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Midsummer Dream Fairies & Fables, Pauline Viardot García’s whimsical opera *The Last Sorcerer, Plus show poster

Midsummer Dream Fairies & Fables, Pauline Viardot García’s whimsical opera *The Last Sorcerer", Plus at The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

Dates: 7/17/2025 - 7/18/2025

📍 Theatre:
The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

Bellissima Opera
178 Forest Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60301

Tickets: $15-$60

Buy Tickets

Enchantment at 19th Century Club Oak Park. Delight in Chicago-premiere of Pauline Viardot García’s whimsical opera *The Last Sorcerer* (Le dernier sorcier) and highlights from Benjamin Britten’s *A Midsummer Night’s Dream"

Presented by Bellissima Opera. Co-produced by Working In Concert and Chamber Opera Chicago

* * *

A cast of 18 professionals and 16 young people transform into fairies, elves and sorcerers on July 17 & 18, 2025 at Oak Park’s 19th Century Club. 

The evening features the Chicago premiere of The Last Sorcerer by rediscovered Romantic French composer Pauline Viardot Garcia (libretto by Ivan Turgenev), alongside highlights from Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and other magical works.

Performances are in English and French with English supertitles.

Though now largely unfamiliar to the public, composer Viardot Garcia hailed from one of Europe’s most renowned musical families. Her father, Manuel Garcia, was a famed vocal teacher, and her sister, Maria Malibran, an opera star. Viardot Garcia inspired Gounod, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, and Saint-Saëns—who dedicated Samson and Delilah to her—and composed five operas, piano works, and numerous songs.

The Last Sorcerer tells of a once-powerful sorcerer bested by clever forest fairies and elves. When his daughter falls for a visiting suitor, he resists—until the suitor’s true identity is revealed. The music is ethereal, moving, comic, and always melodic.

Director Carl Ratner (Chicago), former Artistic Director of Chicago Opera Theater, directs The Last Sorcerer and Christine Steyer (Oak Park), Artistic Director of Bellissima Opera, directs the remaining works. With Paul Geiger and Claudia Hommel, narrators, Nina Brewer-Davis, choreographer, Paul Lindblad, conductor, and Peter Stigdon, pianist.

Thursday, July 17 & Friday, July 18, 2025 — 7:30-9:30pm

19th Century Club, 178 Forest Ave, Oak Park, Illinois

Low-cost parking lot next to venue. Venue is mobility accessible. Appropriate for ages 7+.

Last year’s summer production was sold out. Advanced tickets are advised. Tickets range from $10-$60. https://workinginconcert.org/summeropera25/

ADULT CAST: Elizabeth Fisher, Barbara Landis, Simon Kyung Lee, Maria Molter, Carl Ratner, Christine Steyer, Lauren Sutherland and Aaron Wardell. 

ADULT ENSEMBLE: Hannah Cummins, Jasmine Doll, Miranda Flanagan, Judy Gaietto-Grace, Hannah Kennedy, Kelci Kosin, Lauren Lassen, Kunying Li, Norah Lougachi and Katie Rub-Villegas.

YOUTH CAST: Yzabella, Jasiel, Mack, Islay, Esmeralda, Lorena, Caleb, Ava, Shiloh, Gigi, Lucas, Marty, Xoaquin, Vick, Erin and Clara.

#meetopera #workinginconcert #livemusic #fairies #nature #opera #performance

Cast and Creative Team for Midsummer Dream Fairies & Fables, Pauline Viardot García’s whimsical opera *The Last Sorcerer", Plus at The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

Cast

Carl Ratner
Stage Director and Perlimpinpin
Carl Ratner began his career assisting directors at the world’s major opera houses, including Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Munich Opera, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, among others. He served as Artistic Director of Chicago Opera Theater from 1994-1999, and of Chamber Opera Chicago from 1985-1993. An accomplished baritone, he has portrayed the title roles in Verdi’s Falstaff, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, as well as Papageno in The Magic Flute and John Proctor in The Crucible and the leading baritone roles in Madama Butterfly and Turandot. A frequent soloist in oratorio and recital, he has performed Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and many other concert works. He has sung in 14 languages and has performed in 7 countries, 10 states, and the District of Columbia. He created the role of Oxóssi in the world premiere of Future Perfect and directed and created the role of the Lebanon Health Care Worker in the world premiere of On Call: COVID-10 for Bellissima Opera. He recently directed Verdi’s La Traviata and performed the role of the Doctor for South Bend Lyric Opera. He studied at Oberlin, Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern, Juilliard, and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in Russia through a Fulbright grant. He retired from his position as Co-chair of Voice and Director of Opera at Western Michigan University in 2023.
Claudia Hommel
Narrator
Executive director and treasurer of Working In Concert, Claudia directs the Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion, SongShop workshops and concert productions. Claudia received her Master’s in Library Science from Wayne State University and founded the archives of the Detroit Institute of Arts prior to pursuing a full-time career on stage, first in New York City, then Chicago. Actor-singer, teacher, cabaret promoter, Claudia brings her personal connections and passions to Working In Concert. Her recordings of Paris/Paree, Paris in the Jazz Age, Romance Language: French Songs for Lovers, and the two Jazz Fauré Project albums are a reflection of her Paris-centric repertoire. The Vocal Canvas concerts bring projections to the recital stage to “hear the painting and see the song”. She is on faculty at the Community Music Division of DePaul University School of Music with SongShop, her ongoing class in song interpretation. She initiated the founding of Chicago Cabaret Professionals in 1997 and is a coordinator for the annual Chicago Cabaret Week, launched in 2022. In 2024, she was presented La Renaissance Française Médaille d’Or pour les valeurs francophones (Gold Medal for francophone values) by the French Consul Général Cédrik Fouriscot in New York. https://www.cabaret-paree.com/
Paul Geiger
Narrator
Nina Brewer-Davis
Choreographer
Peter Stigdon
Pianist
Paul Lindblad
Conductor
Elizabeth Fisher
Stella and Titania
Maria Molter
Leio and Oberon
Christine Steyer
Queen
Christine Steyer, soprano, has distinguished herself as an artist of great versatility. The 2020 recipient of The American Prize for outstanding contributions to the arts, and winner of the Johnny Mercer Award, Steyer has received acclaim for her portrayals of the title role in Madama Butterfly and Violetta in La Traviata. Since 2000, she has sung in 40 productions at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Steyer is an avid recitalist specializing in contemporary works by women lyricists and composers. Prior to the pandemic, she sang at the Schubert Festival at Unity Temple sharing the stage with Lawrence Brownlee, members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestras, and was featured on WFMT’s program Music Notes: Music of Healing and Peace. In 2019 Steyer sang in France with Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion at the Montpellier Opera House, Paris’ Salle Olympe de Gouges and the Lapin Agile. She and French composer, Jean-Claude Orfali, are writing a book of original cabaret songs to release in 2023. In April 2021, Steyer premiered the role of the Rio de Janeiro Health Care Worker in the opera On Call: COVID-19 and in 2022, premiered the role of Flanna in the opera Future Perfect–a tale of curiosity. Additionally, Steyer served as librettist for these two operas (composed by David Shenton) which are part of Bellissima Opera’s Award-Winning Tales of Transcendence. Steyer is President of Working In Concert and Artistic Director of its Bellissima Opera initiative, an organization founded by Steyer in 2008. Bellissima’s In the Classroom, has brought classical music to 24,000 youths in under-served areas throughout the Chicago area. She teaches voice privately in Oak Park, is a member of the voice faculty at Concordia University in River Forest, and music instructor for Ascension Catholic School in Oak Park, sharing her deep love of music with a new generation of young people.
Lauren Sutherland
Verveine
Aaron Wardell
Krakamiche
Hannah Cummins
Ensemble
Jasmine Doll
Ensemble
Miranda Flanagan
Ensemble
Judy Gaietto-Grace
Ensemble
Hannah Kennedy
Ensemble
Kelci Kosin
Ensemble
Lauren Lassen
Ensemble
Kunying Li
Ensemble
Norah Lougachi
Ensemble
Katie Rub-Villegas
Ensemble

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The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

178 Forest Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60301

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