For its 32nd season, Teatro Grattacielo celebrates opera as the ultimate collaborative art form — where music, theater, and imagination collide. This year, the company transforms the stage into a living city of ideas, creativity, and community. Two world premieres, bold new productions of beloved works, and the continued expansion of Creative Tableaux and Opera at Gotham Park promise a season of bold voices and urban pulse — inviting audiences not just to watch, but to belong.
Building on a strong foundation, Teatro Grattacielo welcomes Cate Pisaroni (Creative Director), Abdiel Vázquez (Music Director), and Enrico Fagone (Associate Music Director) to its artistic team. Working alongside Artistic and General Director Stefanos Koroneos, Chairman Enzo Pizzimenti, the Board of Directors, and the company’s creative and administrative staff, they will contribute their talents to the continued expansion of the company’s artistic vision.
The Tempest — World Staged Premiere
July 16 & 18, 2026 at the Ellen Stewart Theater, La MaMa
Marking its world staged premiere, Joseph Summer’s The Tempest brings Shakespeare’s final masterpiece to the operatic stage with vivid imagination and emotional depth. The opera—set to a libretto by the composer’s daughter, Eve Summer—transforms the tale of exile, forgiveness, and renewal into a richly layered musical world, offering a contemporary voice deeply attuned to Shakespeare’s spirit.
“Summer’s musical language is comfortably tonal but sophisticated, ceaselessly inventive and often gripping; he’s a vivid musical storyteller… an embarrassment of riches—the marvelous group numbers just keep coming, culminating in a blazingly celebratory climax.” – Opera News, review of 2015 studio recording of The Tempest
The production will be conducted by Enrico Fagone and directed by Teatro Grattacielo’s Artistic Director Stefanos Koroneos. The cast will include Daniel Klein, Kelly Guerra, Maia Gonzalez, Sarah Rose Johnson, and Omar Najmi, among other favorites, and will feature the Teatro Grattacielo Orchestra.
Così fan tutte — New Production
July 17 & 19, 2026 at the Ellen Stewart Theater, La MaMa
A perennial favorite of the operatic canon and the third of Mozart’s collaborations with his famed librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, Così fan tutte distills the pair’s finest qualities: humor, intrigue, and a sharp eye on the human condition.
In this new production, directed by Cate Pisaroni and conducted by Abdiel Vázquez, the familiar tale is reframed through a polyamorous, design-driven lens—a contemporary exploration of love as process rather than verdict. Pisaroni transforms Mozart’s experiment in fidelity into an open, emotionally intelligent study of connection, self-construction, and fluid identity, set within a minimalist world inspired by Bauhaus geometry and Lars von Trier’s Dogville. The result honors Mozart’s wit while boldly re-examining intimacy, transparency, and the human desire to design—and test—the boundaries of love.
And in a fitting resonance for a New York–based project, Lorenzo da Ponte—who later lived, taught, and helped introduce Italian opera to the United States—left a cultural imprint on the city that subtly echoes through this contemporary reimagining.
250 America | Double Bill | World Premiere of Jefferson Lives! & Suor Angelica
November 7 & 8, 2026 at the Sam Theater, The Flea
Teatro Grattacielo’s double bill celebrates America250 with two powerful visions of freedom — the revolutionary spirit of Joshua Daniel Nichols & James Harrigan’s Jefferson Lives!, a world premiere commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and the spiritual grace of Puccini’s Suor Angelica.
Both operas ask: What is the cost of our convictions, and how do we remain true to them? Together, these works frame the evening as a celebration not only of America’s history but also of the enduring human yearning for liberty, dignity, and grace — values that transcend time and nation.
Creative Tableaux is Teatro Grattacielo’s year-round, tuition-free program that places young people and emerging creatives at the center of the creative process. CT offers workshops and hands-on training in performance, design, and stagecraft alongside mentorship from leading artists, creatives and administrators. By connecting opera to visual arts, design, and storytelling, Creative Tableaux nurtures both access for artists and access for audiences. Each season, the program provides free public-facing performances, distributes hundreds of tickets to schools, and offers collaborative opportunities that build confidence, skills, and community. Our goal is not only to promote opera as an art form but also to empower the next generation of performers, designers, and cultural leaders.
Teatro Grattacielo (TG) is dedicated to fostering artistic and cultural engagement that extends beyond the concert stage, creating spaces where diverse communities can connect through the arts. In collaboration with Gotham Park (GP), a grassroots nonprofit revitalizing underutilized spaces beneath the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, TG is developing multidisciplinary initiatives to bring opera to this dynamic community. This partnership with GP’s female-led leadership and skateboarding community explores the intersection of opera, movement, and storytelling in unexpected public spaces. Through free, accessible programming, TG aims to bring together residents, families, and young artists from public arts schools, building lasting relationships through shared creative experiences.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit https://grattacielo.org/buy-tickets.
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