Frangoulis, Westenra at the Athens Festival
Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis will perform at the Herod Atticus Theater for the second time tonight, as part of this year’s Athens Festival. In the two-hour, large-scale production, Frangoulis engages in a musical journey along with 90 musicians and 60 choir members from the New Opera of Moscow. The program features extracts from musicals and operas and songs from Frangoulis’s albums «Sometimes I Dream» and «Follow Your Heart.» The show, titled «Music of the Night,» is directed by Richard Jay, who has directed Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand and is also a Broadway producer (his productions include «Miss Saigon» and «Les Miserables»). At the Herod Atticus Theater, Frangoulis is joined by singer Hayley Westenra, the famous 16-year-old performer whose album «Pure» has climbed to the top of the British, Australian and American pop charts. The rapidly rising New Zealand sensation has been compared to both Charlotte Church and Emma Shapplin. British soprano Deborah Myers, who often collaborates with the Greek tenor, will also join him in works from well-known musicals while Giorgos Missailidis also participates. The orchestra is conducted by Evgeny Kolobov and the choir is led by Natalia Grigorevna Popovich. Actors Constantinos Markoulakis and Nikos Psaras wil make surprise guest appearances, while the performance further includes Argentinean tango: During Thymios Papadopoulos’s instrumental part in «Saint Petersburg-Paris Return,» Elena Mestre and Luis Alberto will dance Ersi Pitta’s tango choreography, accompanied by soloist Timos Zechas. Ticket prices range from 110 euros to 85, 65, 45 and 35 (for the upper zone). Tickets can be purchased at the Hellenic Festival box office, situated at 39 Panepistimiou (tel 210.928.2900), and at the theater box office. For credit card bookings, you may call the same number.
