STREET SCENE at Oklahoma City University

Street Scene, by Kurt Weill and Langston Hughes, to Open Oklahoma City University's Opera Season

An American opera featuring Kurt Weill’s innovative blend of Broadway theater, European tradition, American jazz, and the lyrics of Langston Hughes will open Oklahoma City University’s mainstage season Oct. 3-5. 

Based on Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, Street Scene presents a lyrical, gritty portrait of 24 hours in a Manhattan tenement building after the end of World War II.

The show was awarded the Tony Award for best score after its 1947 Broadway debut.

A cast of 46 and 38-piece orchestra from OCU's Bass School of Music will explore Street Scene's themes of love, jealousy, and the search for happiness in three performances in Kirkpatrick Auditorium. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday matinee. 

Reserve tickets ($20-35, plus tax) from www.okcu.edu/tickets or 405.208.5227.

“This ambitious show is a masterpiece that is seldom performed because of the massive cast with more than 30 named roles, each with their own backstory,” said David Herendeen, OCU’s director of opera and music theater. “We are excited to offer audiences a rare opportunity to experience a significant work of the American stage.”

Matthew Mailman will lead the opera orchestra in numbers ranging from a joyous sextet celebrating ice cream, a wayward wife’s Puccini-esque aria, a boyfriend’s bluesy lament and a Broadway-style jitterbug sequence, with choreography by Michael McCarthy.

“Like darker works — like Sweeney Todd — or lyric expansions of the music theater form — like The Light in the Piazza — Street Scene is different and challenges the audience,” Herendeen said. “There is charm and humor, a wide variety of relationships, but the center of the story is the gossip that is the propellant. Some audience members might be scared away by this intensity, but others will be drawn to it."

A free director’s talk will be held 30 minutes before curtain. 

OCU's 2025-26 season continues Oct. 10-12 with the Oklahoma premiere of Rhondda Rips It Up! 

Inspired by true events, the comic operetta was commissioned by Welsh National Opera in celebration of the unsung heroine of the Welsh Suffrage movement: Margaret Mackworth, the devil-may-care Viscountess Rhondda. The Times of London notes: “The riotous score is a swirling, transparent weave of operetta, cabaret, music hall and jazz... Bursting with irreverent joy.” Tickets: www.okcu.edu/tickets or 405.208.5227. 

The Bass School of Music’s Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Company, the nation’s oldest campus-based troupe, has been honored with 13 National Opera Association production awards, including two in 2025, and repeatedly named to Playbill's honor roll of top schools educating Broadway performers. 

For details, visit www.okcu.edu/music.

THE CAST

Featuring Jared Barbee and Zane Brolin as Frank Maurrant; Kylie Merrill and Lauren Rogers as Anna Maurrant; Gavin Felciano and Ellis Stumbo as Sam Kaplan; Macy Urso and Elina Viana as Rose Maurrant; Alessandro Gucciardi as Lippo Fiorentino; Ella Hayes as Greta Fiorentino; Leigha Trejo as Olga Olsen; Maggie Pfeiffer as Mrs. Jones; Blake Narcisian as Harry Easter; Emma Grace Freeman and Madison Ritter as Jennie Hildebrand/Second Graduate; Ella Thurlow and Emma Grace Freeman (cover) as Mae Jones; Caleb Kezeor and Tyler Hoverson (Cover) as Dick McGann; Caleb Cox as Henry Davis; Ezra Moore as Carl Olsen; Alex Rodriguez as George Jones; Noah Parker as Vincent Jones; Madison Schoening as Mrs. Hildebrand; Parker Ellsworth as Daniel Buchanan; Nick Montgomery as Abraham Kaplan; Eliette Snow as Shirley Kaplan; Caleb Leonard (Cover Olsen/Jones) as Steve Sanky; Abbie Mitchell and Madeline Belcher as Nursemaids; Alyssa Tanti as Third Graduate; Bella Cavaceci and Alayna Grace Watkins as Salvation Army Girls; Marissa Denman and Tyler Hoverson as Married Couple; Presley Harrington as Dr. Wilson; Reid Negron as Officer Murphy; Nate Sarlls as Old-Clothes Man, James Henry, Marshal; Isaac Lynne as Fred Cullen, Assistant Marshal; Dominic Sicola and Larsinius Pollard as Ambulance Drivers; Decoteau Lamb as Policeman; Catherine Schenk as Mary Hildebrand; Haylie Jayn Orr as Grace Davis; and Annalise Avila as Joan. 

THE ORCHESTRA

Violin I: Andrew White, Sydney McLeary, Dylan Hoang, Alaina Brady-Hummingbird, Grant Dominick, Grace Cavett; Violin II: Weston Tweddell, Cassidy Ferguson, Emily Harl, Adan Ruelas-Escobar, Rene Vasquez, Caitlyn Grove. Viola: Dubal Vargas, Grace Clark, Florence Thompson, Autumn Swedlow. Cello: Rivers Wiseman, Jaidan Ursich, Samuel Smith, Adrian Smith. Double Bass: Eli Van Swearingen, Nathan Hobbs. Flute: Breanna McCalla. Oboe: Dakota Coker, Clarinet: Cristan Celis, Matt Tyler, Julia Kahmann. Bassoon: Joseph Quick. Horn: Vincent Vasconcellos, Michael Pulliam. Trumpet: Aaron MacDonald, Seth Seneca. Trombone: Tyler Martindale, MacAiden Hust. Percussion: Noe Cruz, Noah Keifer. Piano/Celeste: Joao Pedro Pena Dutra. Harp: Ryan Batt.

DIRECTION & DESIGN

Dr. David Herendeen, director; Dr. Matthew Mailman, music director; Dr. Taylor Hutchinson, associate music director. Michael McCarthy, choreographer; Lianna Paglia, assistant director; Shelby Moritz, assistant to the director; Sarah Gwatney, Joao Pedro Pena Dutra, conducting assistants; Jessica Seaton, stage manager; Brooke Williams, Lainey Wolf, assistant stage managers; David Pilchman, production manager; Paige Miller, associate production manager; Shannon Richey, state management supervisor; Peyton Rucker, lighting designer; Olive Picard, Nathan McCoy, assistant lighting designers; Tait Truong, production electrician/programmer; Annalise Caudle, head of lighting; Amber Myers, electrics supervisor; Alyssa Couturier-Herndom, head of costumes; Natalie Jacobson, costume designer; Dancie Vieya and Amanie Katin, assistant costume designers; Christina Coufal, cutter/draper; Liz Boyles, costume technician; LeeAnne Metzger, costume shop supervisor; Jason Foreman, scenic designer; Grant Wise, assistant scenic designer; Jacob Henry, head of sound; Josie Mueller, sound designer; Zadri Eliizondo, assistant sound designer; Brian Coleman, technical director; Amanda Schnake, props designer; Angie Easterly, props artisan; Kris Kuss, fight choreographer; Joy Stachmus, intimacy choreographer; Kolt Schnake, associate technical director; Kristina Benson, scenic charge artist; Cayson Evans, scenic artist; Shelby Moritz, Emily Broadbent, Zenon Hendrix, young performer supervisors.

Authors

• Elmer Rice
• Kurt Weill
• Langston Hughes