June 19 and 21
Mercury Falling, music by Chandler Carter, libretto by Daniel Neer
Workshop Premiere at Long Leaf Opera Festival
Stewart Theatre | Raleigh, NC
Long Leaf Opera will present fully-staged workshop performances of Mercury Falling on June 19, 2009 at 8 pm and June 21 at 2 pm at the Stewart Theatre in Raleigh, NC. Singer/librettist Daniel Neer will be joined by dancer Jake Szczypek under the direction of Ted Gorodetzky with choreography by Jody Oberfelder.
Mercury Falling, monodrama for tenor, solo dancer and chamber ensemble, is a fanciful interpretation of the last night in the life of Parisian sculptor Jean-Louis Brian (1805-1864). In the winter of early 1864, Brian attempted to protect his clay statue of Mercury in Repose from the bitter cold by covering it with his only blankets – and subsequently froze to death beside it. Mercury Falling depicts Brian’s feverish attempts to finish his sculpture for the impending Salon exhibition. As the temperature drops and he succumbs to hypothermic hallucinations, he is lured into a fantasy world in which the god Mercury comes to life. Incorporating themes of the artist’s struggle for meaning, recognition and even survival, Mercury Falling is a monologue that shifts between reality and an allegorical fantasy world. The vocalist portrays the artist through vignettes of music and text (both sung and spoken) in free-association. Accompanying him on stage is a dancer/model portraying the life-sized Mercury. The chamber ensemble alternately evokes the freezing, desperate climate of the artist’s studio and his increasingly grandiose expectations for his work of art.
For more information, visit: the Mercury Falling webpage
For ticket information, visit: Long Leaf Opera Festival
Join Mercury Falling on facebook
September 7 (Labor Day 2009)
James A. Dick Mighty Musical Monday Concert Series
The Historic Tennessee Theatre | Knoxville, Tennessee
Sit back, relax and enjoy a noon concert of 1930’s Operetta, Music Hall and Vaudeville hits with good friend Elizabeth Peterson in an exquisite national landmark – the historic Tennessee Theatre! Dr. Bill Snyder, the theatre’s house organist since 1979, will be accompanying on the Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ. Bring your lunch from home, or grab some popcorn and soda from the lobby. Admission is free. For more information, visit: Tennessee Theatre
November 22
Beethoven Mass in C Major, Opus 86
Westchester Oratorio Society
I will be tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, which has long been referred to as his underrated masterpiece, under the baton of Artistic Director Benjamin Niemczyk. For more information, visit: Westchester Oratorio Society.
May 18 and 25
The Elephant and The Head Of Mary, Voices from Hiroshima
Crossing Jamaica Avenue Theater Company
Ohio Theater
Under the direction of Crossing Jamaica Avenue's Sonoko Kawahara, Daniel joined a talented company of actors for readings of award-winning Japanese symbolist plays about the tragedies following the disasters at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For more information on the theater company, visit: Crossing Jamaica Avenue
March 1
Mozart Krönungsmesse “Coronation” Mass, KV 317
Manhattan Concert Productions
Carnegie Hall
Tenor soloist for a performance of Mozart’s Coronation Mass, conducted by Bruce Rogers, the Mt. San Antonio Chamber Singers and the New York Chamber Orchestra, in the Isaac Stern Auditorium. For ticket information, visit: Carnegie Hall
February 27 and March 1
Strange Fruit, Opera in two acts
by composer Chandler Carter and librettist Joan Ross Sorkin
The Harlem School of the Arts / New York City Opera
Composer Chan Carter and librettist Joan Ross Sorkin’s opera Strange Fruit will be heard in concert in association with the New York City Opera to celebrate Black History Month. Based on the 1944 best-selling and controversial novel by Lillian Smith, the story explores race and class struggles in America’s deep South.
For ticket information, visit: Harlem School of the Arts. For more information on the fascinating back story of “Strange Fruit”, check out this article.
February 26
Staged Readings – Scenes from Works in Progress
New York Women in Film & Television
The Sage Theatre | NYC
I’ve been invited to a read a portion of a TV pilot entitled After Burn, written by Barbara Garshman and directed by Charles Nuckolls. The story is based on interviews of the author with National Guardsmen returning from deployment in Iraq, focusing on the psychological changes of soldiers and their return to a changed America. Presented by New York Women in Film & Television at The Sage Theatre, 711 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor (between 47th and 48th Streets). Admission is free. For more information: visit NYWIFT
January 29
A Night At Piedigrotta, A Concert of Neopolitan and Opera Hits
Vertical Player Repertory, hosted by artistic director Judith Barnes
Theatre 219 | Brooklyn, NY
“Daniel Neer sang both the touching La Boheme duet (with tenor Bangstad) and a Leoncavallo rarity 'Zaza, piccolo zingara' with a warm pleasing plangent baritone.” - Brooklyn Daily Eagle
January 23
The Burns Society of New York City
138th Burns Supper Celebrating Scotland’s National Poet
As the resident singer for The Burns Society of New York City, I once again led the gentlemen in celebrating the great national poet and Scotland’s favorite son, Robert Burns, on the occasion of his 250th birthday.
January 11 and 12
Dido and Aeneas, Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects
Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Showcase
Joyce SoHo Theatre | NYC
I recently joined the incredible company of Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects as the Sailor in a contemporary version of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas. Oberfelder's updated interpretation of this epic opera, featuring eight dancers, chamber orchestra, six vocal soloists and chorus, examines universal themes of love and fate through the prism of fame. More at Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects.
on broadway:
Baz Luhrmann’s critically acclaimed production of Puccini’s 'La Bohème', conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos, at The Broadway Theatre
| The National Theatre’s production of 'Coram Boy', by Helen Edmundson (after the book by Jamila Gavin), directed by Melly Still at The Imperial Theatre
legitimate stage:
'The Elephant' by Minor Betsuyaku, directed by Sonoko Kawahara, New York Theater Workshop | Robert Fagle’s translation of Homer’s 'The Iliad and The Odyssey' for Santa Fe’s Lensic Theatre, directed by Kathryn Walker | Diedre Murray and Sonoko Kawara’s reading of 'The Rose Project', Music Theatre Group at The Flea Theatre | 'Fangs' by Diedre Murray and Cornelius Eddy at The Apollo Theatre Salon Series | 'Untitled 10-minute Christmas Play' by Marina Barry, 'Kid Stuff' and 'Swinging Blindly' both by Ted Gorodetzky, for ToteM Gambol | 'Marvels' by Conrad & Elizabeth Bishop, 72nd Street Theatre Workshop
musical theater/operetta/opera:
Benvenuto Cellini in Kurt Weill’s 'The Firebrand of Florence' | Aeneas in 'Dido and Aeneas' | Tevye in 'Fiddler on the Roof' | Carl Linden in Noel Coward’s 'Bitter Sweet' | Danilo in Lehar’s 'The Merry Widow' | Kander and Ebb’s 'The World Goes ‘Round' | Monteverdi’s 'Il Combatimento di Tancredi e Clorinda' (Director and Testo) for Metropolis Ensemble | Figaro in Rossini’s 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' | Lutz in 'The Student Prince' | Marcello and Schaunard in Puccini’s 'La Bohème' | Eisenstein in 'Die Fledermaus' | Dancairo in 'Carmen' | King Hildabrand in 'Princess Ida' | Testaccio in 'A Night in Venice' | Silvio in 'Pagliacci' | Pimprinette in 'The Bayadere' | Bumerli in 'The Chocolate Soldier' | Prince Basil in 'The Count of Luxembourg' | Robert in 'The New Moon' | Sergeant Meryll in 'The Yeomen of the Guard' | Don Medigua in Sousa’s 'El Capitan' | Peppi in 'Song of Norway' | Sid in 'Albert Herring' | Page in 'Merry Wives of Windsor' | Paul Fontaine in 'The Desert Song' | Julian in 'La Verbena de la Paloma' | Bartley in 'Riders to the Sea' | Ludwig in 'The Grand Duke' | Thespis in 'Thespis' (Gilbert, Sullivan and Quade Winter) | Olson in 'Too Many Sopranos' by Edwin Penhorwood
concert hall:
Mozart 'Coronation Mass' at Carnegie Hall with New York Chamber Ensemble | Haydn 'Lord Nelson Mass' at Carnegie Hall | Benjamin Britten’s 'Serenade for Tenor and Horn', Inaugural Concert of the Metropolis Ensemble | 'Mozart Requiem', Riverside Symphonia | Mozart 'Missa Brevis' and 'Regina Coeli', Alice Tully Hall | 'Song of the Whale' by John Cage, the “When Morty Met John…” Festival | Handel 'Messiah', Gotham City Baroque Orchestra | Bach 'Mass in B Minor', Gotham City Baroque Orchestra | Haydn 'Missa St. Bernardi von Offida', Rebel Baroque Orchestra | Mozart 'Great Mass in C Minor', Rebel Baroque Orchestra | Bach 'St. John Passion', Gotham City Baroque Orchestra | Handel 'Messiah' with Charlotte Symphony | 'Duruflé Requiem' with Windsor Symphony Orchestra | 'Historia di Job' by Carissimi at Aspen Music Festival | Hayden 'Heiligmesse' at Berkshire Choral Festival | 'Italienisches Liederbuch' by Hugo Wolf, Royal Academy of Music | 'Charm Me Asleep' by Daniel Pinkham at Aspen Music Festival | 'Psyche' by Manuel de Falla, Aspen Music Festival | Soloist with 'VOX Vocal Ensemble' conducted by George Steel at The Guggenheim
new music:
'Strange Fruit' at Harlem School for the Arts, in association with New York City Opera | Stephen Schwartz’s new opera 'Séance on a Wet Afternoon' at American Opera Projects | 'The Kallyope Yell' by Jonathan David, C4 | John Zorn’s 'Hermeticum Sacrum' at Miller Theatre | 'Senbazuru' by Pete Wyer in Juilliard’s Peter J. Sharp Theatre | 'Heebie Jeebies' by Laura Karpman in Alice Tully Hall | 'Songs of Bygone Days' by Stephen Danker, at Aspen Music Festival | Douglas Cuomo’s 'Arjuna’s Dilemma' for Vox on the Edge at The Skirball Center | The Kitchen’s workshop production of 'Shangri-La', with music by Susie Ibarra and libretto by Yusef Komunyakaa, conducted by Tania León | Joseph Diebes 'Strange Birds' first at Gale Gates et al. in DUMBO, then at The Tramway in Glasgow | 'The Walled-Up Wife' by Gilda Lyons for American Opera Projects | 'The Golden Gate' by Conrad Cummings at American Opera Projects | 'Reflections of the Watermoon' by Patricia Burgess, Merkin Concert Hall | 'Cymbeline' by Chris Berg, Greenwich House Music School | 'The Iliad/The Odyssey' by Diedre Murray, Santa Fe’s Lensic Theatre
jazz/cabaret:
Frontman of the original 'Jazz Fauré Project', Triad Theater, and Detour jazz club NYC | Art Institute of Chicago Summer Garden Series in McKinlock Court | 'The Age of Elegance', SoHo Grand Hotel | 'Six Monologues of a Young Man' in Dublin, Ohio
tv/radio/discography:
2004 American Theatre Wing Tony Awards, Radio City Music Hall | 'Everything Old is New Again – The Name Game' WBAI-FM | 'The Chocolate Soldier', 'The Arcadians', 'The Bayadere', 'A Night in Venice' for Newport Classic Records | 'La Verbena de la Paloma' for Albany Records | Baz Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s 'La Bohème' for Dreamworks Records
“…it is Daniel Neer as Prince Basil who steals the show whenever he comes on. Usually on the verge of near hysteria about being in love, Neer has a whole trunkful of perfectly timed gestures and expressions, accompanied by a wide-ranging voice that keeps the audience in stitches.”
- The Alliance Review
“..the outstanding Daniel Neer commanded high praise, his strong, distinctive baritone comfortably combining with graceful, inventive acting and comic timing...”
- Opera News
“Rarely have I seen such an “over-the-top” performance as that of Daniel Neer as Thespis. The man was absolutely manic with energy; chewing the scenery, clawing the air, all stops out. It was a stunning performance that amazed all, exhausting with laughter.”
- Opera Magazine
“Daniel Neer creates a flamboyant character prone to overdoing every inflection, something of a cross between Dom DeLuise and Steve Martin.”
- The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Dominating the stage with a flick of a raised eye-brow or a supercilious sneer, the mulit-talented Daniel Neer made the wily Smith/Simplicitas into a comic masterpiece…he was also impressive with his healthy, bright baritone.”
- Opera Magazine
“Daniel Neer here shows formidable gifts as a comic. His performance almost goes over the top, blending bits of Frank Morgan and Rip Taylor with Nathan Lane – style antics, but he is a high energy delight.”
- The Clevaland Plain Dealer
“Daniel Neer, singing a blustery Cellini, easily caught the artist’s pride in his art and, with a fine touch of comedy, Cellini’s self importance. For the serious, romantic side of the character, Neer warmed up his bright, strong baritone with telling effect.”
- The American Record Guide
“Daniel Neer, who plays the prissy and pompous valet to the prince, only gets better as the night moves along…a virtuoso high-camp performance.”
- Akron Beacon Journal
“Daniel Neer plays Carl Linden with matinee-idol authority. Neer’s baritone is free and open, superbly suited to the music’s romance.”
- The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“As the warrior smitten with chocolate, Daniel Neer drop quips with delightful nonchalance and fulfills the music’s rich demands. His light touch at key moments helps keep the proceedings on their exuberant forward course.”
- The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Daniel Neer stole the show with a boldly sung Lt. Bumerli, as charming and heroic a chocolate soldier as one could wish.”
- Opera Magazine
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