Des Moines Metro Opera Unveils Updated Cast For 2025 Festival Season

Des Moines Metro Opera has revealed updated casting for the company's 2025 Festival Season. The season runs June 27 through July 20 and features the return of Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, a new production and company premiere of Leoš Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen and a new production of Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress.

“Des Moines Metro Opera has made it a hallmark of our programming to present fascinating works in provocative combinations,” said Egel. “The 2025 Festival Season builds on that tradition in especially remarkable ways. We've found a niche in championing masterpieces of the first half of the 20th century, presented in imaginative new productions with extraordinary casts. The pairing of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen—both fables and cautionary tales—alongside Wagner's epic fantasy The Flying Dutchman creates a vibrant and compelling juxtaposition. The opportunity to see all three operas in a single weekend has inspired another year of record-breaking subscription sales. I look forward to welcoming audiences from both around the world and right down the street. This company is on a roll, and I invite new attendees to discover for themselves what the buzz is all about.”
 

2025 Casting Highlights

The season welcomes several major artists in their DMMO mainstage debuts:

• The Flying Dutchman: Baritone Ryan McKinny as the Dutchman and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Sanchez as Mary.
• The Cunning Little Vixen: Soprano Hera Hyesang Park as the Vixen, baritone Roland Wood as Forester, tenor David Cangelosi as Schoolmaster/Mosquito and bass-baritone Craig Colclough as Parson/Badger.
• The Rake's Progress: Soprano Joélle Harvey as Anne Trulove, bass-baritone Sam Carl as Nick Shadow, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux as Baba the Turk and contralto Meredith Arwady as Mother Goose.

New mainstage creative debuts include Joshua Borths (stage director, The Flying Dutchman), Christopher Allen (conductor, The Rake's Progress), Robert Perdziola (scenic and Costume Designer, The Rake's Progress), Ian Wallace (projection designer, The Flying Dutchman), and Nora Winsler (choreographer, The Flying Dutchman).

Notable returning artists include:

• The Flying Dutchman: Soprano Julie Adams as Senta, tenor Joseph Dennis as Erik, and bass-baritone Kristopher Irmiter as Daland.
• The Cunning Little Vixen: Mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce as the Fox and mezzo-soprano Jill Grove as Forester's Wife.
• The Rake's Progress: Tenor Jonas Hacker as Tom Rakewell, bass Matt Boehler as Father Trulove and tenor Christian Sanders as Sellem.

DMMO's Marshall and Judy Flapan Music Director and Principal Conductor David Neely returns to lead The Flying Dutchman and The Cunning Little Vixen, while DMMO Artistic Partners Kristine McIntyre and Chas Rader-Shieber direct The Cunning Little Vixen and The Rake's Progress, respectively. The Irene Graether Chorus Director and Director of the Apprentice Artist Program, Lisa Hasson, returns as Chorus Director for all three productions.

The season also sees the return of key designers and choreographers: Steven C. Kemp (scenic design, The Flying Dutchman), Luke Cantarella (scenic design, The Cunning Little Vixen), Oyoram (visual composer, The Cunning Little Vixen), Vita Tzykun (costume design, The Cunning Little Vixen), Kate Ashton (lighting design, The Flying Dutchman and The Cunning Little Vixen), Connie Yun (lighting design, The Rake's Progress), Brittany V.A. Rappise (wig/makeup design, The Flying Dutchman, The Cunning Little Vixen, The Rake's Progress) Lisa Thurrell (choreographer, The Cunning Little Vixen) and Isaac Martin Lerner (choreographer, The Rake's Progress).
 

2025 Festival Season Information

All three productions will be presented in rotating repertory in the intimate 467-seat Pote Theatre at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola, Iowa. Each opera features English supertitles projected above the stage. The Des Moines Metro Opera Festival Orchestra, made up of professional musicians from across the country, will perform for all three productions.

Subscription packages and individual tickets are available now. Full production and ticket information is available by visiting www.desmoinesmetroopera.org/2025season or by calling Des Moines Metro Opera's box office at (515) 209-3257.

[Full casting, performance dates, and production credits for each opera follow]:  

* Denotes mainstage debut
† Denotes former DMMO Apprentice Artist
‡ Denotes current DMMO Apprentice Artist
 

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN

Music and libretto by Richard Wagner
Premiered: January 2, 1843, at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden

Seven performances: June 27, June 29, July 4, July 12, July 15, July 17, July 20

Performed in German with projected English translations

Previous DMMO production: 1987

PRODUCTION
Conductor: David Neely
Stage Director: Joshua Borths *

Scenic Design: Steven C. Kemp
Costume Design: Erik Teague for The Glimmerglass Festival

Lighting Design: Kate Ashton
Projection Design: Ian Wallace *

Wig and Makeup Design: Brittany V.A. Rappise

Chorus Director: Lisa Hasson

Choreographer: Nora Winsler *

Production owned by Opera San José
Scenery and props originally designed and created by Opera San José

CAST
The Dutchman: Ryan McKinny *

Senta: Julie Adams

Erik: Joseph Dennis

Daland: Kristopher Irmiter

Mary: Stephanie Sanchez *

From its stormy overture to climactic finale, Wagner's The Flying Dutchman lures you into its mysterious depths. The Dutchman, a ghostly sailor, is condemned to wander the waves
for eternity. But every seventh year he disembarks to find a bride who can break his curse. In a small Norwegian fishing village, he fatefully encounters Senta, a young woman who is obsessed with the Dutchman's legend. Can the power of love break the curse? How much must we sacrifice to bring about salvation?

THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN

Music and libretto by Leoš Janáček
Premiered: November 6, 1924 at The National Theatre Brno

Five performances: June 28, July 6, July 8, July 11, July 19

Sung in Czech with projected English translations

Company premiere

PRODUCTION
Conductor: David Neely
Stage Director: Kristine McIntyre

Visual Composer: Oyoram

Scenic Design: Luke Cantarella
Costume Design: Vita Tzykun

Lighting Design: Kate Ashton

Wig and Makeup Design: Brittany V.A. Rappise

Chorus Director: Lisa Hasson

Choreographer: Lisa Thurrell

CAST
The Vixen: Hera Hyesang Park *

Forester: Roland Wood *

The Fox: Sun-Ly Pierce

Schoolmaster/Mosquito: David Cangelosi *

Parson/Badger: Craig Colclough *

Forester's Wife: Jill Grove

The Owl: Stephanie Sanchez *
Harašta: Ben Strong ‡*

Lapák: Audrey Welsh ‡

Mrs. Páskova: Saane Aziza Halaholo ‡*

Pásek: Shawn Roth ‡

Rooster: Joyner Horn ‡*

Chocholka: Paulina Swierczek ‡*
Grasshopper: Lucy Evans ‡*

Cricket: Cayenne Teeter ‡*

Jay: Léa Nayak ‡*

Dragonfly: Miye Bishop *

The tale of a quick-witted fox and her escape from confinement for a life in the forest is by turns joyful, witty, romantic and tragic. The Cunning Little Vixen follows the cycle of death and rebirth through the instinctive and immediate world of nature—animal and human, which Janáček loved so dearly. In this celebrated score, singers and orchestra embody the sounds of the forest, the feel of sunshine on your face and the thrill of a starlit sky. Bursting with boundless invention, imaginative colors and a memorable cast of creatures, director Kristine McIntyre, visual composer Oyoram and maestro David Neely reunite after their triumphant production of Bluebeard's Castle to bring the vixen's natural world to life.

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS

Music by Igor Stravinsky
Libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman
Premiered: September 11, 1951 at the Teatre La Fenice, Venice

Four performances: July 5, July 10, July 13, July 18

Sung in English with projected English supertitles

Previous DMMO productions: 1975, 2006

PRODUCTION
Conductor: Christopher Allen *
Stage Director: Chas Rader-Shieber

Scenic and Costume Design: Robert Perdziola *

Lighting Design: Connie Yun

Wig and Makeup Design: Brittany V.A. Rappise

Chorus Director: Lisa Hasson

Choreographer: Isaac Martin Lerner

CAST
Tom Rakewell: Jonas Hacker

Anne Trulove: Joélle Harvey *

Nick Shadow: Sam Carl *

Baba the Turk: Vivica Genaux *

Father Trulove: Matt Boehler †

Sellem: Christian Sanders †
Mother Goose: Meredith Arwady *