Lyric Opera creative consultant and iconic soprano Renee Fleming said she was watching The Voice a few years ago when she realized that there’s a mass conversation going on around vocal performance and that “we’ve been left out of this mainstream dialogue.”
Starting now, Chicago Voices is seeking proposals from amateur groups for stories arising from their neighborhoods. With professional help and financial support, three winning groups will turn their proposals into polished musical-theater works that’ll have a public premiere next fall. The plan is for a panel of judges to select semifinalists, after which video “profiles” of their stories will be made and posted to the website and a public vote will select the ultimate trio of winners. The deadline for the first round is March 1; instructions and applications are available on the website. (Hopefully a requirement that stories relate to the Chicago Public Library’s current One Book, One Chicago theme—”Chicago: The City that Gives”— doesn’t make things too gooey.)
