2016/17 Season

CARMEN

Music by Georges Bizet
Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy

A co-production with Boston Lyric Opera and San Francisco Opera
Sung in French with English surtitles, provided by San Francisco Opera

BLO’s 40th Anniversary Season launches with the East Coast premiere of Calixto Bieito’s Carmen in a co-production with San Francisco Opera – marking the director’s long-awaited U.S. opera debut. Set in the arid earthiness of 1970’s post-Franco Spanish North Africa, this raw and cinematic vision is a powerful account of the defiantly free-spirited woman and her obsessive lover, set to Bizet’s intoxicating score.

Creative Team

Conductor David Angus
Stage Director Rosetta Cucchi*
Set Designer John Conklin
Costume Designer Nancy Leary
Lighting Designer D.M. Wood*
Projection And Sound Designer Seághan Mckay
Wig And Makeup Designer Jason Allen
Supertitle Adaptation John Conklin & Allison Voth

Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Photos: T. Charles Erickson for Boston Lyric Opera © 2015

CAST in order of appearance

Yusef Lambert* as Lillas Pastia
Vincent Turregano† as Moralès
Chelsea Basler‡ as Micaëla
Liam Moran as Zuniga
Gina DeFreitas as Manuelita
Jennifer Johnson Cano as Carmen
Roger Honeywell as Don José
Lily Waters* as Girl
Kathryn Skemp Moran as Frasquita
Heather Gallagher‡ as Mercédès
Michael Mayes as Escamillo
Andrew Garland as El Dancairo
Samuel Levine as El Remendado
Junichi Fukuda* as Torero
Soldiers, children, cigarette girls, gypsies, smugglers

* Boston Lyric Opera Debut
† Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist
‡ Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist Alumnus

GREEK

Music by Mark-Anthony Turnage
Based on Steven Berkoff’s stage play of the same title
Libretto adapted by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Jonathan Moore

Sung in English with English surtitles

Hailed as a cult classic, Greek is a political and indelible retelling of Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King. Transporting audiences to London’s East End during the tumultuous 1980s with music influences that range from jazz to daring percussion to sounds of the streets, Greek is an aggressive, defiant and profane detonation of a story millennia old.

CREATIVE TEAM

Conductor Andrew Bisantz
Stage Director Sam Helfrich
Set Designer John Conklin
Costume Designer Nancy Leary
Lighting Designer Chris Hudacs*
Fight Director Andrew Kenneth Moss
Wig and Makeup Designer Jason Allen
Dramaturg John Conklin
Surtitle Designer Allison Voth

CAST

Marcus Farnsworth* as Eddy
Caroline Worra as Eddy’s Mum | Waitress | Sphinx
Amanda Crider* as Doreen | Waitress who becomes Eddy’s Wife | Sphinx
Christopher Burchett as Dad | Café Manager | Chief of Police
Actors: Dani Berkowitz*, Erin Eva Butcher*, Caleb Cedrone*, Nile Hawver*

* Boston Lyric Opera Debut
† Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist
‡ Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist Alumnus

THE RAKE’S PROGRESS

Music by Igor Stravinsky
Libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman
Sung in English with English surtitles

With its beautiful arias contrasted with episodes of high drama and low comedy, The Rake’s Progress reveals Stravinsky’s very personal take on the neo-classical style during a turning point in the composer’s career. Now, in this theatrically vivid staging by A.R.T. Resident Director Allegra Libonati, the story of Tom Rakewell is seen through the eyes of Stravinsky himself – and dramatically unfolds as an interpretation of the fantastical inner landscape of the artist in the 20th century.

CREATIVE TEAM

Conductor David Angus
Stage Director Allegra Libonati
Set Designer Julia Noulin-Mérat
Co-Costume Designers John Conklin & Neil Fortin*
Lighting Designer Mark Stanley
Magic Designer Christopher Rose*
Movement Director Yury Yanowsky
Wig-Makeup Designer Jason Allen
Dramaturg John Conklin
Surtitle Designer Allison Voth
Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra Sandra Kott, Concertmaster
Boston Lyric Opera Chorus Michelle Alexander, Chorusmaster
Rehersal Coach/Accompanist Maja Tremiszewska†*
Assistant Director Anderson Nunnelley†
Stage Manager Hester Warren-Steijn*

* Boston Lyric Opera Debut
† Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist
‡ Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist Alumni

CAST, in order of vocal appearance

Anya Matanovic as Anne Trulove
Ben Bliss* as Tom Rakewell
David Cushing‡ as Trulove
Kevin Burdette as Nick Shadow
Jane Eaglen as Mother Goose
Heather Johnson as Baba the Turk
Jon Jurgens† as Sellem
Simon Dyer† as Keeper of the Madhouse

And:
Yury Yanowsky as Stravinsky

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

The passions and perils of love and marriage collide in one uproarious day as Figaro struggles to get his bride, Susanna, to the altar unscathed. Identities are concealed, manners upended, plots foiled … all to the glorious music of Mozart’s masterpiece.

Creative Team

Conductor David Angus
Stage Director Rosetta Cucchi
Set Designer John Conklin
Costume Designer Gail Astrid Buckley
Lighting Designer D M Wood
Wig-Makeup Designer Jason Allen
Dramaturg John Conklin
Surtitle Designer Allison Voth

* Boston Lyric Opera Debut
† Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist
‡ Boston Lyric Opera Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist Alumnus

CAST, in order of vocal appearance

Evan Hughes* as Figaro
Emily Birsan as Susanna
David Cushing‡ as Bartolo
Michelle Trainor‡ as Marcellina
Emily Fons* as Cherubino
David Pershall* as Count Almaviva
Matthew DiBattista as Basilio
Nicole Heaston* as Countess Almaviva
Simon Dyer† as Antonio
Brad Raymond‡ as Don Curzio
Sara Womble† as Barbarina
Bridesmaids: Felicia Gavilanes† and Emma Sorenson†