Nov. 1, 2026), Mozart's famous tale of deceit and retribution centering the infamous womanizer Don Juan and his downfall as a consequence of his insatiable lust. Former Goodman Theatre artistic director Robert Falls will direct the production, Lyric Opera music director Enrique Mazzola will conduct, and bass-baritone and Lyric Opera veteran Christian Van Horn is the star.
"Don Giovanni" was actually the first ever production by Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1954. It was also staged in 1961, 1964, 1969, 1980, 1988-89, 1995-96, and 2004-05. Falls' production of "Don Giovanni" has appeared at the Lyric previously in 2014-15 and 2019-20.
The Lyric premiere of "Omar" runs concurrently with part of the run of "Don Giovanni" (Oct. 23-28). "Omar" was composed by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Rhiannon Giddens and co-composer Michael Abels, and premiered in 2022 at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.
"Omar" is inspired by the memoir of 19th-cenutry Islamic scholar Omar ibn Said. It tells the story of Omar's capture in West Africa, passage across the Atlantic Ocean, and enslavement in South Carolina — where, the Lyric says, "he confronts his circumstances and challenges his faith through a series of indelible writings."
Director Kaneza Schaal interprets Giddens and Abels' score, which won a Pulitzer Prize.
Gaetano Donizetti's 1842 classic "Don Pasquale," appears Nov. 12-27. Wealthy lifelong bachelor Don Pasquale plans to marry not out of love, but to stick it to his nephew, Ernesto, who is in love with a penniless widow. Don Pasquale has the idea in mind that he will produce a new heir after disowning Ernesto, but Ernesto's fiancée and the Don's doctor thwart the plan.
Mazzola conducts, and Mariame Clément directs the period production.
On Nov. 20 and 22, the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus will present "Wagner: Myth & Music," a program of orchestral and choral classics by Richard Wagner. Alexander Soddy makes his debut conducting, and Michael Black leads the Lyric Opera Chorus.
On Nov. 28 and 29, the Lyric presents a screening of Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Encanto" (2021) with a live orchestra. "Encanto" tells the story of the Madrigals, who live in a magic house in the mountains of Colombia that their only ordinary family member finds is in danger.
"Encanto" features original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
On Jan. 15 and 16, the Lyric will screen the 1984 Miloš Forman period film "Amadeus" with the accompaniment of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus performing Mozart's best-known works. "Amadeus" tells the story of aging composer Antonio Salieri and his envy of the younger and brilliant Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Brett Mitchell conducts the orchestra and chorus, making his Lyric debut.
On Jan. 22 and 23, music director Mazzola is back to conduct the orchestra and chorus for the Lyric premiere of Franz Joseph Haydn's "The Creation." The English libretto for the 1797-1798 opera combines Biblical passages from Genesis and Psalms and excerpts from John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost," which retells the story of Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
"Hérodiade," an 1898 French grand opera by Jules Massanet inspired by Gustave Flaubert's 1877 novella "Hérodias," makes its first appearance at the Lyric. "Hérodiade" retells the Biblical story of Salomé and her vengeful mother, Hérodiade, who demands St. John the Baptist's head. The Massanet opera predates Richard Strauss' opera "Salomé," which premiered in 1905 and was based on an Oscar Wilde play about the same Biblical story.
Mazzola will conduct for what the Lyric called "a lush score filled with haunting choral chants, sultry dances, and Hollywood-esque evocations of first-century Jerusalem."
From March 11-26, the Lyric presents John Cox's production of Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos," an opera within an opera in which a composer first rushes to stage an opera for the richest man in Vienna, then stages an opera about the princess Ariadne of Greek mythology.
From March 24-April 25, the Lyric presents Giuseppe Verdi's "La traviata." The opera tells the story of hedonistic courtesan Violetta Valéry, who finds true love with Alfredo Germont — and who falls seriously ill after they separate.
"Prepare to be moved by this masterwork of melody and melancholy conducted by Enrique Mazzola, whether you've heard it a hundred times or never before," the Lyric said.
From April 11-23, Gabriella Reyes stars in Carlisle Floyd's 1955 American opera "Susannah," the story of a gentle and beautiful woman of modest origins in a small Tennessee mountain town. Gossip falsely alleging Susannah to be promiscuous leads to a mob mentality in her church community.
The Lyric describes "Susannah" as featuring "a taut, visceral libretto sung in English and a score that infuses lush orchestration with flavors of Broadway and American folk music."
On April 30 and May 2, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and tenor SeokJong Baek appear in concert, performing classics by Puccini, Verdi, and others as conductor Riccardo Frizza leads the orchestra.
The season winds up with the Lyric premiere of the Broadway classic "Guys and Dolls" (June 4-20).
The 1950 musical, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, features some colorful characters who would fit right into one of CBS Chicago reporter John "Bulldog" Drummond's "Chicago Chronicles" features of yore. Nathan Detroit needs to money to rent a space for his floating craps game, and bets gambler Sky Masterson $1,000 that Sky can't get a frigid missionary named Sarah Brown to go with him to Havana.
The musical is based on the short stories of Damon Runyon. It features classic numbers such as "Fugue for Tinhorns," "Sit Down, You're Rockin; the Boat," "A Bushel an a Peck," "I've Never Been in Love Before," "Luck Be a Lady," and of course, the title song.
