The Chicago Opera Theater will present the Chicago Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “The Nose” at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

The opera will be performed on Dec. 8 and 10, 2023 in a brand-new production by director Francesca Zambello and will be conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya in her final performances conducting as COT’s Music Director before stepping down at the end of this season.

The comedic opera stars Ukrainian-American baritone Aleksey Bogdanov as Kovalyav and Curtis Bannister as The Nose. The cats will also include over 30 local and national singers. Fellow Harris Theater resident company South Chicago Dance Theatre will also be featured in the production performing original choreography by SCDT founder and Executive Artistic Director Kia Smith.

In a statement, COT Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson said, “We are thrilled to be welcoming such a broad array of talent onto our stage for the Chicago Premiere of ‘The Nose.’ We are honored to welcome Francesca Zambello, one of the leading creative forces in opera, to direct this remarkable new production in her COT debut; and we are looking forward to working with so many local, national and international singers, who take on 82 different roles in Shostakovich’s youthful masterpiece. Fans of the satirical comedy of Charlie Chaplin, Monty Python, and The Simpsons will surely be entertained by this remarkable piece of music theater. This production is also a fitting way to celebrate our remarkable music director, Lidiya Yankovskaya, who has been such a champion of Slavic repertoire during her tenure at COT.”