Washington Times · Dec 9, 2022
A ‘downtown’ choreographer brings her craft to the opera
This image released by The Metropolitan Opera shows soprano Renée Fleming during a performance of Kevin Puts’ "The Hours." (Evan Zimmerman/The Metropolitan Opera via AP)NEW YORK — It was a delicious challenge that came as a total surprise.
As choreographer Annie-B Parson tells it, she was walking down a Brooklyn street when her phone rang. It was the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb, wondering if she’d be interested in choreographing for the Met.
Parson, based in Brooklyn, founder of the Big Dance Theater and also known for choreographing David Byrne’s joyous “American Utopia” on Broadway, had never done an opera and acknowledges she knew little about the art form.