Article: TurandotNJOT Moves into the Big TimeAsbury Park Press (Carlton Wilkinson) The New Jersey Opera Theater will launch its 2007 season with twin performances of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot at 3 p.m. March 4 at McCarter Theatre in Princeton and 3 p.m. March 11 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. Soprano Sharon Sweet, a staple of NJOT productions who has previously appeared in major roles at the Metropolitan Opera and on other international stages, will play Turandot alongside tenor Allan Glassman, also a Met Opera alum, in the role of Calaf. Steven Mosteller will conduct and Ira Siff is the director, with costumes by Patricia A. Hibbert. While still a "semistaged" production — props and backdrops are limited, the principals are in costume and the chorus is not — this production officially moves the NJOT into the big time by a change of venue into the bigger Matthews Theatre within McCarter's large complex and the similarly sized State Theatre. The New Jersey Opera Theater is a relatively new organization that plots its mission along an axis of first-rate performances and skillfully directed public education events. From its Princeton base, the group reaches across the state with performances and educational events in other parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Founded in '02Founded in 2002 by directors Scott and Lisa Altman, New Jersey Opera Theater got a boost from the 2003 demise due to financial difficulties of the Opera Festival of New Jersey, a high-profile group that performed large productions of standard and nonstandard repertoire at Princeton-area venues. Stepping in to fill the void, the New Jersey Opera Theater quickly established itself as a force in the state's small professional opera community. Reviews, including highly favorable notices of last seasons performances, have been piling up. Coming seasons likely will see the New Jersey Opera Theater take the next step into the role of the leading operatic institution in the state. Return to the Reviews and Articles Archive.
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