Utah Festival Opera announces Summer Season
tah Festival Opera’s 12th season is filled with the drama of passion, disappointment, and hope in this emotionally packed summer of intrigue and love. UFO extends an invitation to come and be immersed in the festive and friendly atmosphere of this lavish five-week event. This year’s main stage productions include Giuseppe Verdi’s dramatic tragedy, Rigoletto; Norman & Simon’s emotional tale, The Secret Garden; Rossini’s enchanting fable, La Cenerentola (Cinderella); and Lerner & Loewe’s sentimental romance, Brigadoon.
Additionally, world-renowned opera performer and UFO General Director Michael Ballam triumphantly returns to the stage this season starring as Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden.
All four main stage productions run in repertory in the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan, Utah, July 7 through August 7, and can be seen during a two- or three-day visit to beautiful and historic Cache Valley. Additionally, Utah Festival Opera will tour performances of Brigadoon to the Val A. Browning Center, Austad Auditorium in Ogden on July 20, as well as the Eccles Performing Arts Center in Park City on July 27.
Both single and season tickets are on sale now for the 2004 season. For more information, visit
2004 Season Production Information
RIGOLETTO: Giuseppe Verdi [July 7, 15m, 17, 22m, 30, August 4, 7m]James Marvel Director; Karen Keltner Conductor The festival season opens July 7 with Rigoletto, which is tragedy and dramatic expression at its best! Well acquainted with the worldly vices of the Duke, Rigoletto underestimates his daughter’s headstrong nature and the Duke’s resourcefulness. Their ultimate pleasure results in a father’s oath of vengeance, the wrath of which rebounds upon Rigoletto himself. Sung in Italian with projected English titles. Starring Michael Corvino, Jennifer Welch-Babidge, David Gustafson, Daniel Cole, and Ryan Allen
THE SECRET GARDEN: Marsha Norman & Lucy Simon [July 8, 14, 17m, 21, 23, 28, 31, Aug 5]Jack Shouse Director; Barbara Day Turner Conductor Opening July 8 is The Secret Garden, the Broadway musical based upon the favorite novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Discover how the healing power of love and positive thinking bring about a miracle of rebirth. Mary Lennox beautifully unlocks the secret of the earth and the heart, and creates a world where spring comes again. Sung in English with projected English titles. Starring Michael Ballam, Suzan Hanson, Beth Alison, Ethan DeVilbiss, Darrell Babidge, and Kevin Massey
LA CENERENTOLA: Gioacchino Rossini [July 9, 15, 22, 30m, August 4m, 6]Brad Carroll Director; Gerald Steichen Conductor La Cenerentola (Cinderella), an Italian version of the magical folktale opens on July 9. Serving her cruel stepfamily, Cinderella dreams of escaping her life amongst the cinders. Her gentle goodness and tender smile warms the hearts of all she meets. Enjoy this enchanting tale filled with love and surprise, and a bracelet that changes destiny! Daughter, sister, friend~you’ll find them all in Cinderella. Sung in Italian with projected English titles. Starring Maria Zifchak, Ryan Allen, Curt Peterson, Daniel Cole, and Shon Sims
BRIGADOON: Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe [July 10, 14m, 16, 20, 23m, 27, 29, 31m, Aug 5m, 7]Tony Parise Director; Karen Keltner Conductor Brigadoon, the town that materializes from the Scottish mist every hundred years, opens July 10. Fall in love all over again with Tommy and Fiona as you witness how faith eventually moves an entire town. Enjoy the whimsical loveliness of the Highlands with romantic melodies such as Almost Like Being in Love and The Heather on the Hill. Simplicity, true love, and goodness indubitably prevail in this sentimental tale and you’ll find “When you love someone deeply, anythin’ is possible.” Starring Will Swenson, Johanna Wiseman, Shon Sims, Kevin Massey, and John Hansen