Hair's Paulus Will Stage Il mondo della luna at Hayden Planetarium in 2010

By Adam Hetrick
20 Jul 2009

Diane Paulus
Diane Paulus

Tony-nominated director Diane Paulus will stage Joseph Haydn's Il mondo della luna for the Gotham Chamber Opera in January 2010.

The opera, which will be staged in the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, aims to transplant audiences on the moon through the use of laser and light technology that will project NASA images on the 180-degree dome.

Running Jan. 19-28, 2010, Haydn's Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon) will feature Hanan Alattar, Albina Shagimuratova, Rachel Calloway, Nicholas Coppolo, Matthew Tuell, Timothy Kuhn and Marco Nistic̣.

"This is Gotham's grandest and most audacious production in our eight-year history. The combination of Haydn, the Hayden, Diane Paulus, and our incomparable lineup of singers and designers adds up to a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Gotham Chamber Opera artistic director Neal Goren in a statement.

Goren will also conduct a 27-piece orchestra for the production, which will feature video and production design by Philip Bussmann and costume design by Anka Lupes.

Haydn's 1777 opera, according to press notes, is "the story of a nobleman who refuses to let his daughters marry their true loves. With the help of a fake astronomer and a sleeping potion, the daughters trick their father into believing he's been sent to the moon, where he discovers they do things differently, especially when it comes to courtship. On the moon, women are allowed to choose their own husbands."

Diane Paulus currently serves as artistic director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA. She is the creator and director of Off-Broadway's The Donkey Show, as well as Turandot: Rumble for the Ring and Best of Both Worlds.

Tickets, priced $30-$125, are currently available by phoning (212) 279-4200 or by visiting TicketCentral.