We’ve got an exciting year coming up for Act Too Studio’s teen Opera Workshop, and we’re finally ready to share a few details!
First, this spring our Opera Workshop students will be performing scenes from The Marriage of Figaro (W.A. Mozart), Trouble in Tahiti (Leonard Bernstein), Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler), and The Medium (Gian Carlo Menotti). The exact date and location are TBA, so watch this page or follow us on Facebook to keep up with the news!
Opera Workshop 2015 teen artists include: Caroline Lee, Alexa King, Cole Mathewson, Tess Mathewson, Callie Damouras, Stephanie Craven, Brandon Dallmann, Sage Wilson, Eliza Carson, Ayla Connor, Anna Plummer, & McKenna Troy!
Secondly, this summer we’ll be presenting a full production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium! Here’s our cast (in order of appearance):
Monica: Caroline Lee
Toby: Cole Mathewson
Madame Flora: Alexa King
Mr. Gobineau: Brandon Dallmann
Mrs. Gobineau: Stephanie Craven
Mrs. Nolan: Callie Damouras
Originally commissioned by Columbia University and later professionally produced on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in 1947, The Medium was inspired by a stay in Austria, during which Menotti attended a séance with one of his hosts who believed she could communicate with her deceased 14-year-old daughter.
“It was a tremendously moving experience for me, so much so that I found myself with tears streaming down my cheeks,” Menotti told biographer John Gruen. “There was no doubt that the baroness was actually seeing her daughter. I, on the other hand, saw nothing at all. It gave me pause, because she believed and could see, while I didn’t believe and therefore couldn’t see anything. It made me wonder whether belief was a creative power and whether skepticism could destroy creative powers.”
The story that came out of Menotti’s experience is that of Madame Flora, a scam artist who runs fake séances with the help of her sixteen-year–old daughter (Monica) and a mute teenage boy (Toby) whom she “rescued” from the streets of Budapest as a child. Madame Flora is satisfied with her business (and ruthless in pursuing payment), until one evening when, during a séance with three bereaved parents (Mr. & Mrs. Gobineau, Mrs. Nolan), she feels a ghostly hand around her own throat. Horrified and shaken, Madame Flora dismisses her clients abruptly, thus beginning a downward spiral that ultimately ends in tragedy. The music is haunting, beautiful, and guaranteed to draw in even those most skeptical about opera.
I’ll be directing in close collaboration with our student assistant director, Tess Mathewson! Performances will take place the weekend of August 14th, venue TBA. The Medium is a very ambitious project for our teens, both musically and dramatically, and we’ll be working on it all spring, even as we approach our intense, four-week rehearsal period this summer. We’ll be documenting our progress in writing and on video, and we hope you’ll follow us along in this challenging journey! Stay tuned!