UTAH FESTIVAL OPERA 2002 SEASON OPENING SOON
Utah Festival Opera’s 2002 summer season will feature four main stage productions: Mozart?s enchanting fairytale, The Magic Flute; Johann Strauss Jr.’s beloved Die Fledermaus; Sigmund Romberg’s romantic adventure The Desert Song; and Rodgers and Hammerstein?s classic The Sound of Music. The company has also added a Classic Film Series featuring four films related to the opera season?s themes. The Magic Flute, Die Fledermaus, The Desert Song, and The Sound of Music will run in repertory at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan, Utah, from July 10 through Aug. 10. All four shows can be seen during a two- or three-day visit.
Utah Festival Opera will tour one performance of The Desert Song to the Eccles Performing Arts Center in Park City on August 5 at 7:30 p.m.
UFO will also present one concert performance during the season, Musica Magnifica on July 24 at 7:30 p.m. Four performances of the mini-opera, The Face on the Barroom Floor, will be offered during the fourth week of the season. Free production seminars and literary seminars are also included in the festival schedule.
Mozart: The Magic Flute
The festival season opens on July 10 with The Magic Flute. In Mozart?s fast-moving fairytale of good triumphing over the forces of evil, Prince Tamino searches for enlightenment and meets a wealth of colorful characters: the evil Queen of the Night, Papageno, the bird-catcher, the all-knowing Sarastro, and the lovely Pamina. Mozart?s charming opera features some of his most enchanting music and a delicious melding of comedy, mystery, and adventure. The entire family will be captivated. Sung in English with projected English titles.
Keith Jameson will sing the role of Tamino. Adina Aaron is Pamina, and Shon Sims (The Barber of Seville) is Papageno. Anna Vikre will repeat her 1995 UFO role as the Queen of the Night, Ashley Howard Wilkinson is Sarastro, and John Easterlin is Monostatos.
Carol Dian Werner (The Barber of Seville) will direct The Magic Flute. Gerald Steichen (The Barber of Seville, Julius Caesar, The Tales of Hoffmann) will conduct. The set is by R. Keith Brumley and costumes were designed by Baker Smith.
Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus
Opening on July 11 is Johann Strauss Jr.?s Die Fledermaus, the golden standard by which all other fluffy, bubbly, utterly charming Viennese operettas are measured. Step back in time to the intoxicating glamour of Old Vienna and savor the wit, charm and effervescent romanticism that have made Die Fledermaus one of the most beloved operettas of all time. Revel in the most delicious flirtations, intriguing masquerades, extravagant masked balls, and disastrous mistaken identities, spun through a profusion of soft, seductive waltzes. Sung in English with projected English titles.
Bruce Reed is Eisenstein and Evelyn de la Rosa sings the role of Rosalinda. Pamela Hinchman (The Student Prince) is Adele. Troy Gordon is Falke, Osvaldo Peroni is Alfred, and David Barron (The Merry Widow, Greenwillow) is Frank.
Die Fledermaus will be directed by Jack Shouse (Susannah, The Student Prince, Carmen). Karen Keltner (Naughty Marietta, South Pacific, The Mikado) will conduct. The set is by Peter Dean Beck and costumes are by Brent Sjodin.
Sigmund Romberg: The Desert Song
This swashbuckling romance created by the composer of The Student Prince is set in exotic French North Africa. A beautiful young Frenchwoman is abducted into the Sahara — to the enthralling strains of a glorious succession of romantic melodies — by the mysterious, masked Red Shadow, leader of the rebellious Riffs. Of course, he is a French nobleman in disguise. The Desert Song was inspired by the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia and the sizzling Rudolph Valentino films The Sheik and Son of the Sheik. It will be sung in English with projected English titles.
Mark Womack (South Pacific) will play the role of Red Shadow, and Adele Crawford is Margot. Mark Panuccio is Sid El Kar, John Easterlin is Benjamin Kidd, and Danielle Hermon (Naughty Marietta) is Susan.
The Desert Song will be directed by Dorothy Danner (South Pacific, The Merry Widow), and conducted by Karen Keltner. The set was designed by Michael Anania. Costumes are by Brent Sjodin.
Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of Music
Rodgers & Hammerstein?s The Sound of Music opens on July 13. It is a heartwarming and inspirational story based on the lives of the Trapp Family Singers. Maria, a free-spirited young Austrian woman, is studying to take her religious vows. Suspecting that Maria?s true calling may lie outside the convent, the Mother Abbess arranges for her to become a governess to the seven children of the widower, Captain von Trapp. Bringing warmth and music to the strict household, Maria soon wins over the children and finally the captain as well.
Leslie Ann Hendricks (South Pacific) will play the role of Maria and Danish actor/singer Tomas Kofod is Captain von Trapp. Lisa Van Der Ploeg is the Mother Abbess, Kristin Hurst Hyde is the Baroness and Bart Williams (Naughty Marietta, Pirates of Penzance) will play Max. Johanna McKenzie Miller is Liesl and Chris Shenkle is Rolf.
Directing The Sound of Music is Russell Henderson, and Karen Keltner, resident conductor of the San Diego Opera, is conducting. The set is by Christopher McCollum, and costumes are by Patti Johnson.
Special Performances and Programs
Musica Magnifica, featuring the UFO orchestra, ensemble and soloists, will feature favorite patriotic and musical theater selections in honor of Pioneer Day on July 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ellen Eccles Theatre. Tickets range in price from $15 to $35.
Four performances of The Face on the Barroom Floor by Henry Mollicone and John S. Bowman will be offered in the Opera House at the Festival of the American West at 11 a.m. daily, July 31 through Aug. 3. No tickets are necessary, although there is an admission fee for the Festival of the American West.
Free Production Seminars given by directors, conductors, designers, costume, scene shop and other festival personnel are held on Thursdays and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. in the Ellen Eccles Theatre during the run of the festival. Free Literary Seminars led by well-known scholars and experts on the four repertory productions will take place on July 14, 20, 27 and Aug. 3 at 10:30 a.m. in the Dansante Recital Hall.
For information on backstage tours, pre-performance lectures, or accommodations, call 435-750-0300, ext. 108.
Ticket Information
Single ticket prices for the main stage productions range from $15 to $50. Season series ranging in price from $40 to $152 are available. To order by phone, call the Dansante Box Office at 800-262-0074 or 435-750-0300, ext. 106. Tickets are also available at the Dansante Box Office, 59 S. 100 W., Logan, Utah 84321, through all ArtTix outlets, and on-line at www.tickets.com or arttix.org.
About the Utah Festival Opera Company
The Utah Festival Opera Company?s inaugural performances were presented in the summer of 1993. The company is located in northern Utah?s Cache Valley, a setting of spectacular mountain scenery. Productions take place in Logan?s Ellen Eccles Theatre, an 1100-seat European-style theater featuring neo-classical design. Built in 1923, it has been exquisitely restored to state-of-the-art theatrical capability. Performers are drawn from the national and international professional pool. The ten-year-old Utah Festival Opera Company was ranked one of the top 20 summer opera festivals in the world by Money Magazine.