Overview of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird
While the body of the legendary tormented saxophonist Charlie “Yardbird” Parker lies unidentified in a New York City morgue, his ghost travels back to Birdland, the famed New York City jazz club named after him. As he struggles to complete his final masterpiece, the great bebop innovator revisits the demons, inspirations, and women who have both fueled and hindered his creative genius.
With the aid of his strong mother Addie, three of his four wives, and his partner in the bebop jazz revolution, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie will struggle to calm his demons and write his new masterpiece before his body is identified in the morgue and this gig is up forever. Can he do it, or will the demons of his past rear their ugly heads?
Join us on a freeform expedition into the mind, heart, and personal purgatory of the man they called Yardbird.
Music by Daniel Schnyder, Libretto by Bridgette A. Wimberly
Music Director Antony Walker conducts; Tomé Cousin directs.
Performance Schedule
- Saturday, April 10, 2020 8:00PM
- Tuesday, April 13, 7:00PM
- Friday, April 16, 7:30PM
- Sunday, April 18, 2:00PM matinee
- Tuesday, April 20, 7:00PM
- Thursday, April 22, 7:30PM
Cast and Artistic Team
See the Charlie Parker's Yardbird show page for the complete cast and artistic team of the opera.
Sponsors
- PNC is the 2020—21 Pittsburgh Opera Season Sponsor.
- UPMC is the Livestream Sponsor.
- Ambridge Regional Distribution and Manufacturing Center is the Tuesday Performance Sponsor.
- WQED-FM is Pittsburgh Opera’s Media Sponsor.
Other Information
- The performances will be sung in English, with English supertitles projected both above the stage and on-screen during the livestream.
- Run Time: Approximately 1 hour, 25 minutes with no intermission
- Pittsburgh Opera’s popular Audio Commentary program for patrons with visual impairments is available at the Tuesday, May 18th performance.
