The study put that figure at a whopping $612 million. While the committee had been hoping for a $36.2 million reimbursement based on the $612 million, the comptroller apparently was a tad less sanguine about the game’s revenue-generating potential. The committee will take it, though–and figures it could snag about $20 million of the $31.2 million, with the remainder going to the four cities. Said Bill Lively, president and CEO of the host committee: “This is a great day for North Texas.”

THE DALLAS OPERA IS LOOKING FOR CLIMBERS!!

The Dallas Opera is seeking climbers, gymnasts, fight specialists, etc… for its upcoming production of Moby-Dick.

We need men with a slim to medium build, ages 16 and up who are able and willing to climb truss up to 30 feet in the air without hesitation and should have absolutely no fear of heights. No previous opera/theatre experience necessary.

As the supernumeraries or ‘supers’ (non-speaking, non-singing extras) you would add height to the workings of the ship by appearing in the crow’s nest and other various parts of the ship above the rest of the “Ship’s Crew” throughout the show.

Rehearsals are March 29th – April 28th Monday-Saturday from 7:30p-10:30p with some possible daytime rehearsals on weekends. You will not be called to every rehearsal. Performances are April 30th, May 2nd (matinee), 5th, 8th, 13th, and 16^th (matinee): evening performances at 7:30p and matinees at 2:00p. If interested, please attend our:

Open Casting Call- (just bring yourself, no equipment necessary)

Tuesday, March 16th

Any time between 7:00p-8:30p

At the Karayanis Rehearsal

Production Center:

4301 S. Fitzhugh, Dallas, TX 75210 (right on the edge of Fair Park off Gaisford St)

Please park around the back of the building and enter through back door.

RSVP to emily.gast@dallasopera.org with Name and Phone Number ASAP

For rehearsal and performance compensation information please contact

Emily Gast, Production Assistant directly at 214-443-1037.

All those cast as ‘supers’ will also receive two tickets to the final dress rehearsal.

For all other questions please email emily.gast@dallasopera.org

Photo provided by Brinker International

Tonight’s Limbs for Life gala has had a new item added to its program. LfL executive director/co-founder Craig Gavras (pictured) will address his years of lying about his being a law enforcement office officer and losing his leg at the hands of a mob.

UPDATE: SweetCharity is reporting that the Limbs for Life foundation issued a statement regarding Craig’s deception yesterday. Evidently they knew the Morning News‘ Tanya Eiserer was hot on the trail.

The number was determined by Marketing Information Masters, a La Mesa, Calif.-based firm that has conducted economic impact studies for previous Super Bowls, as well the 2007 NHL All-Star Game and the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in North Texas. Their work was sent to the Texas State Comptroller earlier this month for review.

The report states that $611 million is the estimate of “direct spending” by all non-local residents during a two-month period leading up to game day. That seems high compared to the direct spending figures I’ve seen for previous games (more in the ($125-$300 million range) so I asked the Host Committee about whether that includes any indirect spending or multiplier effect–or to make any comment on the report. Their spokesman said it’s premature to comment on these numbers, since the committee doesn’t consider them final and official until after the Comptroller’s review of the data (due to be complete by March 8). There could be adjustments to this information at that time.

For more tidbits from the report, take the jump. We’ll start with how Dallas may make out better than Arlington in this deal.

• Dallas will see $298 million in direct spending at its hotels, venues, and restaurants. Arlington will get a $135 million benefit. Arlington is servicing the debt on the $325 million it authorized to help build Cowboys Stadium, paying about $20 million a year. Dallas is not.
• The Comptroller is looking at the numbers to determine how much to set aside in a Major Events Trust Fund. Robert Wood, the director of governmental assistance for the agency, told me they aren’t really checking out the entirety of the $611 million claim. They’re merely looking to see how much extra sales tax the state of Texas will see as a result of the event. To that end, they’re only interested in how much will be spent by non-Texans since a guy from Houston coming to spend money in Dallas (that he may have just spent in Houston if he’d stayed home) doesn’t benefit the state government. Marketing Information Masters puts the contribution from out-of-state visitors at about $375 million.
• The Major Events Trust Fund is a mechanism by which the state will set aside an amount equal to the estimated incremental increase in tax revenues to be used to reimburse the Host Committee and local governments for expenses that they outlay in hosting this event. So, for example, if Dallas has to put extra officers on the street at a given time to police an event like the NFL Experience, which will be at the Dallas Convention Center, they can get some money back from the state to offset that.
• The Host Committee, based on the impact study, is requesting that $36.2 million be deposited in the trust fund for Super Bowl XLV. By contrast, the Comptroller’s office says that $8 million was placed into a fund for the 2004 Super Bowl in Houston.
• As noted before, most sports economists are skeptical of figures even in the $300 million-or-above range. They say that these studies don’t include factors like “leakage” or “displacement.” A number of economists whom I recently asked for estimates of Super Bowl XLV’s true impact placed it anywhere between $30 million and $200 million. They were willing to allow the idea that, since Cowboys Stadium is the largest venue to host the game in quite some time, the impact could well be on the high side of their guesses.

In related news, the wife just told me she had a dream about the Moby Dick set. The whale was a giant submarine with a white face and black body that was angular and Bauhaus-looking. The whale swallowed my entire family, and it dragged us under the water, deep into the whale’s body, which was comprised of countless sub-stage floors. This likely means my wife is nuts, she is having flashbacks from her theater design days, or I’m working too much. She’s also pregnant and due in two weeks, so come to whatever metaphorical conclusions you want. It could also be prophetic, so I thought I’d post it and hedge my bets.

After the jump, the release from the opera:

THE DALLAS OPERA

IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE

A DAZZLING SECOND SEASON IN THE WINSPEAR!

~~~~

“DANGEROUS DESIRES”

MOTIVATE FIVE COMPELLING WORKS

BY MOZART, DONIZETTI, GOUNOD,

VERDI AND MUSSORGSKY!

~~~~

OPENING NIGHT: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2010

THE MARGOT AND BILL WINSPEAR OPERA HOUSE

AT THE AT&T PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

                DALLAS, FEBRUARY 23, 2010 — The Dallas Opera is delighted to announce the five dark and dazzling operas that comprise the company’s 2010-2011 Season in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

            The 54th International Season, “DANGEROUS DESIRES” will commence on the evening of Friday, October 22, 2010, and will include an outstanding new Dallas Opera production, several important debuts and a major opera that hasn’t been seen or heard in Dallas in two generations: Modest Mussorgsky’s phenomenal exploration of the dynastic struggles of medieval Russia: Boris Godunov.

            Each opera will feature the critically acclaimed Dallas Opera Orchestra and Dallas Opera Chorus and will be performed in its original language, with English translations projected above the stage at every performance.

            The Margot and Bill Winspear Opera house is located in the heart of the Downtown Dallas Arts District at 2403 Flora St., Dallas TX 75201. 

            Renewal packets for Full Season subscribers and Spring Season subscribers will be mailed directly to patrons in late March.  Dallas Opera Season Subscribers can renew their seats for the 2010-2011 Season, beginning April 1, 2010.  New subscribers can purchase their subscriptions for the 2010-2011 Season beginning June 7, 2010, starting at $90.

            Single tickets are expected to go on sale to the general public next August.  All single tickets for individual performances are subject to availability.  Tickets may be purchased at the door – during the 2010-2011 Season – or in advance by calling 214.443.1000.  Subscriptions and single tickets will also be available throughout the season online at dallasopera.org.

2010-2011 Dallas Opera Season

DON GIOVANNI (October 22, 24(m), 27, 30, Nov. 5 & 7(m), 2010)

ANNA BOLENA (October 29, 31(m), November 3, 6, 12 & 14, 2010)

ROMEO & JULIET (February 11, 13(m), 16, 19, 25 & 27(m), 2011)

RIGOLETTO (March 25, 27(m), 30, April 2, 7 & 10(m), 2011)

BORIS GODUNOV (April 1, 3(m), 6, 9, 15 & 17(m), 2011)

            The season opens with a bang on October 22, 2010, when Tony Award-winner Paulo Szot, who captured the hearts of American musical theater lovers as the romantic Emile de Becque in the acclaimed Broadway revival of Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, breathes new life into the seductive title role of Mozart’s brilliant DON GIOVANNI.

            Mr. Szot, a Polish-Brazilian baritone born in Sao Paulo, will be making his Dallas Opera debut.

            “Paulo is the epitome of ‘tall, dark and handsome’ and debuts here in a role that could have been written with him in mind,” says Dallas Opera Artistic Director Jonathan Pell.  “The Dallas Opera is extremely fortunate to be able to present this artist who has shown an amazing ability to connect on both a musical and emotional level with both his co-stars and members of the audience.

            “I expect him to create an indelible portrayal of Mozart’s rake,” Mr. Pell adds, “as part of an astonishingly gifted ensemble.”

            Soprano Georgia Jarman, described by Opera News as a singer who performs “with glittering precision and high-flying ease” will appear as the obsessed Donna Elvira in her company debut.  She will be joined by soprano Claire Rutter, who makes a welcome return to the Dallas Opera as Donna Anna.  Ms. Rutter was lauded by Rupert Christiansen in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.) for possessing “an ease, command and tonal splendor I haven’t heard equaled for a generation.”  Tenor Bruce Ford will sing the role of the courageous Don Ottavio, a characterization described by Rodney Milnes of The Times (London) as “unusually intense.”   Baritone and international heart-throb Mirco Palazzi will make his American debut as the harried Leporello, and soprano Ailyn Perez (Zerlina) and Ben Wager (Masetto) make their first bows on the Dallas Opera stage as young lovers on their way to the altar – who unexpectedly find themselves the targets of a master schemer!

            The all-important role of The Commendatore will be sung by one of the most interesting basses performing today: Morris Robinson in his Dallas Opera debut.  According to the Washington Times, his “chilling return as the Stone Guest (in this production) is the highlight of a marvelously graphic finale.”

            Mozart’s 1787 masterpiece, thought by many to be his finest work, will be conducted by Romanian Maestro Nicolae Moldoveanu, who made his Dallas Opera debut in 2004 conducting a double bill of works by composer Manuel de Falla. 

            It is both directed and designed by John Pascoe, with lighting design by Jeff Davis in his company debut.

            The Dallas Opera Chorus will be prepared by Chorus Master Alexander Rom.

            DON GIOVANNI was last performed at the Dallas Opera in 2003.

~~~~

            As the Dallas Opera renews its commitment to a semi-repertory format which will permit visitors to experience two different operas on consecutive days, the second production of the “Dangerous Desires” Season, Gaetano Donizetti’s Lyric Tragedy ANNA BOLENA, opens Friday, October 29, 2010 in a new production conducted by Music Director Graeme Jenkins and staged by director Stephen Lawless.

            This compelling 1830 drama, the chapter of the “Tudor Trilogy” that details the final days of Anne Boleyn (the controversial second wife of England’s King Henry VIII), stars Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian (Queen Elizabeth I in the Dallas Opera’s 2009 production of Roberto Devereux), a powerful stage presence in the title role.  The tyrannical King Henry will be portrayed by Brooklyn-born bass Oren Gradus, a favorite of Metropolitan Opera audiences.  Boleyn’s rival for the King’s affections, Jane Seymour, will be sung by renowned American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, “a vital artist, a beautiful woman, (and) a regal presence” (The Washington Post).

            Tenor Stephen Costello, “one of the brightest rising U.S. stars” (The Sunday Times), who returns to the Dallas Opera this spring in the key role of “Greenhorn” in the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Moby-Dick, portrays the tragic Lord Percy.  American bass Mark McCrory sings the role of Anne’s brother – Lord Rochefort, with mezzo-soprano Elena Belfiore in her American debut as the misguided Smeton and California-born tenor Aaron Blake as the secretive Hervey.

            The production team includes Scenic Designer Benoit Dugardyn, Costume Designer Ingeborg Bernerth, Associate Costume Designer Julia Müer and Lighting Designer Mark McCullough.

            The Dallas Opera Chorus will be prepared by Chorus Master Alexander Rom.

            ANNA BOLENA has only been performed twice at the Dallas Opera, in 1968 and 1975.

~~~~

            The third production of the “DANGEROUS DESIRES” Season is Charles Gounod’s ROMEO & JULIET, one of the most successful stage adaptations of a work by William Shakespeare.  This 1867 opera swiftly propels us into the heart of one of the world’s best-loved (although doomed) romances.

            Maestro Marco Zambelli, in his Dallas Opera debut, conducts the Dallas Opera Orchestra and a tremendous, international ensemble directed by Michael Kahn, artistic director of Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company.

            Starring in the title roles are Russian soprano Lyubov Petrova (Juliet), whose recent appearance with the Dallas Opera in The Marriage of Figaro prompted Classical Music Critic Scott Cantrell to write: “Petrova is an adorable dynamo of a Susanna, as sweet as she is feisty and playful…Her soprano can blaze but also lap teasingly and glow warmly;” and one of the most sought-after performers working in opera today: American tenor Charles Castronovo (Romeo), a frequent guest artist of the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera and many other prestigious companies and venues – now making his thrilling Dallas Opera debut.

            The remainder of the cast includes a host of international stars: British bass Robert Lloyd as Friar Lawrence; baritone Joshua Hopkins as Mercutio; mezzo-soprano Jane Bunnell as Gertrude; tenor Aaron Blake as Tybalt; bass Stephen Morscheck as Capulet; baritone Stephen LaBrie as Paris; and mezzo-soprano Roxana Constantinescu in her American debut as Stephano.

            This production, originally designed for Montréal Opera and never before seen in Dallas, is the creation of Production Designer Claude Girard and Lighting Designer Mark McCullough. 

            The first of six performances will take place on February 11, 2011 in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House.

            Chorus preparation is by Dallas Opera Chorus Master Alexander Rom.

            ROMEO & JULIET was last performed by the Dallas Opera in 1995.

~~~~

            One of the most popular works in the repertoire will return to the stage the evening of Friday, March 25, 2011, when the Dallas Opera presents the revival of Giuseppe Verdi’s RIGOLETTO, for its first performances in the Winspear Opera House. 

            Conducted by Maestro Pietro Rizzo, who elicited excitement from local audiences when he made his American operatic debut conducting our most recent revival of La bohème, this powerhouse drama will be staged by director Harry Silverstein with sets by Tony Award-winning designer Michael Yeargan, costumes by the legendary Peter J. Hall and lighting by Steven Strawbridge.

            RIGOLETTO will star Bulgarian baritone Vladimir Stoyanov, a Verdi specialist making his company debut in the title role, Texas-born coloratura soprano Laura Claycomb will make her long-awaited Dallas Opera debut as Gilda and tenor James Valenti, who wowed North Texas audiences as Rodolfo in the 2009 production of La bohème and won that season’s “Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award,” now portrays the magnetic but malevolent Duke.  Bass Raymond Aceto (who last appeared in Otello as the Venetian Ambassador) returns to the Dallas Opera stage as the cold-blooded assassin, Sparafucile.

            This production also stars mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chavez in her Dallas Opera debut as Maddalena.  Tenor Aaron Blake (this year’s Dallas Opera Emerging Artist) appears in the role of Matteo Borsa.

            Chorus preparation is by Dallas Opera Chorus Master Alexander Rom.

            RIGOLETTO was last performed by the Dallas Opera in 2001.

~~~~

            It’s an historic season finale, as the Dallas Opera presents, for the very first time, Modest Mussorgsky’s towering masterpiece BORIS GODUNOV.  Originally completed in 1869 and subsequently revised by Mussorgsky, BORIS GODUNOV holds a special place in the repertoire and is the single most recorded Russian opera.

            The Dallas Opera will perform this work – absent from any stage in Dallas since a Metropolitan Opera tour in 1978 – in a stunning production from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.  The Dallas Opera Orchestra and ensemble cast will be under the direction of Music Director Graeme Jenkins, with chorus preparation by Chorus Master Alexander Rom.

            The huge, ensemble cast includes internationally acclaimed bass Mikhail Kazakov, a highly regarded star of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, in his Dallas Opera debut in the title role; mezzo-soprano Elena Bocharova, hailed for a voice that “blooms at both top and bottom” in her company debut as Marina; and Kazakhstan bass Vitaly Efanov making his company debut as Pimen.

            It also marks the return of one of the world’s most renowned bass voices to the Dallas Opera stage: Sergei Leiferkus, who gave searing performances in our earlier productions of Beethoven’s Fidelio and Wagner’s Lohengrin, in the role of Rangoni.

            “To produce BORIS for an opera company is like doing the Russian Ring,” says Dallas Opera Music Director Graeme Jenkins.  “It’s one of the biggest pieces in the repertoire and it’s a fantastic opportunity to bring new audiences into the Winspear to see this epic, enormous piece.”

            Adds Mr. Jenkins: “I am so looking forward to it!”

            BORIS GODUNOV, never before performed by the Dallas Opera, opens on Friday, April 1, 2011 in the Winspear Opera House.

~~~~

            The Dallas Opera has presented five American premieres, as well as two world premiere works in its illustrious 53-year-history.  It continues to create fresh, new productions of established masterpieces of the genre, including this season’s upcoming world premiere (our third) of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s MOBY-DICK.

            Each of the 2010-2011 Season productions will receive six performances.  Evening performances, unless otherwise announced, will begin at 7:30 PM.  Sunday matinees are slated to begin at 2:00 PM.

            The “Joy and Ronald Mankoff Opera Overture,” a free background lecture for the opera being performed that day, takes place in the Margaret McDermott Auditorium of the Winspear one hour prior to each performance.

            Easy-to-read English translations are projected above the stage during every Dallas Opera performance and special headsets are available at Coat-Check for the hearing impaired.

            Full season subscriptions for the 2010-2011 Season will range from $90 to $1,125 for members of the general public.  Inner Circle seating may be higher.     

            For tickets and information, call The Dallas Opera Ticket Services Office at 214-443-1000 or visit us online at www.dallasopera.org.

According to the Host Committee’s website, $50,000 sponsorships for the series are already sold out. But if you’d like to pony up $30,000 or $15,000, you’re still in luck. You can check out the benefits here.

If you’re really only interested in seeing the shows, subscriptions at the $1,500, $1,000, and $500 level (per person) are still available.

2. According to Oncor’s Twitter page, restoring power to some neighborhoods turned into a feud between Oncor and some homeowners who didn’t want the electric delivery company to trim their trees, thus stalling efforts to return power.

3. The new CityDesign Studio’s first major project is prepping West Dallas for development that may come with the completion of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. The challenge is a difficult one: how do you encourage development and revitalization while maintaining the character of the existing neighborhood, which means preserving affordability in an area that seems ripe for rampant speculation and steep property value increases?

And so with the utmost respect, It’s a walk off! Do you want to be Hansel, or Derek Zoolander?

Go.