Blythely Ever After
May 6, 2022 | 7:30 pm
Directed by John Jarboe
Music and Arrangements by Daniel Kazemi
Co-written by John Jarboe & Stephanie Blythe
Featuring:
Stephanie Blythe as Blythely Oratonio
Blythely Oratonio’s Band “The Fluffers”
Opener Sapphira Cristál
Runtime 90 minutes
Blythely Ever After is a musical journey through the life of the tender, testosterone-filled tenor of the century, Blythely Oratonio. Known as the outrageous alter ego of renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, Oratonio takes you on a journey through his art and life in a mouthwatering musical cocktail that includes Puccini, Freddie Mercury and everything in between, in a musical mash-up of disco, rock and opera.
Effective and irresistible! Oratonio instantaneously won the crowd over…. [An] incredibly sonorous, magnetic tone….The exquisite rearrangement of musical motifs left an unforgettable impression….Crowd pleasing! Oratonio has absolute command over the wonderfully radiant and breathtaking depth of his voice.
— Boston Musical Intelligencer
Oratonio rocked…[with] legit-voiced glam rock!
—New England Theater Geek
MUSIC DIRECTION & ARRANGEMENTS Daniel Kazemi
BLYTHELY AND FLOWERS COSTUMES AND THRONE DESIGNED BY Machine Dazzle with Rebecca Kanach
STAGE MANAGER Sara Meehan-Maranich
LIGHTING DESIGNER AND BEARDED LADIES PRODUCTION MANAGER Calvin Anderson
ORIGINAL SOUND DESIGNER Dan Perelstein Jaquette
TOUR SOUND DESIGNER AND MIXER Taylor Jedlinski
ADDITIONAL PROPS AND COSTUMES BY Rebecca Kanach
Featuring
Blythely Oratonio’s Band “The Fluffers”
Daniel Kazemi (piano, Music Director, lead Fluffer)
Jimmy Coleman (drums)
Mike Ian (guitar)
Andrew Nelson (bass)
From the 9/24/18 performance of Blythely After Hours
photos by Dominic M. Mercier
From the 9/28/18 performance of Dito & Aeneas
photos by Steven Pisano
From the February 2017 premiere of Dito & Aeneas
Royale Boston
279 Tremont St | Boston, MA | 02116
SEATING
General Admission seating: GA seating is first come, first served, and is available for both theater-style seats and lounge seating. Please call 617.542.6772 or email us at boxoffice@blo.org if you need accessible or specific seating accommodation.
Premium Tables with table service for drinks: A limited number of premium tables are available for $400 per table of four, and include one complementary drink per person and assigned priority seating. Premium tables may only be purchased by phone at 617.542.6772 or email at boxoffice@blo.org.
Individual Table Tickets with table service for drinks: Tables seat four each. Those who purchase table seats ($75 each) will be assigned to a table on a first-come, first-served basis.
ACCESSIBILITY
Venue space and restrooms are located on third floor, accessible via elevator
RESTROOMS
Restrooms for Royale patrons are available only on the performance space level, accessible by elevator as mentioned previously
COAT CHECK
Coat check is available at the rear of the audience area, near the ladies restroom.
COVID-19 POLICY
Royale will adhere to BLO’s safety policies – masks worn at all times, vaccine cards must be presented upon entry.
A renowned opera singer, recitalist, and cabaret artist, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is one of the most highly respected and critically acclaimed artists of her generation. Her repertoire ranges from Handel to Wagner, French art song to contemporary and classic American song. She has performed on many of the world’s greatest stages, such as Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Paris National Opera and the San Francisco, Chicago Lyric and Seattle opera house. She starred in the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD broadcasts of Orfeo ed Euridice, Il Trittico, Rodelinda, Cendrillon, and the complete Ring Cycle and also appeared in PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Carousel and her acclaimed show, We’ll Meet Again: The Songs of Kate Smith. Her recordings include her solo album, as long as there are songs (Innova), and works by Mahler, Brahms, Wagner, Handel and Bach (Virgin Classics). Ms. Blythe was named Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year in 2009, received an Opera News Award in 2007 and won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award in 1999. She is also the Artistic Director of the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at the Crane School of Music, and in 2019 was appointed the Artistic Director of the Bard College Conservatory of Music Graduate Vocal Arts Program.
Dramatic tenor Blythely Oratonio was born in the basement of church in Philadelphia. Discovered by brilliant dramaturg, Jean Jarbeaux, Blythely entered the world of opera, becoming a sensation. Though he has traveled the world singing in Paris, Milan, Helsinki, New York, Graz, Karlsruhe, Dortmund, Reykjavik, Lidköping, Buckinghamshire, Seattle, Manitoba, and West Palm Beach, his heart belongs to Philadelphia. When Mr. Oratonio is not singing one of his signature roles, such as Cavaradossi, Calaf, Radames, Manrico, Canio, and Vasco de Gama, he can be heard on the concert stage from very far away. Mr. Oratonio occasionally moonlights as mezzo-soprano, Stephanie Blythe.
Jarboe is a director, singer, writer, historian, and host serving you revolution, herstory, queer community making, and a whole lot of glitter. She is the founding artistic director of The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, transforming opera, cabaret, and live performance, creating work that will make you sing, dance, and question. She has made original work for La Mama ETC, Joe’s Pub, Opera Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Wilma Theater, and most recently an original commission called Rose You Are Who You Eat for The Guggenheim’s Works & Process series. See her upcoming work at