CHRISTINE BREWER, soprano
ELIZABETH ZHAROFF, soprano

in
Intervals

 composed by Shahrokh Yadegari
with reading by Ann Hamilton

A performance in conjunction with stylus
a project by Ann Hamilton

Press contact:
Linda Schulte, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; lschulte@opera-stl.org; (314) 963-4225
Rachel Craft, Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts; rcraft@pulitzerarts.org; (314) 754-1861

 Intervals is the first in a series of performances and events throughout the St. Louis community which respond to and interact with stylus, artist Ann Hamilton's immersive installation at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, featuring sound design by Shahrokh Yadegari.  Two performances will be held on Tuesday, September 21 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.  stylus is on view at the Pulitzer until January 22, 2011.  Future stylus events will include collaborations with the St. Louis Public Library and KDHX Community Media.

Co-produced by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, this experimental sound performance takes its title from the theme of Ann Hamilton's installation and brings together two sopranos: Christine Brewer, one of the great singers of our time, with newcomer Elizabeth Zharoff, one of Opera Theatre's outstanding new artists.  Uniquely set within Hamilton's moving video projections, the performance will connect the traditional expression of operatic form with an unconventional performance environment.  The live voices of both singers will "accompany themselves" through the use of an electronic instrument called Lila, which provides precise real-time control of delay lines, loops, modulations, and convolutions of sound.  Both the performance and the installation will engage and animate the Pulitzer's Tadao Ando building with a compelling web of sound and imagery and will incorporate the audience as part of the experience.

This experimental sound performance is a completely new venture for Christine Brewer, who is internationally known as an operatic and symphonic soloist but has never before participated in an event of this kind.  Artist Ann Hamilton is known for creating experiences that respond to architectural presence and the social history of their sites.  Composer and sound designer Shahrokh Yadegari is noted for marrying traditional forms of music with contemporary electronics.

The event is offered in homage to the enterprising spirit of the late James N. Wood, member of the Pulitzer's board of trustees and former director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, and who was most recently President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust.  Throughout his career, Mr. Wood encouraged and supported new ways of experiencing and thinking about works of art, an approach that has had an influence on Ann Hamilton's work in particular.

The two performances will take place on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.  The doors of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts will open 30 minutes prior to each performance.  Tickets may be purchased for $25 online by clicking here, by calling 1-800-838-3006 or at the Pulitzer during open hours (Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m., Thursday: 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).  The Pulitzer is located at 3716 Washington Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63108.

This event was made possible in part by the generous support of Meyer Sound.

About stylus
If the call is the origin of speech, then the hand -- raised in touch, or signal at a distance -- is its silent counterpart.  The relationship between these two gestures, one silent and one sounded, provides the structure for Ann Hamilton's project stylus.  Conceived in response to the Pulitzer's mission to be both sanctuary and laboratory, stylus is structured around live acoustic elements and is comprised of multiple forms of call and response.  Varied haunting presences and traces of human gesture and voice surround the visitor; the project waits in simultaneous states of expectancy and remembrance, making manifest both the idea of gatherings to come and the histories of those that have passed. 

About Ann Hamilton
Ann Hamilton is a visual artist internationally recognized for the sensory surrounds of her large-scale multimedia installations.  Noted for a dense accumulation of materials, her liminal environments create immersive experiences that poetically respond to the architectural presence and social history of their sites.  Born in Lima, Ohio in 1956, Hamilton received a BFA in textile design from the University of Kansas in 1979 and an MFA in Sculpture from the Yale University School of Art in 1985.  Among her many honors, she has been a recipient of the Heinz Award, MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, NEA Visual Arts Fellowship, United State Artists Fellowship, and was chosen to represent the United States at the 48th Venice Biennale.  In 1992, she established her home and practice in Columbus, Ohio.  Currently, she is a Professor of Art at The Ohio State University.  Recent installations include corpus at Mass MoCA, meditation boat in Laos, Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, and human carriage in the rotunda of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

About Shahrokh Yadegari
Shahrokh Yadegari is a composer, sound designer, and producer who has collaborated with a multitude of artists, such as Peter Sellars, Robert Woodruff, Maya Beiser,  Steven Schick, Vibeke Sorensen, Yolande Snaith, John Malashock, David Schweiszer, Hossein Omoumi, and Siamak Shajarian.   Yadegari holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, a Master's in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT's Media Lab, and a Ph.D. in music from University of California, San Diego.  He is currently on the faculty in the department of Theatre and Dance at University of California San Diego, where he has founded a new progressive program in Sound Design.  Among his recent collaborations are (The New) Ur Sonata with Steven Schick, Stay the Hand with John Malashock, Tobacco Road with David Schweiser, Provenance with Maya Beiser and Robert Woodruff, and Tower Sounds performed at the Tower on Oliver Ranch, conceived by Ann Hamilton.

About Christine Brewer
Grammy Award winning American soprano Christine Brewer's appearances in opera, concert, and recital are marked with her own unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty reminiscent of the great sopranos of the past.  Her range, golden tone, boundless power, and control make her a favorite of the stage as well as a sought-after recording artist.  Highlights of Christine Brewer's 2009-10 season include performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Lorin Maazel, the New World Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, the Dallas Symphony and Jaap van Zweden, the Toronto Symphony, the BBC Philharmonic and Donald Runnicles, the Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony and David Robertson, the Ravinia Festival, the Marin Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert.  This season also brought a highly anticipated reprisal of Ms. Brewer's critically acclaimed portrayal of Lady Billows in Albert Herring at Santa Fe Opera.  A native of the St. Louis metropolitan area, Ms. Brewer began her career as a young artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and has appeared with the company several times throughout the past several years. 

About Elizabeth Zharoff
Elizabeth Zharoff, soprano, has performed for three seasons as a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, most recently taking on the role of Barbarina in the company's 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro.  She has studied at Oberlin Conservatory as well as the Conservatoire de Rouen in France, Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, and Sichuan Conservatory in China.  Ms. Zharoff has performed in a number of master classes with renowned teachers such as Marilyn Horne, Peter Kazaras, Dean Williamson, and Michael Eliason.  She has also appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, and in concerts in New York, Washington D.C., Connecticut, Missouri, Ohio, and Washington state.  A winner of the Barry Alexander International Voice Competition, Ms. Zharoff has also won prizes in the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and others.

As we near the close of the 2010 fiscal year, we extend our warmest thanks to all Friends of the Festival for their generous support.  We look forward to thanking you in person at the annual Holiday Concert, the donor season preview, and at the special presentation of our children's program, Opera on the Go!  These are just a  few of the exclusive activities that Friends enjoy throughout the year. 

If you haven't made a commitment for 2010, please consider pledging your support before our fiscal year ends on September 30th.  Your gift or pledge will make a tremendous difference to our bottom line.  Ticket revenue covers only 26% of operating expenses, so we rely on your generosity to sustain a 35-year tradition of sound fiscal management that provides the foundation for adventurous new productions. 

For more information about membership benefits or to make your pledge by phone, please call (314) 963-4228.  Or click here to donate online.

"Opera is far more than a pleasant diversion at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis -- it is an art to be intelligently planned, carefully produced and diligently sold to an engaged public that apparently can't get enough of it during the six weeks in June that constitute OTSL's festival season.  The company remains one of the best springboards in the nation for young Americans on the cusp of big careers."

Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein

"Opera Theatre of St. Louis has a magic all its own.  New and off-the-beaten-path operas, including 20 world premieres, have enlivened the festival's 35 seasons . . .  Add pre-performance dinners on beautifully landscaped grounds, and it's no wonder the festival draws fans from all over North America."

 

Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell

"The 2010 season at Opera Theatre of St. Louis solidified the company's standing as one of the country's premiere opera festivals."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"The world premiere of The Golden Ticket was late in coming . . . Donald Sturrock's libretto captures the wit, wizardry, and wonder of Dahl's story . . . The American composer Ash has produced a fun-filled score with a zippy, contemporary ambience."

The Financial Times (London), George Loomis

"The beauty of Roald Dahl's darkly comic children's books is how they balance attraction and menace . . . The Golden Ticket  -- an opera by composer Peter Ash and librettist Donald Sturrock, based on Dahl's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -- is most successful when its music does the same.  The opera's best music is edgy and snappy, its astringent orchestration giving prominence to the winds and brass, capturing the story's restless unpredictability."

The Wall Street Journal, Heidi Waleson

"New operas that can be shared and enjoyed by the entire family have been pitifully scarce since Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors debuted on television in 1951.  The Golden Ticket based on Roald Dahl's subversive children's story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, fills that gaping void with a deliciously droll fantasy kids will cheer (and did at the performance I attended) and adults can savor without risking tooth decay."

Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein

"There aren't that many new operas designed to make the audience laugh out loud.  The Golden Ticket, which opened Sunday evening, does just that -- and with honest sweet humor -- combining ingenious music that neatly parodies assorted operatic cliches and a clever libretto that has fun with Dahl's delicious morality play.  Add to that a nearly ideal cast and you have something enjoyable for adults and children alike."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"On the basis of the one-two punch of A Little Night Music and The Golden Ticket, in the U.S. summer opera sweepstakes Opera Theatre of Saint Louis remains the winner and still champion."

Opera Today, James Sohre

"The Golden Ticket is happily, family friendly . . . It's literate enough to keep adults engaged but chockablock with sufficient jokes to hold the attention of all but the youngest children -- no small accomplishment."

KDHX, Chuck Lavazzi

"This charming rendition of Roald Dahl's children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory       . . . is a sweet treat worth savoring."

KFUO-FM, Steve Allen

"Writing an opera on spec is a risky proposition for obvious reasons, but it worked out handsomely for composer Peter Ash . . . The Golden Ticket's appeal as a family opera will rest crucially on the affection youngsters already have for Dahl's story . . . But adults are likely to find The Golden Ticket no less childish than Siegfried.  The important thing is that Ash, an Iowa native also active as a conductor, has produced a real opera with an upbeat, melodically appealing, contemporary score, yet it doesn't play down to its audience."

Classical Review, George Loomis

" . . . an unorthodox but piquant production by the fashion designer and first-time theater director Isaac Mizrahi.  Visually it was A Midsummer Night's Dream meets A Little Night Music, set among spreading shade trees, with winged, half-undressed fairies as the quartet of warbling onlookers.  But the characters, Madame Armfeldt most of all, played for the real stakes."

 

The New York Times, Matthew Gurewitsch

"Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece A Little Night Music is a popular choice with opera companies, and Opera Theatre's production showed why.  The superb Saint Louis Symphony, led by Stephen Lord, did justice to those beautiful waltzes . . . Amy Irving as the actree Desiree Armfeldt, Sian Phillips as her aged mother, and Ron Raines as the lawyer Fredrik Egerman, her ex-lover, brought stage and screen smarts to the cast; the rest were young opera singers who sang Sondheim's music with style and skill . . . and delivered the spoken lines with brio as well.  Opera Theatre's production was also fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi's debut as a stage director . . . No surprise that Mr. Mizrahi's costumes were enchanting; he also brought a light touch to the directing, never pushing the comedy into slapstick or the romance into bathos.  It was all very charming and effective."

The Wall Street Journal, Heidi Waleson

"Opera Theatre of Saint Louis scored another solid success with Sondheim's A Little Night Music . . . Academy Award nominee Amy Irving . . . offers an accomplished . . . portrayal of the actress Desiree Armfeldt that rightly reaches a high point with her poignant rendering of 'Send in the Clowns,' sung with appealing tone and every word invested with feeling."

Classical Review, George Loomis

"A fashion designer's operatic reimagining of A Little Night Music is all the rage.  No stage production this year has been more anticipated than the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis staging of the exquisite Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical . . . This lavish hybrid, which has been staged and designed by the unorthodox fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi in his directorial debut, shakes the senses and makes mush of preconceptions . . . Amy Irving is a radiant Desiree Armfeldt . . . Irving emanates the porcelain beauty of a cherry-cheeked Hummel figurine; she moves with grace and poise."

Riverfront Times, Dennis Brown

"Music director Stephen Lord led it [A Little Night Music] all stylishly and idiomatically.  It seems unlikely that this score has ever had such superb treatment as it received from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"Isaac Mizrahi shows designer's flair as director of A Little Night Music . . .  This actually all worked, endearingly, abetted by a fine cast . . . In no Broadway theater would you hear an orchestra playing as beautifully as members of the St. Louis Symphony did under the devoted guidance of OTSL music director Stephen Lord."

Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell

"Amy Irving sweeps the audience off their feet.  It's truly an evening of shining stars with a delightfully charming Sian Phillips as Madame Armfeldt -- who brings a touching rendition of "Liaisons" to life . . . truly a magical opening for Isaac Mizrahi and his remarkable cast and crew."

KFUO-FM, Steve Allen

"Maestro Mizrahi designs a marvelous Night Music.  The bewitchment of audiences accomplished every springtime by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is often the product of a long tradition of taking risks . . . what elation everyone associated with this show must feel, basking in the lingering beauty of a little night music performed with such artistry and grace.  And then, there is this: How proud everyone must be for taking chances once again -- and winning."

St. Louis Beacon, Robert Duffy

"Strong casting and a simple, elegant production also distinguish Opera Theatre's Eugene Onegin ... Tenor Sean Panikkar's clarion, explosive tenor ignited the show.  He brought an anger to Lensky, showing the violent flip side of a passionate nature, and made Christopher Magiera's chilly, correct Onegin seem even more repellent."

The Wall Street Journal, Heidi Waleson

"The most thunderous ovation fell, deservedly so, on Sean Panikkar, whose melliflous, plaintive tenor made a showstopper of Lensky's despairing aria; this young man is one to watch.

Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein

"Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky was so smitten with the character of Tatiana, the heroine of Alexander Pushkin's great verse novel "Eugene Onegin," that he wanted to name his opera after her.  If he'd heard Dina Kuznetsova sing the role on Saturday night at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, he might have stuck with that plan . . . Her voice is big, rich and well-produced; her portrayal was nuanced and touching . . . Her pivotal Letter Scene was spell-binding and flawlessly, idiomatically sung . . . With this exquisite production, Opera Theatre again demonstrates why the company is the country's premiere chamber opera festival."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"Opera Theatre triumphs with Eugene Onegin . . . director Kevin Newbury, conductor David Agler, and their spectacularly talented cast use this straightforward and intimate piece of musical theater to create a uniquely satisfying evening of art as entertainment."

Riverfront Times, Lew Prince

"Lord knows this score well, and it showed . . . it's a solid cast, including Kanyova's smart, sexy maid and baritone Christopher Feigum's clever Figaro.  Baritone Edward Parks, making his debut as the Count, sang gorgeously, with a rich timbre to his voice, and cut a tall, handsome figure.  Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton was terrific as Marcellina, hilariously dominating her scenes and singing with a big, beautiful voice.  Baritone Matthew Lau's Dr. Bartolo, in a messy Beethoven wig, was a fine, funny match for her.  As the Countess, soprano Amanda Majeski sang well and easily won our sympathies."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"If there be perfection, this Figaro may describe it . . . Opera Theatre's 2010 production has all the characteristics necessary to produce a perfect work of art . . . I cannot imagine a better production."

St. Louis Beacon, Robert Duffy

The Golden Ticket, Opera Theatre's brilliant new family opera based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delighted children and adults alike at the world premiere performance. 

"... designed to make the audience laugh out loud ... with honest, sweet humor ... ingenious music ... and a clever libretto ... Add to that a nearly ideal cast, and you have something enjoyable for adults and children alike."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"... delightful: a fanciful tale meets theater of the absurd meets opera. Sturrock's libretto bubbles along with fun rhyming couplets, and the music is surprisingly sophisticated."

Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell

"[Composer Peter] Ash... has produced a real opera with an upbeat, melodically appealing, contemporary score, yet it doesn't play down to its audience."

Classical Review, George Loomis

As it turns out, Charlie was destined to be a musical drama..."

Los Angeles Times, James Taylor

Opera Theatre's much-anticipated production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music opened to thunderous applause and critical praise.  Directed and designed by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi, the all-star cast includes renowned actresses Amy Irving and Siân Phillips and acclaimed baritone Ron Raines.

"Music director Stephen Lord led it all stylishly and idiomatically.  It seems unlikely that this score has ever had such superb treatment..."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"Amy Irving sweeps the audience off their feet ... truly an evening of shining stars with a delightfully charming Siân Phillips ... and Broadway great Ron Raines..."

KFUO-FM, Steve Allen

"... what elation everyone associated with this show must feel, basking in the lingering beauty of a little night music performed with such artistry and grace ... How proud everyone must be for taking chances once again -- and winning."

St. Louis Beacon, Bob Duffy

Two stunning debut artists – Dina Kuznetsova and Christopher Magiera – lead the cast of Tchaikovsky’s searing Eugene Onegin which opened to critical acclaim.

"Spell-binding, and flawlessly, idiomatically sung ... exquisite production."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

"Tenor Sean Panikkar's clarion, explosive tenor ignited the show."

Wall Street Journal, Heidi Waleson

"The real find is the Tatiana of Dina Kuznetsova, a genuine Russian soprano with both fire and warmth."

Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell

The 2010 Wells Fargo Advisors Festival Season opened with a new production of one of the most beloved operas in the repertory – Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, directed by James Robinson, with Maria Kanyova as Susanna, Christopher Feigum as Figaro, Amanda Majeski as the Countess, and Edward Parks making his OTSL debut as the Count.

"The staging, by OTSL artistic director James Robinson, certainly highlights the opera's tensions of sex, love, and power."

Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell

"A stellar cast brings the lush music to glorious life."

KFUO-FM, Steve Allen

"Opera Theatre's 2010 production has all the characteristics necessary to produce a perfect work of art.  I cannot imagine a better production."

St. Louis Beacon, Bob Duffy

"(Maestro Stephen Lord) knows the score well and it showed."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller

 Amy Irving is Desiree Armfeldt, Siân Phillips is Madame Armfeldt, with Ron Raines as Frederik in OTSL's first production by Stephen Sondheim

Renowned actresses Amy Irving and Siân Phillips will appear as the beautiful Desiree Armfeldt and Madame Armfeldt, her mother, with acclaimed baritone Ron Raines as Desiree's former lover, in Opera Theatre's new production of A Little Night Music directed and designed by Isaac Mizrahi.  The production opens on Sunday, June 6 and continues for five more performances through June 19 as the third offering of the OTSL spring season.  Other casting, which has been previously announced includes Christopher Herbert as Henrik Egerman, Amanda Squitieri as Anne Egerman, and Erin Holland as Charlotte Malcolm.

The St. Louis production marks Amy Irving's first appearance as Desiree, as well as designer Isaac Mizrahi's debut as a stage director.  Ms. Phillips has appeared previously as Madame Armfeldt in the 1995 National Theatre production in London, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award.  Mr. Raines has sung the role of Frederik Egerman previously with other opera companies and at Boston's Symphony Hall.

Highlights of actress Amy Irving's film career include Carrie, Yentl (for which she received an Oscar nomination), Crossing Delancey, and Deconstructing Harry; Broadway theater credits include The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center Theater, The Three Sisters at the Roundabout Theatre, and Heartbreak House at The Circle in the Square; off-Broadway credits include Ghosts at Classic Stage Company and The Road to Mecca at the Promenade Theater.  Siân Phillips was the villainess Livia in the acclaimed TV series I, Claudius, and Alec Guinness's unfaithful wife in the BBC's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People; film credits include Becket (opposite Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole) and David Lynch's Dune.

Both actresses have had singing roles: Ms. Irving in films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Honeysuckle Rose, and Rumpelstiltskin, Ms. Phillips onstage in Pal Joey, Gigi, and her one-woman stage show, Marlene, a tribute to Marlene Dietrich on Broadway and in London's West End, where she also starred in Calendar Girls and appeared with Rufus Wainwright at the Old Vic.

Ron Raines has been one of America's leading opera and musical theater performers since his early appearances at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Santa Fe Opera, and New York City Opera.  He has played leading roles in virtually every major American musical and operetta at well over thirty U.S. opera companies.  He was nominated for Emmy Awards in 2003, 2004, and 2006 as Alan Spaulding in The Guiding Light on CBS-TV.

"I am very excited about this production and this cast," says Opera Theatre's general director Timothy O'Leary, "which brings together people of such enormous talent and creativity from the worlds of film, theater, and design.  A Little Night Music is one of the masterpieces of American musical theater, and Mr. Mizrahi's vision for it is exciting indeed."

In addition to A Little Night Music, Opera Theatre's spring season offers three other new productions: Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and the world premiere production of Peter Ash and Donald Sturrock's The Golden Ticket, based on Roald Dahl's beloved classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  The season opens on Saturday, May 22 and continues for 28 performances through Sunday, June 27.

A Little Night Music is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International and made possible with a leadership gift from Mrs. Walter F. Brissenden and with generous support from Whitaker Foundation.  Special thanks to lead corporate sponsor Centene Corporation.

Opera Theatre gratefully acknowledges 2010 Season Presenting Sponsor Wells Fargo Advisors.

isaac mizrahi directing debut, Golden ticket world premiere highlight opera theatre's 2010 season

Wells Fargo Advisors Spring Festival Season offers four new productions May 22 — June 27

Opera Theatre's 2010 spring season opens on Saturday, May 22 and continues for 28 performances through Sunday, June 27 with all-new productions of Mozart's brilliant comedy The Marriage of Figaro, Tchaikovsky's romantic masterpiece Eugene Onegin, Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, directed and designed by famed designer Isaac Mizrahi, and the world premiere of Peter Ash and Donald Sturrock's The Golden Ticket, based on Roald Dahl's beloved classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

All performances are sung in English, performed with members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and presented in the Virginia Jackson Browning Theater in the Loretto-Hilton Center at 130 Edgar Road at Webster University.

the 2010 repertory

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (1786)
Nine performances: May 22, 26, 28, June 3, 12*, 16 (matinee), 20, 23*, 26 (matinee)

Conductor: Timothy Long
Stage Director: James Robinson
Set and Costume Designer: Bruno Schwengl
Choreographer: Seán Curran

This new production of Mozart's great comedy The Marriage of Figaro is the first in OTSL's new cycle of Mozart operas with librettos by Lorenzo da Ponte, which will continue with productions of Don Giovanni and Cosí fan tutte in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.  Christopher Feigum sings the title role (he appeared as the same character in OTSL's The Ghosts of Versailles in 2009), with Maria Kanyova as Susanna and Edward Parks making his OTSL debut as the Count.

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky: EUGENE ONEGIN (1881)
Seven performances: May 29, June 2, 10, 19 (matinee), 23 (matinee), 25, 27

Conductor: David Agler
Stage Director: Kevin Newbury *
Set Designer: Allen Moyer
Costume Designer: Martin Pakledinaz
Choreographer: Seán Curran

Tchaikovsky's romantic score sets Pushkin's masterpiece — the most beloved work of Russian fiction — to dazzling waltzes and mazurkas.  Baritone Christopher Magiera* makes an important OTSL debut in the title role, as does Dina Kuznetsova* as the young Tatiana.  Tenor Sean Panikkar returns as the ill-fated poet, Lenski.

This new production is made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Stephen Sondheim: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (1973)
Six performances: June 6, 9, 11, 15 (matinee), 17, 19Opera Theatre's first production of a work by Stephen Sondheim features the directorial debut of famed designer Isaac Mizrahi, who will also design the sets and costumes.  OTSL music director Stephen Lord will conduct.  Renowed actresses Amy Irving and Siân Phillips will appear as the beautiful Desiree Armfeldt and Madame Armfeldt, her mother, and acclaimed baritone Ron Raines, an alumnus of Opera Theatre's early seasons, will return as Desiree's former lover.

Conductor: Stephen Lord
Stage Director: Isaac Mizrahi *
Set and Costume Designer: Isaac Mizrahi *
Lighting Designer: Michael Chybowski *

The production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International and made possible with a leadership gift from Mrs. Walter F. Brissenden and with generous support from Whitaker Foundation.  Special thanks to lead corporate sponsor Centene Corporation.

Peter Ash and Donald Sturrock: THE GOLDEN TICKET (2010)  World premiere
Six performances: June 13, 16, 18, 22 (matinee), 24, 26OTSL is happy to present the world premiere performances of The Golden Ticket, a new opera for families based on Roald Dahl's classic novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with music by American composer Peter Ash and text by British librettist Donald Sturrock, staged by OTSL Artistic Director James Robinson.  "The Golden Ticket is the ideal opera for family audiences," says James Robinson.  "It is a strikingly beautiful, sophisticated score about the power of imagination, based on a novel which is enormously popular with adults and children alike."

Conductor: Timothy Redmond *
Stage Director: James Robinson
Set Designer: Bruno Schwengl
Costume Designer: Martin Pakledinaz
Choreographer: Seán Curran
Commissioned by American Lyric Theater and Felicity Dahl
Co-producers: American Lyric Theater and Wexford Festival Opera

Returning OTSL favorites featured in the cast are Mary Ann McCormick, Tracy Dahl, and David Kravitz; celebrated bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch makes his OTSL debut as Willy Wonka.

The world premiere production is made possible with a leadership gift from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and with generous support from The Saigh Foundation and the Fred M. Saigh Endowment at Opera Theatre and the National Endowment for the Arts.  Family ticket pricing and promotional events are made possible with a generous gift from Campbell-Avery Fund of the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation.  Special thanks to lead corporate sponsor MasterCard Worldwide.

Development support in the United Kingdom was provided by the Royal National Theatre Studio and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.  The opera is presented by arrangement with American Lyric Theater in partnership with Music Link International.

Opera Theatre gratefully acknowledges 2010 Season Presenting Sponsor Wells Fargo Advisors.

MasterCard is the official credit card of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Opera Theatre is a sustaining member of the Arts & Education Council of Greater Saint Louis and receives major support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Regional Arts Commission, and the Missouri Arts Council.