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Welcome to Houston Grand Opera’s first-ever Family Day— and double-welcome if you’re a student and this is your first opera! If you like stories, and you like music, you have come to the right place. That is what today is all about.
I am going to go wild and make a big guess. I bet you’ve seen at least one other version of Cinderella already. FYI, I too love the Disney classic (as does my 7-year-old daughter)! But the Cinderella we’re seeing today is an opera by an Italian composer from all the way back in the 1800s: Gioachino Rossini. There are a few differences, but it’s the same story of a sweet young lady, full of goodness, who finds her prince.
I think you’re going to love it, but if you’re feeling a little unsure, that’s fair. My advice to anyone new to opera is not to worry so much about the details, such as whether you’re getting every word of every song. That can be hard to do, even if the artists are singing in English as they will today. Instead, just relax and enjoy.
Here’s something interesting: if you joined us for The Sound of Music this spring, then you already know the artist who’s directing Family Day Presents: Cinderella The famous mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard—who made a fantastic Maria in the musical—is directing
an opera today for the first time in her entire life. And you’ll be here in the theater to see it. She'll also be the narrator of the show!
Maybe you’ll make a discovery today. Maybe you’ll feel some big feelings, like joy, sadness, or laughter. Maybe you’ll want to hear operatic voices again. If so, you’re invited to join us again on December 14, when HGO presents Carols on the Green, a fun night of holiday classics, opera, mariachi, and more, at downtown’s Discovery Green park. Tell your parents. Bring a friend. And take it from me: once the opera bug bites you, there’s no going back.
Khori Dastoor
General Director and CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
Fairbanks Branch Library
Sing! Move! Play!
Nov. 12 at 11:30 a.m.
Atascocita Branch Library Sing! Move! Play!
Nov. 16 at 2:30 p.m.
Northwest Branch Library Sing! Move! Play!
Nov. 19 at 10:30 a.m.
Evelyn Meador Branch Library
Storybook Opera: The Snowy Day Nov. 20 at 11 a.m.
Octavia Fields Branch Library
Storybook Opera: Agua/Agüita and Fuego/Fueguito Nov. 22 at 2 p.m.
Barbara Bush Branch Library
Storybook Opera: The Snowy Day
Dec. 4 at 11:15 a.m.
Atascocita Branch Library
Storybook Opera: The Snowy Day
Dec. 7 at 2:30 p.m.
Katherine Tyra Branch Library
Storybook Opera: The Snowy Day Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
Opera Cues is published by Houston Grand Opera Association; all rights reserved. Opera Cues is produced under the direction of Chief Marketing and Experiences Officer Jennifer Davenport and Director of Communications Catherine Matusow, by Houston Grand Opera’s Audiences Department.
Editor Catherine Matusow
Designers
Chelsea Crouse
Rita Jia
Contributors
Joe Cadagin
Khori Dastoor
Amber Francis
Advertising Matt Ross/Ventures Marketing 713-417-6857
For information on all Houston Grand Opera productions and events, or for a complimentary season brochure, please email the Customer Care Center at CustomerCare@HGO.org or telephone 713-228-6737.
Houston Grand Opera is a member of OPERA America, Inc., and the Theater District Association, Inc.
By Amber Francis, Communications Coordinator
WORD SEARCH ANSWER
KEY: ball Angelina Don Magnifico bracelets disguise Cinderella rats gown prince stepsisters Alidoro true love wicked stepfather Dandini
NEW TO THE ART FORM, AND CURIOUS?
WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED:
Ahem…what exactly is opera?
A story told through vocal and instrumental music. The word “opera” is actually Italian for “work”!
Where did opera come from?
Opera began in Florence, Italy, in the 16th century, as a way to share ancient Greek stories.
Who is it for?
At first, opera was only for the nobility. But it soon expanded in popularity, and public opera houses started going up around Italy. Today there are opera houses all over the world—and opera is for everyone!
What kind of stories do operas tell?
In the 18th century, opera seria (serious opera) was popular, but it wasn’t long before opera buffa (lighthearted and comedic opera) arrived. These days just about any good story can become an opera. HGO has presented 76 new operas, and counting, sharing both classic and modern tales!
Someone always dies in opera…right?
Wrong! Yes, there are genres where that’s true. But opera can be everything from comedic to romantic, horrific, gory, scary, and adventurous.
And all opera singers wear horns and blonde braids?
Only sometimes. Singers in German operas like Wagner’s The Valkyries, which features characters from Norse mythology, wear them in traditional productions. But contemporary productions (including German ones!) include every possible variety of costume, just like TV shows, films, and musicals.
Opera’s in Italian, and I won’t understand it. Are you sure it’s for me?
100 percent sure! The art form was born in Italy 400 years ago, but since then, operas have been written in not only Italian, but also in French, German, Czech, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, English, and many more languages. Today’s productions always include translations on the screen above the stage, but even without them, the sound of the instruments and voices alone have the power to convey universal human emotion.
Isabel Leonard, star of Cinderella and director of HGO’s first Family Day production, on her relationship with opera.
By Khori Dastoor, General Director & CEO
When I reach the great mezzosoprano Isabel Leonard for our interview ahead of her third starring role at HGO, I decide to ask her right away: what is your opera love story? Her response, while unexpectedly frank, is not surprising. “I have, over these years now, asked myself that question too, because to be brutally honest, I have a love-hate relationship with opera. And I would suspect and hope that I’m not the only one.”
What Isabel loves: beautiful music. Big love stories. Singing. Dancing. Working with children. “Coming into the theater to be a part of other worlds and other stories,” she says. “You can transport the audience— and, hopefully, yourself—giving those on and off the stage the ability to experience new stories, old stories, delve into them, make discoveries.”
What she doesn’t love: time away from her son. Mistreatment of young artists who don’t know how to advocate for themselves. “Excellence through fear and browbeating,” she says. “The older I get, the less I agree with it.”
As she suspects and hopes, Isabel is indeed far from the first to look back on her life, career, and industry and reevaluate some things. In fact, she is part of a wave of change that represents an incredible opportunity. By channeling her hard-won wisdom into her own artistry, as well as that of the next generation, Isabel is coming into her power.
I tell Isabel that it feels as if Houston has its own love story, with her. Given the intimate and intense relationship she’s established with HGO’s audience, it’s difficult to believe that she made her stunning company premiere, as Charlotte in Werther, less than two years ago. This spring, when she returned to take the stage as Maria in The Sound of Music, HGO felt like her home company.
That production not only captured Houstonians’ hearts—it became the talk of the entire opera world. I’m curious to know what, in Isabel’s view, made HGO’s The Sound of Music so special. “The kids had a lot to do with it, obviously,” she says. “They were so great, and there was just something so wonderful about having them in that space, because they represented what I think theater should be all the time: the unabashed testing of the waters and getting into your character.” Also, being on set was fun. There was room to play. “The kids in our show were not afraid,” she says. “And I think everyone was really generous with each other. We were all there to tell a story.”
I ask Isabel about her interpretation of Cinderella’s Angelina, a vocally demanding role for which she has won rapturous acclaim. Her response is revealing: “As a character, she is challenging. It’s one of those roles where you just go, she’s good all the time? (laughs) I think that in the stagings of these operas, we can miss the core of it. It isn’t necessarily, hey, you have to behave sweetly all the time, or shrink in the face of abuse. It’s that she knows that none of what’s going on is against her personally.
“She happens to be, sadly, a victim of abuse for quite a period. But her inner light is apparent. The prince sees it and falls in love with her. And I think that’s where we see the story. That’s where we understand her. It’s not an accident.”
Isabel, it occurs to me, is speaking like a director. I can just see her standing off the stage during rehearsal, helping performers unlock what’s really going on— which is thrilling, because that’s exactly what she will soon be doing at HGO. In addition to starring in our mainstage production, Isabel will serve as director of this fall’s Family Day Presents: Cinderella
The English-language, family-friendly show, a 90-minute version of the full opera, is not only the first of its kind for HGO, but it will also mark Isabel’s directorial debut. And wonderfully, she already knows what kind of director she wants to be. “After being on the other side of it for so long,” she says, “I’d love to be able to watch and see what people have in them, try to teach and coach it out of them, and create an environment where they feel really, really, really safe to make choices and take risks.”
It's easy to draw a through-line from the beginning of Isabel’s career to this moment. From the start, she has made it a priority to visit local choirs in the cities she visits, give masterclasses, and connect with young people. Along the way, she became a mother herself. So she has a special understanding of how attending a performance like Family Day Presents: Cinderella can change someone’s life.
“I have heard so many times from people that their love for opera started when they were a kid,” she says. “The only way to build your audience base is to remember all of the generations that you have to pay attention to. You can’t ignore kids and young people, and then expect them to be interested in the art form later. Most of the time, it’s, I went with my family as a child, and I fell in love with it. And how could you not?”
It tells the same story we know and love, but Rossini’s Cinderella, with its libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, does have a few twists. Read on to get to know all the players, as represented by a selection of colorful costume sketches from Joan Guillén, the set and costume designer for this production:
She’s a charming beauty in a shabby dress—also known as Cinderella, because she’s always covered in cinders—but in Rossini’s opera, her character's given name is Angelina. Put to work in her own household, Angelina serves as maid to her two stepsisters. Despite being treated poorly, she is goodness personified, prizing kindness above all else, quick to forgive others, and always ready to help another in need. But that doesn’t stop her from liking a good party: like her stepsisters, she’s dying to go to the prince’s party.
In most retellings of the story, our heroine has a wicked stepmother. In this one, the wine-swilling, down-on-his-luck baron Don Magnifico, Angelina’s stepfather, steps into that role. He orders Angelina around, tries to stand in the way of her attending the ball, and schemes to secure a royal marriage for one of his biological daughters, Clorinda and Tisbe. But Magnifico is more a buffoon than anything, constantly getting tricked, making it tough to truly despise him.
There’s no magic-wielding Fairy Godmother in Rossini’s opera either. Instead, there’s Alidoro, the court philosopher and tutor to Prince Ramiro, who observes Angelina’s goodness (and her stepsisters’ rottenness) when he visits their home on the prince’s behalf, disguised as a beggar. Magic or no, Alidoro’s an excellent ally, whisking Angelina off to the ball—and working behind the scenes to ensure she gets her happy ending.
Don Magnifico’s eldest daughter, Tisbe, competes with her sister Clorinda for Prince Ramiro’s affections. Of course, the two are actually flirting with the valet-in-disguise, Dandini—who soon falls in love with Angelina himself!
Prince Ramiro’s valet, Dandini, is delighted by the chance to impersonate the prince. At the ball, he tests the true character of Don Magnifico’s daughters and helps the prince find his true love.
Like Tisbe and Don Magnifico, the younger stepsister, Clorinda, is unkind to Angelina. Clorinda tries to make her case to the “prince,” explaining to Dandini that she should be selected because she’s younger so will die later and, also, doesn’t wear rouge. But the real prince has eyes for another…
All these disguises have been put in place so that the handsome Prince Ramiro—seeking to be loved for himself, not his noble position—can find a suitable bride. Ramiro, too, impersonates someone else, pretending to be his valet to observe how he’s treated in a servant role. From the start, he’s mesmerized by the sweet, kind Angelina, but thanks to her family’s deception, doesn’t know her identity. At the ball, instead of leaving a slipper, Angelina gives Ramiro one of her bracelets, telling him that when he finds the matching one, he’ll find her.
There are no rats in Rossini’s opera, but, perhaps inspired by the Disney film, the creator of this production, Joan Font, has added them. The rats are supernumeraries, or extras with no lines to speak or sing, and they surround Angelina, adding to the comedy of the story and supporting our soon-to-be princess until she gets her prince and, at opera’s end, reminds us all of the healing power of forgiveness.
Eek! Is that a rat?! In our production of Rossini’s Cinderella, the lonely heroine befriends a posse of sharp-snouted rodents that have infested her stepfamily’s dilapidated mansion. The rats are played by a group of “supernumeraries,” the opera-biz term for silent onstage actors. They aren’t chorus members, since they don’t sing (or speak, for that matter). Typically, supernumeraries—or “supers,” for short— are cast in the kind of parts assigned to extras in old Hollywood epics: the spear-carriers or townsfolk who fill out crowd scenes.
In Cinderella, however, the supernumeraries have a more hands-on—or rather, pawson—role. They’re not in the original opera by Rossini. Rather, they were added by Spanish director Joan Font, creator of the original production, who drew inspiration from his work in street theater. The rats have a similar function to the mice you’ve seen in other retellings of the fairytale. They keep Cinderella company by the fireplace and later serve as a team of footmen, transporting her to the ball in a chest of drawers.
Choreographer Xevi Dorca created a special “rat attitude” for the supernumeraries—a set
of movements and gestures inspired by real rodent behavior.
Why rats and not mice? “Because they are big, basically,” explains Dorca, “They are so big.” In other words, it’s a lot easier to believe an adult supernumerary is a rat than a teeny, little mouse. —Joe Cadagin
GUARANTORS
Judy and Richard Agee
GRAND UNDERWRITERS
Jennifer and Benjamin Fink
UNDERWRITERS
The Elkins Foundation
Renee Margolin
Helen Wils and Leonard Goldstein
SPONSORS
Rebecca and Brian Duncan
Bryant Lee
Michele Malloy
Samuels Family Foundation
Torras Foundation
CONTENT ADVISORY
This production contains thunder sound effects and strobe light effects (7 minutes into Act II)
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
NARRATION AND DIALOGUE BY Isabel
A Co-Production of Houston Grand Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Welsh National Opera, and Grand Théâtre de Genève
Sung in English with projected English text Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
The performance lasts approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, including one intermission.
The activities of Houston Grand Opera are supported in part by funds provided by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Rossini’s Cinderella more-or-less follows the traditional fairytale as you’ve heard it retold in storybooks and cartoons—but with a few big changes:
Cinderella’s stepfather, the pompous Don Magnifico, is an example of a clownish operatic role known as a basso buffo
BUMBLING STEPFATHER
Rossini only had three weeks to write the music for Cinderella! But he had a box of musical tools to help hurry along the process. Listen for his favorite techniques, which give his score its crazy energy:
Stuck on a single note, a singer recites a tongue-twister text at breakneck speed. Listen to the stepsisters drive Cinderella dizzy with their super-fast patter commands:
MICE VS. RATS ALIDORO
Jaq and Gus from Disney’s version have been replaced by a posse of big fat rats!
But they’re just as helpful to Cinderella, carrying her off to the palace in a chest of drawers that acts as her coach.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
There’s no Fairy Godmother with “bibbidi-bobbidiboo” spells. Instead, the prince’s tutor Alidoro comes to Cinderella’s aid.
When the opera was written, in 1817, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to show her bare foot onstage. So Cinderella leaves behind a bracelet instead of a glass slipper.
Rossini’s opera has an all-male chorus, so there’s no train of potential princesses to attend the Prince’s
Bel canto
Italian for “beautiful song,” this is a style of operatic singing that calls for long, smooth lines executed in one breath. Listen for Cinderella's melancholy tune that starts with:
Rossini rocket
Also called a “Rossini crescendo,” these passages for multiple singers start off quietly but gradually get louder and crazier until everyone is singing at the top of their lungs. Listen for a great example in the finale of Act I, “Am I dreaming?”
Coloratura
The singer spins off a sparkling run of lots of notes, moving their voice up and down with great speed and flexibility. Listen for it in Cinderella’s thrilling last number, “All of my life I’ve known sorrow.”
(in order of vocal appearance)
Clorinda, stepsister Alissa Goretsky †
Nancy Haywood / Susan Bloome / James M. Trimble and Sylvia Barnes Fellow
Tisbe, stepsister Emily Treigle ‡
Angelina, Cinderella Deepa Johnny * Alidoro, a philosopher Sam Dhobhany †* Dian and Harlan Stai Fellow
Don Magnifico, stepfather Ziniu Zhao †*
Carolyn J. Levy / Jill and Allyn Risley / Dr. Peter Chang and Hon. Theresa Chang and Friends / Dr. Ron Galfione and Carolyn Galfione Fellow
Conductor
Director/Narrator
Original Director
Teddy Poll
Isabel Leonard ° Lynn Wyatt Great Artist
Joan Font
Set and Costume Designer Joan Guillén
Original Lighting Designer Albert Faura
Lighting Designer Michael James Clark
Choreographer Xevi Dorca
Chorus Director Richard Bado ‡
Don Ramiro, the prince Michael McDermott †
Michelle Beale and Dick Anderson / Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Mr. Milton D. Rosenau Jr. Fellow
Dandini, the prince's valet Efraín Solís
Musical Preparation
Stage Manager
Assistant Director
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
Laura Bleakley †
Ms. Lynn Des Prez / Dr. and Mrs. Miguel Miro-Quesada Fellow
Nicholas Roehler
Madeline Slettedahl
Brian August
Stephanie Smith
* Mainstage debut
° Directorial debut
† Butler Studio artist
‡ Former Butler Studio artist
English supertitles by Lucas Nguyen. Supertitles called by Judy Frow.
Performed by arrangement with Hendon Music, Inc., a Boosey & Hawkes company, sole agent in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for Casa Ricordi/ Universal Music Publishing Ricordi S.R.L., publisher and copyright owner.
Performing artists, stage directors, and choreographers are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO, the union for opera professionals in the United States.
Scenic, costume, and lighting designers and assistant designers are represented by United Scenic Artists, IATSE Local USA-829. Orchestral musicians are represented by the Houston Professional Musicians Association, Local #65-699, American Federation of Musicians. Stage crew personnel provided by IATSE, Local #51.
Wardrobe personnel provided by Theatrical Wardrobe Union, Local #896. This production is being recorded for archival purposes.
Patrick Summers,
Artistic and Music Director
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair
Denise Tarrant*, Concertmaster
Sarah and Ernest Butler Concertmaster Chair
Chloe Kim*, Assistant Concertmaster
Natalie Gaynor*, Principal Second Violin
Carrie Kauk*, Assistant Principal
Second Violin
Miriam Belyatsky*
Anabel Ramirez-Detrick*
Rasa Kalesnykaite†
Hae-a Lee Barnes*
Chavdar Parashkevov*
Mary Reed*
Erica Robinson*
Linda Sanders*
Oleg Sulyga*
Sylvia VerMeulen*
Melissa Williams†
Zubaida Azezi
Hanna Hrybkova
Kana Kimura
Augusta Schubert
Rachel Shepard
VIOLA
Eliseo Rene Salazar*, Principal
Lorento Golofeev*, Assistant Principal
Gayle Garcia-Shepard*
Elizabeth Golofeev*
Erika C. Lawson*
Suzanne LeFevre†
Sarah Mason
CELLO
Barrett Sills*, Principal
Erika Johnson*, Assistant Principal
Wendy Smith-Butler*
Shino Hayashi
Kristiana Ignatjeva
DOUBLE BASS
Dennis Whittaker*, Principal
Erik Gronfor*, Assistant Principal
Carla Clark*
FLUTE
Henry Williford*, Principal
Tyler Martin*
OBOE
Elizabeth Priestly Siffert*, Principal
Mayu Isom†
Katherine Hart
CLARINET
Eric Chi*, Acting Principal
Justin Best
BASSOON
Amanda Swain*, Principal
Micah Doherty
HORN
Sarah Cranston*, Principal
Kimberly Penrod Minson*
Spencer Park†
Gavin Reed
TRUMPET
Tetsuya Lawson*, Principal
Randal Adams*
TROMBONE
Thomas Hultén*, Principal
Mark Holley†
TUBA
Mark Barton†, Principal
TIMPANI
Alison Chang†, Principal
PERCUSSION
Richard Brown†, Principal
HARP
Caitlin Mehrtens†, Principal
* HGO Orchestra core musician
† HGO Orchestra core musician on leave this production
Richard Bado, Chorus Director
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
Nathan Abbott
Geordie Alexander
Dennis Arrowsmith
Steve Buza
Christopher Childress
Scott Clark
Patrick Contreras
Zack Scott Frank
Dallas Gray
Jon Janacek
Joe Key
Marcus Lonardo
Alejandro Magallón
Norman Mathews
Jeff Monette
Patrick Perez
Saïd Henry Pressley
Nicholas Rathgeb
Brad King Raymond
Roberto J. Reyna
Matthew Reynolds
Francis Rivera
Benjamin Rorabaugh
John Weinel
Ceasar F. Barajas
Ian M. Gallagher
Kiya Green
Paige Klase
David A. Quiroz
Hayden West
TEDDY POLL (UNITED STATES/GERMANY) CONDUCTOR
Font has worked on special projects for the Festival d’Avignon and Venice’s Biennale, as well as other projects in Paris, New York, Chicago, Bogotá, Sydney, Tokyo, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Hannover, Beijing, Moscow, and other cities.
LEONARD (UNITED STATES)
DIRECTOR/NARRATOR
Lynn Wyatt Great Artist
Teddy Poll, HGO’s resident conductor, made his company debut in 2024 conducting select mainstage performances of Madame Butterfly, later taking the podium for the same opera at Miller Outdoor Theatre. In previous seasons, Poll has appeared as a guest artist at The Juilliard School, as well as in performances and workshops with Opera Philadelphia, the Glimmerglass Festival, Bare Opera, and the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. He has served on the music staff as an assistant conductor at the Glimmerglass Festival and San Francisco Opera and was a Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Versatile as a composer, he has written concert, vocal, and film music that has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Presser Foundation, and has won an American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Morton Gould Award. He is a member of the Broadcast Music, Inc. Lehman Engel Workshop and is currently composing an American comic opera based on Terrence McNally’s The Ritz, in collaboration with the McNally Estate and director Peter Kazaras. He holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Social Work degrees from Columbia University, and a Master of Music degree from Mannes College of Music.
Joan Font returns to HGO to direct the company’s mainstage Cinderella production, the same one he directed for the company in 2007, which is also featured this season for Family Day Presents Cinderella. Also for the company, Font directed The Barber of Seville (2018, 2011) and The Italian Girl in Algiers (2012). Font is founding director of the Barcelona-based company Comediants, for which he has created more than 30 productions internationally. His operatic work began with The Magic Flute (Gran Teatre del Liceu), Orfeo ed Euridice (Perelada Festival), the zarzuela La verbena de la Paloma (Granada Festival), and this production of Cinderella, which has also been presented at La Monnaie in Brussels, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Welsh National Opera, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Omaha, Washington National Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. His production of The Italian Girl in Algiers has been seen in Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro Comunale of Florence, the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, and Teatre de les Arts in Valencia, and his Barber of Seville has been presented at Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Canadian Opera Company. In 2010, Font directed a new production The Magic Flute for the Auditorio de Murcia. Outside opera, Font and Comediants have presented special performances for Shanghai’s World Expo and for the celebration of Hanoi’s Millenium (Vietnam).
This season, Isabel Leonard returns to HGO to direct Family Day Presents: Cinderella, in addition to performing the role of Angelina in the mainstage production of the same opera. Previously for the company, she performed the roles of Maria in The Sound of Music (2024) and Charlotte in Werther (2022). In repertoire that spans from Vivaldi to Mozart to Nico Muhly, Leonard has graced the stages of the Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival, Bavarian State Opera, Carnegie Hall, Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Aix-en-Provence Festival, The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, LA Opera, and Santa Fe Opera in The Barber of Seville (Rosina), Cinderella (Angelina), The Marriage of Figaro (Cherubino), Così fan tutte (Dorabella), Don Giovanni (Zerlina/Donna Elvira), La clemenza di Tito (Sesto), Werther (Charlotte), Dialogues of the Carmelites (Blanche de la Force), Griselda (Costanza), La bohème (Musetta), Giulio Cesare (Sesto), and the title roles in Carmen, La Périchole, Cendrillon, Marnie, and Der Rosenkavalier. During the 2024-25 season, she performs the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville at Opéra National de Paris and The Metropolitan Opera, and makes her house debut with Gran Teatre del Liceu as Anita in a concert performance of Bernstein’s West Side Story. Leonard is a recipient of the Richard Tucker Award and a multiple Grammy Award winner. In 2023, Leonard appeared in the films She Came to Me and the Academy Award-nominated Maestro. She was Rice University Shepherd School of Music’s 2023-24 Aleko Endowed Masterclass Artist.
Also for HGO, Xevi Dorca choreographed productions of The Barber of Seville (2018, 2011), The Italian Girl in Algiers (2012), and the mainstage production of Cinderella (this season and 2007), all created with director Joan Font, with whom he has worked throughout Europe and North America. Their Cinderella, which made its premiere in Houston, has been presented in revival productions at La Monnaie in Brussels, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Welsh National Opera, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Omaha, Washington National Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Atlanta Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Italian Girl in Algiers also has been seen at Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro Comunale of Florence,
the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Royal Opera House Muscat, and Teatre de les Arts in Valencia; and The Barber of Seville at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Wolf Trap Opera, and Canadian Opera Company, where he earned an Outstanding Choreography nomination for Canada’s prestigious Dora Mavor Moore Award. Additional choreographic work includes Leonardo Balada’s Faust-Ball at Teatro Real in Madrid. Additional stage director credits include Dido and Aenas (Purcell) and La serva padrona (Pergolesi), which premiered in Barcelona. Dorca studied at Barcelona’s Institut del Teatre. He was awarded Best Dancer by the Madrid Choreographic Competition, which enabled him to work with the Transitions Dance Company at London’s Laban Centre. Dorca co-manages Barcelona’s XeviXaviXou dance company.
Joan Guillén has designed sets, costumes, masks, and props for opera and theater. He is the set and costume designer for both the mainstage and Family Day productions of Cinderella. Previously for HGO, Guillén served as set and costume designer for The Barber of Seville (2018, 2011), seen also at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Canadian Opera Company; The Italian Girl in Algiers in (2012), also seen at Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro Comunale of Florence, the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, and Teatre de les Arts in Valencia; and this production of Cinderella (2007), which was also staged at La Monnaie in Brussels, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Welsh National Opera, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Omaha, Washington National Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Another important production was Faust-Bal at Madrid’s Teatro Real. Guillén has done extensive work in the arts as a painter, sculptor, and cartoonist. He has taught at the School of Dramatic Art at Barcelona’s Theatre Institute for many years, in addition to serving as a visiting professor at schools and universities around the world. The most recent of his many honors was the 2016 National Culture Prize, awarded by the Catalan National Council of Culture and the Arts. Other awards include the gold medal for costume design at the 1999 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, the world’s largest exhibition in the field of set design and theater architecture.
MICHAEL JAMES CLARK (UNITED STATES)
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Michael James Clark is the head of lighting and production media for HGO. During the company’s 2024-25 season, he also serves as revival lighting designer for the mainstage Cinderella production and lighting designer for La bohème. In the 2023-24 season, he was lighting designer for Falstaff and The Big Swim and revival lighting designer for Parsifal. During the 2022-23 season, Clark was associate lighting designer for The Marriage of Figaro, Werther, and Tosca, and during the company’s 2021-22
season he created the lighting design for the world premiere production of The Snowy Day, and served as the assistant lighting designer for The Magic Flute and associate lighting designer for Carmen. He served as revival lighting designer for HGO’s production of Aida (2020) and designed lighting for mainstage and Miller Outdoor Theatre productions of La bohème (2018-19) and the world premiere of The Phoenix (2019). He lit the HGO world premieres of Some Light Emerges (2017), After the Storm (2016), O Columbia (2015), and Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (2010), as well as many more mainstage and outdoor HGO productions. Clark also has designed lighting for Teatro La Fenice, San Francisco Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Stages Repertory Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Rice University, and the 2007 Prague Quadrennial. He holds a degree in lighting design from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Sarah and Ernest Butler Chorus Director Chair
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Richard Bado made his professional conducting debut in 1989 leading Houston Grand Opera’s acclaimed production of Show Boat at the newly restored Cairo Opera House in Egypt. Since then, Bado has conducted at Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, HGO, New York City Opera, the Aspen Music Festival, Tulsa Opera, the Russian National Orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic, the Montreal Symphony, Wolf Trap Opera, and has conducted the Robert Wilson production of Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts at the Edinburgh Festival. This season, Bado conducts performances of The Nutcracker for Houston Ballet and performances of West Side Story for Houston Grand Opera. An accomplished pianist, Bado has appeared regularly with Renée Fleming and numerous other leading artists. Bado—who holds music degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he received the 2000 Alumni Achievement Award, and West Virginia University—has studied advanced choral conducting with Robert Shaw. He is the Director of Artistic Planning and Chorus Director for HGO, where he received the Silver Rose Award in 2013. He has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. For 12 years, he was the Director of the Opera Studies Program at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Bado has served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Dolora Zajick Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, the International Vocal School in Moscow, the Texas Music Festival, and has served on the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, the Bolshoi Opera Young Artist Program, Opera Australia, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Utah Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera. He regularly judges for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
MEZZO-SOPRANO—ANGELINA
Deepa Johnny is making her HGO debut. Other engagements this season include Rosina in The Barber of Seville at Opéra de Lille and Dorabella in Così fan tutte at Opéra de Lyon. She also performs in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Los Angeles Philharmonic and in a concert of Handel arias with Cleveland Orchestra. During the 2023-24 season, Johnny joined Opéra de Rouen Normandie for the title role of Carmen; performed roles in Der Zwerg and La traviata at LA Opera; debuted with Portland Opera as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro; and returned to Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Johnny performed at the Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenzer Festspiele in 2023, and at London's Southbank Centre in 2024. She joined LA Opera’s prestigious Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in the 2022-23 season, making her debut in the role of Owen’s daughter in Omar, a world premiere by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels. Other highlights include Meg Page in Falstaff at Aspen Music Festival and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at Opera San José and LA Opera. Johnny received the André Bourbeau Best Canadian Artist Award and the ICI Musique People’s Choice Award at the 2022 Concours Musical International de Montréal competition and was the winner of the Western Canada District of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
MICHAEL MCDERMOTT (UNITED STATES)
TENOR—DON RAMIRO
Michelle Beale and Dick Anderson / Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Mr. Milton D. Rosenau Jr. Fellow
A second-year Butler Studio artist from Huntington Beach, California, Michael McDermott is the third-place winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2021 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. During HGO’s 2024-25 season, he also performs as Messenger in Il trovatore and as a tenor soloist in Breaking the Waves. During HGO’s 2023-24 season, he performed the roles of Bardolph in Falstaff and 4th Esquire in Parsifal. In 2022, he covered the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Aspen Music Festival and returned in 2023 to perform Arbace in Idomeneo. At The Juilliard School in New York, he performed the roles of Spärlich in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Filippo in Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa, as well as appearing in Liederabends and recitals. In summer 2024, McDermott sang the role of Camille de Rosillon in The Merry Widow at the Glyndebourne Festival. His recent competition wins include first prize in the 2024 Grand Concours Vocal Competition, first prize in the Schmidt Vocal Competition, and first prize in the Scholarship Division of the National Opera Association’s Carolyn Bailey Argento Competition. McDermott received his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and pursued his master’s degree at Rice University.
ZINIU ZHAO (CHINA)
BASS—DON MAGNIFICO
Carolyn J. Levy / Jill and Allyn Risley / Dr. Peter Chang and Hon. Theresa Chang and Friends / Dr. Ron Galfione and Carolyn Galfione Fellow
Ziniu Zhao, a first-year artist in the Butler Studio from Shandong, China, was the second-place winner at HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. During the 2024-25 season, he makes his HGO debut as Don Magnifico in the company’s Englishlanguage Family Day production of Cinderella and also sings the role of Reinmar von Zweter in Tannhäuser. Zhao was a member of the Opera Talent Training Program of the China National Arts Foundation and has won several prestigious awards, including first prize at the Colorado International Music Competition, the Rossini Singing Award at the Fiorenza Cedolins Opera Competition in Italy, and the Maria Callas Award at the Vincerò International Opera Competition, also in Italy. In 2023, he performed a solo concert in Shandong. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where his operatic roles included Don Pasquale (title role), Colline in La bohème, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. There, he was awarded the Outstanding Student Scholarship for four consecutive years.
EFRAÍN SOLÍS (UNITED STATES) BARITONE—DANDINI
Previously for HGO Efraín Solís performed the role of Mark in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (2018). Elsewhere during the 2024-25 season he performs the roles of Schaunard in La bohème with Dallas Opera and Santa Fe Opera, as well as Dandini in Cinderella with Fort Worth Opera. In the 2023-24 season he performed the roles of Mark in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna with Minnesota Opera and Austin Opera, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas with Opera San José, and made his European debut as Dandini in Cinderella at Hamburg State Opera. Additional highlights include the roles of Thierry, Le Médicin, and the Jailer in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Papageno in The Magic Flute, and Schaunard in La bohème (San Francisco Opera); Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro (Opera San José); Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (Utah Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Carolina); Lieutenant Audebert in Silent Night (Utah Opera); Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love (Hawaii Opera Theater); and Golaud in Pélleas et Melisande (Opera Southwest, West Bay Opera).
SAM DHOBHANY (UNITED STATES ) BASS-BARITONE—ALIDORO Dian and Harlan Stai Fellow
A first-year Butler Studio artist from Brooklyn, New York, Sam Dhobhany is making his HGO debut. The recipient of the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award at HGO’s 2024
Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias, Dhobhany is a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. During the 2024-25 season for HGO, he also performs the role of Terry in Breaking the Waves. In summer 2024, he returned to Santa Fe Opera as an apprentice artist, where his roles included Marchese d’Obigny in La traviata and covering Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love and The Notary in Der Rosenkavalier. In 2024, Dhobhany sang the role of Angelotti in Tosca with Dayton Opera and the title role in The Marriage of Figaro at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In summer 2023, Dhobhany was an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera, where he covered and sang the role of Un Médecin in Pelléas et Mélisande and covered 2nd Spirit/5th Pastore in L’Orfeo. In the summer of 2021, he joined Wolf Trap Opera’s Studio Artist Program, where he covered the role of Doctor Grenvil in La traviata. Dhobhany was a 2023 winner of the Michigan District in The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
HGO, following her 3rd place win in HGO’s 33rd annual Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias, Treigle has been seen as Flora (La traviata), Miss Violet (Another City, world premiere), Mère Jeanne (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Gertrude (Romeo and Juliet). She has also covered the roles of Herodias (Salome) and Marcellina (The Marriage of Figaro). In competition, Treigle was named a Grand Finals Winner of the 2021 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, as well as a 2024 winner of the George and Nora London Foundation Competition. As a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, Treigle performed as Despina (Così fan tutte) in 2024, and Juno/Ino (Semele) in 2023. She appeared at the Aspen Music Festival as a Fleming Artist in 2022, and as a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera in 2020 and 2021, where she covered the title role in Holst’s Savitri. She pursued her Master of Music degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in 2020. An undeniable legacy, her grandfather was world-renowned bass-baritone Norman Treigle.
ALISSA GORETSKY (UNITED STATES)
SOPRANO—CLORINDA
Nancy Haywood / Susan Bloome / James M. Trimble and Sylvia Barnes Fellow
First-year Butler Studio artist Alissa Goretsky, a Los Angeles native, was the third-place winner of HGO’s 2024 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. This season, she also performs as Clorinda in HGO’s mainstage production of Cinderella. She made her operatic debut as Gismonda in Ottone at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall under the baton of Corey Jameson in 2019. In March 2024 she performed the role of Ma Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, also at Caroline Hume Hall. Other recent roles include Foreign Woman in The Consul, Mimì in La bohème, Contessa Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, and Emilia in Flavio, as well as covering the roles of Sister Alice and Sister Catherine at San Francisco Opera in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Goretsky was a San Francisco District Winner in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and received the Special Encouragement Award in the competition’s second round in Los Angeles. In 2023, she won the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, and in 2022, she took First Place in the Palm Spring Opera Guild competition. Goretsky holds both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
EMILY TREIGLE (UNITED STATES) MEZZO-SOPRANO—TISBE
Butler Studio alumna Emily Treigle is making her first return to the company for Cinderella, performing in both the Family Day and mainstage productions of the opera. During the 2023-24 season at HGO, Treigle sang Meg Page (Falstaff ) and Suzuki (select performances of Madame Butterfly), and covered Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). In previous seasons at
Two of Mo Willems’s popular children’s books get the operatic treatment—and they’re coming to HGO!
By Amber Francis, Communications Coordinator
If you have a young child, you likely already know Mo Willems’s hugely popular books. Now, your family has the opportunity to experience two of them in an entirely new way—as an operatic double feature! This season, HGO’s Opera to Go! touring production for students and families, Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas: Slopera! and Don’t Let the Pigeon Sing Up Late!, will be presented at schools, public libraries, and other community spaces across the region.
Willems is a New York Times-bestselling author, as well as an illustrator, animator, and playwright with six Emmy Awards under his belt for his work on Sesame Street. He collaborated with Grammy Award-nominated composer and pal, Carlos Simon, to adapt two of his stories into their operatic stage versions that debuted in 2021 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., where Willems served as Education Artist-in-Residence and Simon was Composer-in-Residence.
Slopera! sees the friendship between two of Willems’s iconic characters, Elephant & Piggie, put to the test over their different tastes in food, while Don’t Let the Pigeon Sing Up Late! features The Pigeon facing his greatest foe yet: Bedtime. These shows, Willems’s first foray into opera, have been a hit with kids and “former kids” alike. Here in Houston, they will be presented as a bilingual English and Spanish rendition.
The secret to Willems’s success? Treating his audience, no matter their age, with respect. “I try to remember that children share the same DNA as us,” Willems said. “Kids are human beings just like the rest of us. I want to respect their intelligence."
Read on to hear more from Willems about this exciting, family-friendly double feature.
For audiences who may be unfamiliar with Elephant & Piggie and The Pigeon—how would you describe these characters?
Elephant & Piggie are two best friends who fight and make up, like all friends do. And The Pigeon is a bird who, like most people, is unable to differentiate what he wants from what he needs.
Do any of these stories come from a personal place?
So, I am the child of immigrants. I grew up eating my ethnic food when I was a kid. I’m Dutch, so the ethnic food was chocolate sandwiches. I remember people teasing me for it—they called it “bird poop sandwiches” and all this stuff. I couldn’t believe it, because I was eating chocolate, right? I thought that would be cool. Nobody else got chocolate for lunch. But I was teased because it was different. So, I think a lot of the Slopera! original story is, like, How can you not like this? And the fact that Gerald—the elephant—ends up not liking it is fine. Gerald doesn’t try food to do the right thing, necessarily. Gerald is trying to repair a friendship after saying, “No, that’s gross,” and not giving it a fair shot, right? So as a kid, I didn’t want people to want my chocolate sandwiches. I just didn’t want them to hate them without trying it. It’s just what one should do. It’s pure, What would you do in this situation? What would you do when you’re confronted with something new? They’re good questions to ask.
What about these stories do you think lends them to the opera treatment?
The reason to do opera is multifold. One, I knew nothing about it, so that was exciting. I like things that I know nothing about because I can learn from them. The other is that opera and picture books have a lot in common. They only work when they’re performed. You have to say them out loud, unlike a novel, which is quiet. They’re about very big emotions and are very dramatic. Characters have deep, deep, deep feelings. When I discovered that you could make shorter
operas, it really excited me, because I know how to write 22 minutes’ worth of material. I’ve been writing television for 30 years, but I didn’t know how to make opera.
What about going from the written word to the world of opera interested you?
It’s exciting to play with things that happen in books. For instance, with early readers, you only have a certain vocabulary that you can use, so you create a rhythm and a cadence. Well, opera isn’t just about rhyming. It’s about cadence, right? And so being able to discover a cadence that works, tells the story, expresses big emotions, and is both funny and serious at the same time was very exciting. And you know what? Kids don’t know what opera is, which is great. They’re just going to come into it and be like, yeah, this is cool But to have a death scene with Slopera! and to be able to be that dramatic and be that big—is really cool.
What was the process of turning these books into an opera?
So, it was very collaborative. I worked with Carlos Simon, who’s a great composer. And to the same degree that I did not know
opera, he did not know kids. So we were both trying to figure out how to use our vocabulary and our strengths to be able to communicate something. We also had a dramaturg, Megan Alrutz, who I’ve been working with for 16 years. You sort of hope that there’s enough in the story—which is short—to be able to fill it out. You think, What do we need to have? What is in the visual vocabulary? What are the beats that happen in an opera? What are the beats that happen in this book, and where do they overlap? One of the great things about a shorter opera is you can do all the things that happen in a big opera, quickly. That speed also creates a little bit of tension, a little bit of humor.
What about the collaborative process did you enjoy?
I’ve written a bunch of musicals based on my books, so I’ve worked with composers before. I’ve got a basic sense of what I need to do. Fortunately, I had seen some of Carlos’s shorter operas, so I’d heard his music before and was a fan. We were able to discuss what excited us during this process. A scene works best when you can’t really remember who came up with it. When it’s so back and forth, it just sort of grows organically. Both Carlos and I feel very strongly that the story is more important than our egos, so it wasn’t hard for us to throw away things that didn’t work or add things that did. I would write something, and he would say, Yeah, that doesn’t work, I’m just going to write something. I would say, Oh, that’s great, but what if we do that? It was just sort of building things up and tearing them down over and over again, until it felt right.
How did the way you approached the pieces evolve over time?
Carlos and I worked on Slopera! first, and by the time we got to the Pigeon piece, we had a shared vocabulary. We knew how to communicate with each other. He would say, Well, I really want a scene that does this because, musically, I want to get to
this point. Or, I feel like the story is asking this question. I want to be able to orchestrate it in this way. I was able to say, Look, I really want a lush sequence, or I want a scary sequence, or I want this. It became just two pals hanging out, playing around, with every now and then, their dramaturg reminding them that, Hey, you’ve got to make sure it’s 20 minutes, got to make sure it’s performable —and the more technical and creative limitations that we wanted to play with.
How does it feel to have your first show with HGO?
I am very excited. I’m super-happy that it’s going to be traveling and that so many kids are going to get to see it. I love the idea that it is bilingual now. Well, trilingual, right? It’s English, Spanish, and the language of music. I think that’s awesome. I love the idea of introducing big ideas and big emotions and new art forms to as many kids as possible, so this is a really great opportunity.
Now that you’ve been bitten by the opera bug, are there any plans on the horizon for future operatic endeavors?
Yes, Carlos and I are very much hoping to do a full-scale opera. We’ve been working on some ideas, putting some stuff together and talking with different organizations. It would be great to really make a big production.
What do you hope audiences take away from this experience?
I hope that they enjoy themselves. I hope even more that when they leave, they start singing, and they start turning their lives into operas, and they start performing. You know, if you’re a kid and you’re frustrated by something, rather than just losing your temper or being sad, to be able to sing about how sad you are is a great way to communicate, right? So, in anything that I do, I’m hoping for two opposite things— one is for people to be impressed by how
amazing I am (laughs) and, two, to think, I could do that. I could draw a story. I could write a book. I could sing an opera. When I have big feelings, I can express them through music. That’s my hope.
Bring Opera to Go!’s touring production of Mo Willems’s Bite-Sized Operas: Slopera! and Don’t Let the Pigeon Sing Up Late! to your school, library, or community space. Or join us this winter for a free show at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center; see opposite page. For information, call 713-225-0457 or email OperaToGo@HGO.org.
TICKETS START AT $25 / HGO.ORG
