Opera San José Presents Lavish CINDERELLA Next Month
Performances run November 12-27, 2022.
Opera San José, in association with the Packard Humanities Institute, will host the international operatic conducting debut of prodigy composer/musician Alma Deutscher, who will take the podium for a lavish production of her landmark opera, Cinderella. Based on the classic fairytale, this family-friendly work is reset at an opera company run by a scheming stepmother, in which the title character is a brilliant composer laboring as a lowly copyist.
In this production, Cinderella is united with her prince not because a glass slipper fits, but with the beginning of a melody only she knows how to continue. In 2017, California Theatre audiences watched the sold-out American premiere of the already internationally acclaimed Cinderella by the then 13-year-old composer, in a production supported by the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI).
Opera San José and PHI again join forces to welcome Deutscher back, with the now 17-year-old taking the baton in this pivotal moment in her career. Director Brad Dalton will return to revive his stunning original production. Opera San José will be presenting a Cinderella Family Day* for the performance 2:00pm, Saturday, November 19, for which children's tickets are "Pay Their Age." Casting includes Natalia Santaliz as Cinderella, Joey Hammod-Leppek as The Prince, Ben Brady as The King, Stacey Tappan as Griselda, Julia Dawson as Zibaldona, Rena Harms as The Stepmother, Megan Esther Grey as Fairy, and Lance LaShelle as The Minister.
Cinderella will be sung in English, with English supertitles, with performances from November 12-27, 2022 (dates/times below) at the California Theatre, 345 South 1st Street, San Jose. For more information or to purchase tickets* ($55-$195), the public can visit operasj.org or call (408) 437-4450 (open Monday through Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm). *Must be purchased in advance online, one adult ticket must accompany the order and children's tickets are "Pay Their Age" (minimum $5).
Alma Deutscher composed a first version of her opera Cinderella in 2015, and made successive revisions of it in the following years - in 2016 for the Vienna premiere, in 2017 for the US premiere (at Opera San José), and finally in 2020, for a new production at the Salzburg State Theatre. Critics have applauded Deutscher for writing an "opera of astounding wit, craft, and musical beauty" (The New Criterion), highlighting this moment in her career as "a young talent's sensational burst to prominence" (Opera Today). Says OperaWire, "Deutscher is a genius to behold. In a time of doubt and suspicion, hate and war-mongering, to find a voice as original and as uplifting as Alma Deutscher's is more than a gift - it is hope." The recent Salzburg State Theatre production was called a "feast for the eyes and ears" by Orpheus Magazine. "Cinderella is exhilarating, enchanting, moving, and spiced with finely ground comedy, and it was deservedly honored with a standing ovation at the end."
The creative team for this lavish production includes Alma Deutscher (Conductor), Brad Dalton (Director), Richard Powers (Choreographer), Steven C. Kemp (Scenic Designer), David Cuthbert (Lighting Designer), Johann Stegmeier (Costume Design), Y. Sharon Peng (Wig Designer), Sophia Smith (Makeup Designer, Assistant Hair Designer), Andrew Whitfield (Conductor 11/26 and Chorus Master), and Jolie O'Dell (Assistant Director).
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