2021 Festival Program

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Carousel

MUSIC: RICHARD RODGERS
BOOK & LYRICS: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II

Based on Ferenc Molnar’s Play “Liliom”
As adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer
Original Choreography: Agnes de Mille

Synopsis

In a modest but vibrant Maine town, spirited young millworkers Julie Jordan and Carrie Pipperidge venture to the beachfront carnival after a long day’s work. Rakish carousel barker Billy Bigelow immediately captures Julie’s attention. Also intrigued, Billy cajoles Julie to break from the crowd and walk with him. They’re drawn to one another like magnets, but neither can quite bring themself to verbalize their feelings. Starting that evening, they give everything to be together — jobs, friends, reputation — but soon their conflicting dreams build to a tragic breaking point. Meanwhile, Carrie giddily accepts a marriage proposal from ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow, so sunny and smitten that she’s hardly fazed when they can’t agree upon such crucial plans as how many children they’ll have.

Years later, Julie is alone, raising a child as troubled as she is. In a turn of heavenly events, the wayward Billy gets a chance to make things right on the day of his daughter Louise’s graduation. Healing and redemption glimmer where they’re least expected.

Learn more about Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel here >

Production Credits

CONDUCTOR: Christopher Zemliauskas
DIRECTOR: Ken Cazan
CHOREOGRAPHER: Melinda Sullivan
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Dan Wallace Miller
SET AND LIGHTING DESIGNER: David Martin Jacques
COSTUME DESIGNER: Edina Hiser
ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER: Sonia Ninette Mendez
WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER: Jason Allen
ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR/CHORUS MASTER: Brandon M. Eldredge
SOUND DESIGNER: Jason Ducat
MUSICAL PREPARATION: Michael Baitzer, Michael Sherman and Thomas Getty
STAGE MANAGER: Lisa Marie Lange
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: Emilia Covault

The conductor’s podium is endowed in perpetuity by the Eleanore Mullen Weckbaugh Foundation.
Assisted listening devices generously donated by Myra B. Levy.
Scenic elements built by IATSE, Local 7, Denver.
Clearspan tent created by and rented from Mountain View Tent Company, Henderson, CO.

Learn more about the Carousel cast and creative team here >

Cast

IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

CARRIE PIPPERIDGE: Jennifer DeDominici
JULIE JORDAN: Anna Christy
MRS. MULLIN: Judeth Shay Comstock
BILLY BIGELOW: Steven LaBrie
POLICEMAN: Dylan Elza
MR. BASCOMBE/STARKEEPER/DR. SELDON: Charles “Chip” Smith
NETTIE FOWLER: Phyllis Pancella
ENOCH SNOW: Will Ferguson
JIGGER CRAIGIN: John Paul Huckle
CAPTAIN/HEAVENLY FRIEND: James Resch
LOUISE: Marin Tack
YOUNG MISS SNOW: Katherine Holobinko
ENOCH SNOW, JR.: Dylan Elza
ENSEMBLE: Katherine Holobinko, Aryssa Leigh Burrs, Dylan Elza, James Resch

Learn more about the Carousel cast and creative team here >

Director's Note

Ken Cazan

In a pandemic, in a woke world, how does a production team make an older musical with controversial subject matter relevant?

We struggled with this and finally decided that “less is more.” The first decision, once we found out that we were performing outside and in the light of day, was to update the piece, to set it in the here and now. There is a slight nod in the costumes to the original period, but overall, the clothing is very contemporary. As for a set, we decided to go with a more ethereal approach: large banner-type panels with a faint skyscape and even fainter carousel horses. Heavenly stars are prominent throughout. Nothing is quite real. It is very much a story theatre perspective.

Lighting is paramount to any production. In this case, because we are performing in an open-air space, in broad daylight for most of the performances, stage lighting is going to be minimal. The audience will be required to use their imagination for time of day reference.

This production approach, born out of necessity, puts all of the pressure on the actors and their abilities to create characters and relationships in this drastically reduced, socially distant version of Carousel. They will have to create the true magic. The show is cut down to its essence; 100 minutes of intense, focused slice-of-life instead of the original sprawling 2 hour and 45 minute epic about spousal abuse, survival, and ultimately, forgiveness. There are no actual dances, no interruptions so we are hurtled forward, wondering what will happen next and not given a reprieve to process what has happened and how we feel about the non-hero Billy, the defiant, tolerant Julie, Carrie and Mr. Snow and their larger-than-life marriage, the sociopathic Jigger and the wise businesswoman, Nettie. It is genuinely great drama with, arguably, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s best score and lyrics inspired by Ferenc Molnar’s play, Liliom, on which the musical is based.

Rigoletto

COMPOSER: GIUSEPPE VERDI
LIBRETTO: Francesco Maria Piave

Synopsis

A devilish duke and his tortured court jester, Rigoletto, clash in this topsy turvy suspense, teeming with twists of plot and twists of fate.

The opera opens during an opulent party in the Duke of Mantua’s court. Rigoletto mocks courtiers as the Duke lavishes attention on their wives. They jeer back, swearing vengeance on the fool. Halting the festivities, the elder Count Monterone scorns the Duke for defiling his daughter. When Rigoletto taunts him as well, the Count declares a curse. Day by day, Monterone’s words eat away at the superstitious court jester. Gilda, hidden away from the world by her father Rigoletto, is only permitted to venture as far as the church. But she’s fallen in love with a man she believes to be a charming young student on the way to service. She bursts with hope for how love might expand her world.

Later, a throng of courtiers steal Gilda away in retaliation for Rigoletto’s ridicule. Thinking she’s the fool’s mistress, they knavishly deliver her to the Duke’s bed. As the prank boils over, mistaken and misrepresented identities are revealed, and Rigoletto cowers under the curse. Gathering himself, the jester enlists killer-for-hire Sparafucile to avenge himself once and for all. A wild downpour wreaks confusion on Rigoletto’s plan. But this storm-stricken night will be someone’s last.

Learn more about Verdi’s Rigoletto here >

Production Credits

CONDUCTOR: John Baril
DIRECTOR: Jose Maria Condemi
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Gregory Boyle
SET DESIGNER: Steven C. Kemp
COSTUME DESIGNER: Edina Hiser
ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER: Sonia Ninette Mendez
LIGHTING DESIGNER: David Martin Jacques
WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER: Jason Allen
ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR/CHORUS MASTER: Brandon M. Eldredge (Conducting July 27, 2021 Nina Odescalchi Kelly Family Matinee)
SOUND DESIGNER: Jason Ducat
MUSICAL PREPARATION: Michael Baitzer, Michael Sherman and Ah Young Kim
STAGE MANAGER: Angela Turner
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: Emilia Covault
SUPERTITLES: Thomas Getty

Orchestral edition by Bryan Higgins, by arrangement with Motet Music Publishing Company.

The conductor’s podium is endowed in perpetuity by the Eleanore Mullen Weckbaugh Foundation.Assisted listening devices generously donated by Myra B. Levy.
Scenic elements built by IATSE, Local 7, Denver.
Clearspan tent created by and rented from Mountain View Tent Company, Henderson, CO.

View bios and learn more about the Rigoletto cast and creative team here >

Cast

IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

THE DUKE OF MANTUA: Galeano Salas
BORSA: Ryan Lustgarten
RIGOLETTO: Aleksey Bogdanov
MARULLO: Erik Nordstrom
COUNT CEPRANO: Andrew Simpson
COUNT MONTERONE: Phillip Lopez
SPARAFUCILE: John Paul Huckle
GILDA: Alisa Jordheim
GIOVANNA: Sable Strout
A MAID OF THE DUCHESS: Madeline Ehlinger
AN OFFICIAL: James Resch
MADDALENA: Michelle Monroe

View bios and learn more about the Rigoletto cast and creative team here >

Director's Note

Jose Maria Condemi

I consider Verdi’s Rigoletto a fascinating study in contrasts and contradictions. First, there is the world of the Duke of Mantua: licentious, decadent and glamorous. The Duke himself presides over feasts of pleasure in which women are treated as sexual objects while his corrupt retinue celebrates his excesses. Rigoletto’s world is in sharp distinction: a sidekick who ostensibly caters to the Duke’s vices but privately leads a simple, disciplined life. He also harbors a secret: Gilda, his young, chaste daughter whom he keeps sheltered from outside influences with almost pathological zeal. At the start of the opera, these two worlds are seemingly disconnected, and Rigoletto appears to inhabit both successfully. But that stasis is in peril as, unbeknownst to Rigoletto, the Duke has already made an overture to Gilda. The delicate balance of the two worlds is thrown into chaos when we come into contact with a third environment: that of Sparafucile, the murderer for-hire with a ruthless dedication to the services he provides.

As for the contradictions, I find them particularly evident in the character of the Duke of Mantua. He is, undoubtedly, a first-rate womanizer who stops at nothing to secure his carnal pleasure. He also seems to lack a moral compass: when Count Monterone accuses him of defiling his daughter, the Duke not only laughs at the elder man but, worse, allows Rigoletto to publicly humiliate him. Yet, when it comes to expressing his newfound feelings for Gilda in his Act 2 aria, the Duke sings with unabashed tenderness and honest pathos. Verdi’s music and Piave’s words are unambiguous here; for a moment, we believe the Duke could be a nice guy! Still, in the last scene, he is back to his usual ways, and it appears the encounter with Gilda and the love he felt have done little to change the Duke’s character.

For our outdoor, abridged production with Central City Opera, I collaborated with scenic designer Steven C. Kemp and costume designer Edina Hiser to imagine an updated, contemporary setting in the form of a single playing space, containing and highlighting the three contrasting worlds at the center of the story. On the same stage we have the posh and decadent milieu of the Duke, the sheltered and idealized home of Gilda and Rigoletto and the gritty and dangerous hideout of Sparafucile and his sister Maddalena. The worlds co-exist in a delicate balance of tension, allowing the characters to move in and out of each space as the story requires, while also propelling them inexorably towards a dramatic conclusion. The contrasts and psychological paradoxes at the center of Rigoletto are the blood of good theater, and as a director, I look forward to spending time exploring Verdi’s thrilling opera this summer.

Dido and Aeneas

COMPOSER - Henry Purcell
LIBRETTO - Nahum Tate

Synopsis

Sprung from epic poetry and myth, Dido and Aeneas is a fascinating tale of power and passion between two formidable rulers and the Sorceress who toys with their fates.

Love between Dido Queen of Carthage and the Trojan hero Aeneas unfolds as tempestuously as the storm that brought them together. Shipwrecked on the shores of Carthage, en route to Troy, Aeneas takes refuge in Dido’s court. Attraction sparks quickly between the two political titans, but Dido is torn between desire and duty. At the advice of her Cupid-ish handmaid, Belinda, Dido finally, ardently agrees to Aeneas’ proposal of marriage.

Just as the city and its queen settle into the bliss of the alliance, a conniving Sorceress rouses literal and political storms over Carthage, attempting to pry lover from lover and ruler from crown. Can humans’ passion weather their thirst for power?

Learn more about Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas here >

Production Credits

CONDUCTOR/CHORUS MASTER/KEYBOARD: Brandon M. Eldredge
DIRECTOR: Dan Wallace Miller
COSTUME DESIGNER: Stacie Logue
WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER: Jason Allen
MUSICAL PREPARATION: Ah Young Kim
STAGE MANAGER: Natalie Main
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS: Olivia L. Darling and Chris Griswold

Learn more about the Dido & Aeneas cast and creative team here >

Cast

IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

DIDO: Pascale Spinney
BELINDA: Laura Corina Sanders
WOMAN: Michelle Monroe
AENEAS: Corey Gaudreau
SORCERESS: Sable Strout
FIRST WITCH: Madeline Ehlinger
SECOND WITCH: Carla Vargas Fuster
SPIRIT: Madison Rice
SAILOR: Kevin Thomas Harvey
CHORUS: Members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program

Learn more about the Dido & Aeneas cast and creative team here >

Director's Note

Dan Wallace Miller

Composer Henry Purcell’s only full-length opera, Dido and Aeneas, is an early operatic masterpiece conceived in broad primary colors. Love strikes hard and fast, enmity flourishes at the simplest provocation, and, before you know it, tragedy erupts where tranquility was a second before.

Before Dido and Aeneas, Purcell was primarily a composer of “theater music,” songs and dances that would be added as supplement to pre-existing plays. These songs were sung by ancillary characters who would channel the thoughts and emotions of the principal performers for these asides. With Dido, Purcell had the opportunity to use his music to directly inhabit and affect a story, a story where emotion is placed paramount and immediate.

Originally written to be performed at a girls’ boarding school, Dido and Aeneas is a story filled with adolescent fervor. Each emotion our lovers feel arises swiftly with the utmost sincerity, accompanied by some of the most moving and delicate music Purcell ever wrote. This angst, however, isn’t a detriment to the piece; it is essential. The tragedy of the opera is not just Dido’s fate, but rather, how rash and ill-considered it is. It’s through this lens that we’re approaching this masterwork at Central City Opera.

We watch as a group of young people spontaneously put on a show to explore their own emotions by performing the emotions of others, and we see the repercussions of play and performance unexpectedly invading reality.

Additional Information

General/Artistic Director’s Letter

PELHAM G. PEARCE, JR.

Our lives were forever impacted in March of 2020. The COVID-19 virus brought our physical connection to the outside world to a screeching halt. Since then, each and every one of us has struggled to communicate and interact both personally and professionally. Ultimately, we’ve found new ways of accomplishing things — shopping, groceries, school…everything.

As a consequence, what we’ve also discovered is that nothing takes the place of human interaction. We yearn for it. And, when we find ways to connect — even separated by 6 feet and covered in protective equipment — we again become joyful.

For me, this has driven home not only what is so incredibly special about live musical storytelling, but, in particular, what makes the Central City Opera House such a unique and wonderful place in which to share it. In our intimate and beautiful space, we gather year after year to experience riveting, transformative, human storytelling up close and personal. It’s a place to be together.

Thank you for your support over this last year. Your generosity and faith in Central City Opera brought an outpouring of donations for our COVID-19 Relief Fund. Gifts of all sizes from donors both new and long-standing helped the 200+ Festival company members who bring Central City Opera to life each summer to safely weather this storm. The financial assistance proved meaningful and life-changing.

Your pledges to our Endowment Campaign secured an enduring future for that undeniable Central City Opera magic. And your kind words of encouragement were a balm for our dedicated, professional staff who worked tirelessly to pivot the organization toward this reimagined, outdoor season.

We continue our work because we must: after all, music is healing. Our lives and souls are enriched by simply being together to experience art. Pandemic or not, we know that the show must go on.

Looking ahead to 2022, our 90th anniversary season, what better time to reenter the Opera House and celebrate great art and the trials we’ve overcome, shoulder to shoulder?

I wish you, and all whom you hold dear, much success as we rebuild our world together.

Board Co-Chairs' Letter

Welcome to Central City Opera’s 2021 Festival!

As many of you have witnessed over the years, Central City Opera’s mission is to “sing extraordinary stories to spark imagination, inspire creativity and open minds to the breadth of human experience.”

That holds this year — a year like no other — as all of us, Central City Opera’s artists, staff members, supporters and patrons have really been put to task. How do we stage and enjoy outstanding, imaginative performances in the midst of a constantly changing world that not only informs, but actually defines and specifies how that mission will be realized?

Every once in a while, going back to one’s roots is a source of inspiration. Especially this year. How do we spark imagination in a new performance environment? How do we do that in a completely different setting, in the open air, outside our beloved 1878 Opera House? In short, it is complicated. But it is also invigorating, thought-provoking and healing in ways we have never experienced before. Thankfully, Central City Opera has 89 years of rich history and experience to draw upon.

Our standards have not wavered; every artistic and logistical detail has been handled with the utmost forethought and care. We invite you to take it all in as we endeavor to inspire creativity and open minds to revel in this beautiful art form. Though we’ve never done it in quite this manner, this is what Central City Opera has done for generations and will continue to do for many more.

We are excited to welcome our patrons back to Central City Opera, live and in-person!

Gregg Kvistad and Anne McGonagle
Co-Chairs, Central City Opera Board of Directors

Additional Information

Learn more about our productions and programs.

2021 Festival Program

Carousel

MUSIC: RICHARD RODGERS
BOOK & LYRICS: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II

Synopsis

Production Credits

Cast

Director's Note

Sponsors

Rigoletto

COMPOSER: GIUSEPPE VERDI
LIBRETTO: Francesco Maria Piave

Synopsis

Production Credits

Cast

Director's Note

Sponsors

Dido and Aeneas

COMPOSER - Henry Purcell
LIBRETTO - Nahum Tate

Synopsis

Production Credits

Cast

Director's Note

Sponsors

Additional Information

General/Artistic Director’s Letter

Board Co-Chairs' Letter

Additional Information

2021 Festival Program

Carousel

MUSIC: RICHARD RODGERS BOOK & LYRICS: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II

Synopsis

Production Credits

Cast

Director's Note

Sponsors

Rigoletto

COMPOSER: GIUSEPPE VERDI LIBRETTO: Francesco Maria Piave

Synopsis

Production Credits

Cast

Director's Note

Sponsors

Dido and Aeneas

COMPOSER - Henry Purcell LIBRETTO - Nahum Tate

Synopsis

Production Credits

Cast

Director's Note

Sponsors

Additional Information

General/Artistic Director’s Letter

Board Co-Chairs' Letter

Additional Information

MUSIC: RICHARD RODGERS
BOOK & LYRICS: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II

COMPOSER: GIUSEPPE VERDI
LIBRETTO: Francesco Maria Piave

COMPOSER - Henry Purcell
LIBRETTO - Nahum Tate