Fall arts bring Previn, ‘Kinky Boots,’ DTC world premiere

A local production of “Spring Awakening.” A symphony by Andre Previn played for the conductor and composer in the audience. “Kinky Boots” in Wilmington. A world premiere of “The War of the Roses.” “Swan Lake” back at The Grand.

There are always great offerings by Delaware performing arts groups; here are some highlights of the fall season.

Groups who haven’t yet announced their schedules are not included in this list.

Performance details are available on each group’s website.

Classical music

•Brandywine Baroque, brandywinebaroque.org. This early music group presents “Shades of Love” (cantatas by Clerambault and Monteclair with soprano Laura Heimes) on Oct. 14 and 16 at The Barn at Flintwood in Wilmington and on Oct. 15 at The Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Rehoboth Beach. In December “The Duel of Love” with countertenor Augustine Mercante and soprano Laura Heimes will be at Flintwood on Dec. 9 and 11 and in Rehoboth on Dec. 10.

•Coastal Concerts, coastalconcerts.org. This increasingly visible downstate presenter leads off fall with the lively American Brass Quintet on Oct. 15 and follows up with Argentine-born pianist Ingrid Filter in a rescheduled concert on Nov. 19. Performances are held at Bethel United Methodist Church in Lewes.

•Concerts at Christ Church, christchurchde.org. At Greenville’s Christ Church Christiana Hundred, new music director Bruce Barber has a series of public concerts. On Nov. 11, guest organist Jonathan Ryan will play Bach’s “Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Study) III” on the church’s John Brombaugh organ. And on Dec. 17, Philadelphia’s well-known choral group will present The Crossing @ Christmas.

•Concerts on Kentmere, delart.org. Set in its galleries, the Delaware Art Museum’s concert series features Pyxis Piano Quartet in its 8th season in residence. To complement the museum’s contemporary American exhibition “Truth & Vision,” the season opens Oct. 27 with American music of Gershwin and Alan Jay Kernis (winner of the DSO’s composer award), as well as a major work by Joaquin Turina.

•Delaware Symphony, delawaresymphony.org. Classics concerts at The Grand begin Sept. 23, when Maestro David Amado will conduct André Previn’s Double Concerto with the duo of Jaime Laredo (violin) and Sharon Robinson (cello), for whom it was written. Previn will be on hand to accept the A.I. duPont Composer’s Award. Also at The Grand on Nov. 8, the DSO will presents the Symphonic Dances from Bernstein’s West Side Story and the Korngold Violin Concerto with Jinjoo Cho. The Chamber Series opens Oct. 18 with Vivaldi’s “Four Season,” and Amado conducting as David Southorn, DSO concertmaster, takes the virtuosic violin part.

•Dover Symphony, doversymphony.org. This Kent County community orchestra – celebrating conductor Donald Buxton’s 27th season – kicks off Oct. 9 at Dover’s Schwartz Center with their Fall Classical Concert. “Ringing in the Holiday Season” takes place Nov. 27 at Dover Downs’ Rollins Center.

•Market Street Music, marketstreetmusicde.org. The season begins Oct. 1 with a concert by Pyxis Piano Quartet featuring works by Mozart and Strauss at First & Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. On Oct. 23, organist and composer David Schelat will perform his own compositions – and those of J.S. Bach – on the church’s Gabriel Kney organ.

•Melomanie, melomanie.org. This eclectic chamber ensemble opens Sept. 18 with musicians and audience onstage together for “Up Close and Personal” at Wilmington Friends School. On Sept. 24, they’ll be at the Smyrna Opera House with Icelandic violinist Eva Ingolf in a work written for her by Delaware composer Mark Hagerty.

•Newark Symphony, newarksymphony.org. This community orchestra kicks off its 50th season at Newark’s Independence School with a free family concert Oct. 4. On Oct. 30 they’ll perform Holst’s “The Planets” with visual effects and on Dec. 11 works by Schubert and Mussorgsky. “Celebrating Women’s Genius,” a chamber concert, will be Nov. 19 at Newark United Methodist Church.

•Pyxis Piano Quartet, pyxispianoquartet.com. This ensemble is presenting two different concerts in Wilmington – at Market Street Music (Oct. 1) and Concerts on Kentmere (Oct. 27).

•Serafin String Quartet, serafinstringquartet.org. The Serafins lead off their season Oct. 1 at Wilmington’s Trinity Episcopal Church playing works by Dvorak and Beethoven. On Oct. 26 they’ll play a benefit concert at the Music School of Delaware in Wilmington, and then head to the University of Delaware’s Roselle Center for the Arts (where they are In residence) for a Nov. 10 concert of music by Haydn, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn.

•UD Master Players Series, masterplayers.udel.edu. The series opens Oct. 1 with Xiang Gao and Friends. On Oct. 22, the 18-member Sphinx Virtuosi and Catalyst Quartet will present “Latin Voyages.” On Nov. 5, percussionist Harvey Price will present “Women in Rhythm: A Percussion Concert,” and on Dec. 10, a concert by the Curtis Chamber Orchestra will feature Curtis president and violist Roberto Diaz.

Vocal performances

•Center City Chorale, marketstreetmusicde.org. This community group will perform the direction of David Schelat Nov. 3 and Dec. 15 at First & Central Presbyterian Church.

•CoroAllegro, coroallegro.com. This ensemble is “Celebrating 30 years of music with music from the 30’s.” Now under the direction of Jeffrey Sean Dokken, their fall performances Nov. 11 and 12 will be at The Recital Hall in OperaDelaware Studios on the Wilmington Riverfront.

•Delaware ChoralArts, delawarechoralarts.org. This auditioned choral group, under the direction of founder David Christopher, will singspirituals and Paul Halley’s “Voice of Light” Nov. 20 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew, their home venue. On Dec. 20, the group will participate in a “Messiah” sing-along, also at SsAM.

•Delaware Choral Society, delawarechoralsociety.org. Under the direction of Dr. James Wilson, DCS will be joined by the Delaware Youth Chorale to present “The Poet’s Lyre” Dec. 11 at The Schwartz Center in downtown Dover.

•Mastersingers of Wilmington, marketstreetmusicde.org. Founded and conducted by David Schelat, this auditioned group of 35 professional and skilled volunteer singers presents their winter concert Dec. 3 at First & Central Presbyterian Church, with works including “The Nativity” of American composer Stephen Paulus.

•OperaDelaware, operade.org. While the opera focuses on a two-week festival format in spring 2017, the company will present an Inside an Opera Studio offering, “The Best of Bel Canto,” Oct. 21 and 22 at their Riverfront Wilmington home.

•Rehoboth Beach Film Society, rehobothfilm.com. This fall RBFS is screening live HD performances of New York’s Metropolitan Opera including “Tristan und Isolde” Oct. 8, “Don Giovanni” Oct. 22, and the Met premiere of Kaijia Saariaho’s 2000 opera, “L’Amour de Loin” Dec. 10.

•Southern Delaware Chorale, southerndelawarechorale.org. On Sept. 11, the chorale took part in the Faure “Requiem” at St. Peter’s Church. Their holiday concert featuring Britten’s “St. Nicholas Cantata” will be Nov. 20 at Epworth Church.

Theatre

•Bootless Stageworks, bootless.org. The season opens with “Spring Awakening, The Musical” Oct. 7-Oct. 22 at St. Stephen’s Church in Trolley Square.

•Candlelight Theatre, candlelighthteatredelaware.org. The dinner theatre in Arden opens “Hairspray” Sept. 17 - Oct. 30. From Nov. 29 through Dec. 23, the theatre will present its annual “Christmas by Candlelight.”

•Chapel Street Players, chapelstreetplayers.org. The 82nd season opens Oct. 7 with “Proof,” running thru Oct. 15. Running Dec. 2 - 10 is “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!).”

•City Theatre Company, city-theater.org. The Wilmington group opens Oct. 22 with an “I Want My CTC: A Tribute to the ’80s” fundraiser show; “La Cage aux Folles” opens Dec. 2 and runs three weeks.

•Clear Space Theatre, clearspacetheatre.org. “How I Learned to Drive” will run Oct. 1-9; “The Last Five Years” will play Oct. 21-30); and “Meet Me in St. Louis” will be Nov. 25-Dec. 11 at the theatre on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth.

•Delaware Shakespeare Company, delshakes.org. No longer only a summertime treat, DSF this fall will take a professional production of Shakespeare’s “Pericles” throughout the state to places that have limited access to the arts. All performances are free.

•Delaware Theatre Company, delawaretheatre.org. The theatre’s 37th season opens with a world premiere of “The War of the Roses,” Warren Adler’s adaptation of his famous novel-turned-film, running now through Oct. 2. For the election year, “The City of Conversation,” a Washington, D.C.-based political drama, will run Oct. 26 - Nov. 13. And from Dec. 7-30, DTC will offer a new production of “A Christmas Carol.”

•Playhouse on Rodney Square, dupoonttheatre.com. On Oct. 5, for one performance, the New York Aquila Theatre’s production of “Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile” features the writer’s own staging of her novel). The 20th anniversary tour of “Rent” will play Oct. 28 - 30 and the Tony-winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” will run Nov. 15-20. Holiday offerings include “Broadway Christmas Wonderland” Nov. 25-27 and “Kinky Boots” Dec. 13-18.

•Possum Point Players, possumpointplayers.org. The 43rd season will include Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” Sept. 30 - Oct. 9 and “Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical” Dec. 2-11.

•Rehoboth Beach Film Society, rehobothfilm.com. RBFS presents National Theatre Live broadcasts of the iconic London theatre’s performances of “The Audience,” featuring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth, Sept. 17 - 21; “One Man, Two Guvnors” Oct. 24 - 29; “A View from the Bridge” Nov. 21 - 26; and “War Horse” Dec. 12-17. Each film will screen three times.

•REP at UD, rep.udel.edu. The season opens with a sort of double bill, concurrent productions of the Tony-winning comedy “God of Carnage” (Sept. 15) and the drama “Waiting for Godot” (Sept. 22). Both close Oct. 9. “Clybourne Park,” which won the Tony and the Pulitzer Prize, runs Nov. 10-Dec. 4.

•Wilmington Drama League, wilmingtondramaleague.org. “High School Musical” runs now through Sept. 25; an all-female production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” runs Oct. 14-23; an election-season offering is Oscar Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband” Nov. 4-13; and a musical adaptation of “A Little Princess” will run Dec. 9-30.

Dance

Delaware is Nutcracker-rich! But that’s not the only thing on the dance card.

•Delaware Dance Company, delawaredancecompany.org. The Newark group presents the Nutcracker Dec. 16-18 at the University of Delaware’s Mitchell Hall.

•First State Ballet Theatre, firststateballet.com. At The Grand in Wilmington, a full-length “Swan Lake” takes place Oct. 22-23. The company has an “Up Front” evening of ballet highlights in Studio One on Nov. 11 - 12. The annual Nutcracker opens at Delaware Tech in Georgetown Dec. 10 and moves to The Grand Dec. 17-18.

•Mid-Atlantic Ballet, midatlanticballet.org. The Newark company’s Nutcracker is Dec. 3-4 at the University of Delaware’s Mitchell Hall.

•Wilmington Ballet Academy, wilmingtonballet.org. The academy’s Nutcrakcer will be Dec. 3-4 at Wilmington’s Playhouse on Rodney Square.

Gail Obenreder is an arts professional, writer and producer from Wilmington. obenrederg@gmail.com