Heartbeat Opera's MANON! Extends Run at Irondale in Brooklyn

New York's  Heartbeat Opera has announced an extension of the run of MANON!, a musical theater revamp of the iconic story of love, glamour, and reinvention. Five performances have been added, with a total run of fourteen performances: January 28 - February 15.

Heartbeat takes a radically new approach to Massenet's 1884 French opera, envisioning it as a musical sung entirely in English and with no supertitles. The saucy production is directed by Obie Award-winning director Rory Pelsue (NYT Critic’s Pick The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse, Pulitzer Prize finalist Circle Jerk) and is adapted by Pelsue and Heartbeat's Artistic Director Jacob Ashworth. Heartbeat's Music Director Dan Schlosberg, known for his "ingenious" arrangements of the classics (The Wall Street Journal), channels Rodgers and Hammerstein in his luscious new arrangements, and conducts from the keyboard for the first time since Lady M in 2023. Choreography is by Sara Gettelfinger (Broadway's Water for Elephants, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), while a glittering cast of opera-savvy Broadway voices bring an entirely new sound to Heartbeat Opera. 

MANON! follows Manon as she is rescued from her fate in a convent and finds herself pulled between two suitors: Power and True Love. Opera's original "it-girl," she deftly invents and reinvents herself throughout the work, transforming her circumstances even when the stakes turn deadly. 

CAST:

Manon - Emma Grimsley
Chevalier Des Grieux - Matt Dengler
Guillot - Glenn Seven Allen
Lescaut - Jamari Darling
Count Des Grieux - Justin Lee Miller
Pousette - Kathryn McCreary
Javotte - Natalie Walker

CREATIVE TEAM:

Music by Jules Massenet
Original Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille
Adapted with new English book and lyrics by Jacob Ashworth and Rory Pelsue
Newly Arranged by Dan Schlosberg

Directed by Rory Pelsue
Music Directed by Dan Schlosberg
Scenic Designer Alexander Woodward
Costume Designer David Mitsch
Lighting Designer Yichen Zhou
Sound Designer Ryan Gamblin
Choreography Sara Gettelfinger
Dramaturg Peregrine Teng Heard
Props Designer Madisen Frazier
Stage Manager Brenna Comeau
Producer Josh Luxenberg
Production Manager Daria Walcott

BAND:

Oboe/English Horn Pablo O'Connell
Bassoon Atao Liu
Horn Nicolee Kuester
Harp Deanna Cirielli
Violin Julia Danitz
Cello Thapelo Masita
Bass Eleonore Oppenheim
Conductor/Keyboard Dan Schlosberg