Glimmerglass Festival Premieres BLIZZARD ON MARBLEHEAD NECK, et al.

A Blizzard On Marblehead Neck, Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner's one-act opera, received its world premiere at The Glimmerglass Festival Thursday, July 21.

The new opera is paired with the professional premiere of John Musto and Mark Campbell's Later the Same Evening and runs through August 22 in The Glimmerglass Festival's Alice Busch Opera Theater in Cooperstown, New York.

A Blizzard On Marblehead Neck is inspired by an episode in the life of American playwright Eugene O'Neill. This is the first operatic composition for Jeanine Tesori, who is well-known for her scores on Broadway, including Shrek The Musical and Tony Award-winning Caroline, or Change. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner provided the original libretto; Kushner is acclaimed for his Tony Award-winning play, Angels in America, which was later turned into a mini-series. His other plays include A Bright Room Called Day, Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul and more recently, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures. He wrote the book for Tesori's Caroline, or Change and the screenplays for Mike Nichols's film Angels in America and Steven Spielberg's Munich.

"I am thrilled to be part of the beauty and artistry that is Glimmerglass, continuing my ongoing collaboration with Tony Kushner to write a piece specifically for Francesca Zambello's debut season," Tesori said.

David Pittsinger sings the role of Eugene O'Neill. Pittsinger recently performed the role of Emile de Becque in Lincoln Center's South Pacific. Patricia Schuman sings the role of Carlotta Monterey, Eugene O'Neill's wife. Schuman has performed in many leading opera houses and festivals, including the Met, Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Houston Grand Opera. Glimmerglass Festival Artistic & General Director Francesca Zambello directed A Blizzard On Marblehead Neck. Court Watson designed costumes while Erhard Rom designed the sets in his company debut.

In its professional premiere at Glimmerglass, Later the Same Evening is based on five paintings by American icon Edward Hopper and features an ensemble cast including Patricia Schuman and Jake Gardner. A 45-piece exhibit at The Fenimore Art Museum, located just down the road from Glimmerglass, is entitled A Window Into Edward Hopper and displays the evolution of Hopper's work throughout his lifetime.

This double bill production runs in repertory with three other works: Bizet's Carmen, Cherubini's Medea and Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun. The 2011 Festival runs through August 23. The mainstage productions are supplemented by special performances, concerts, cast and crew question-and-answer sessions and a lecture series. For more information on the 2011 Glimmerglass Festival and performance dates and times, visit www.glimmerglass.org or call the Box Office at (607) 547-2255.

Photo: Julieta Cervantes

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