IL TROVATORE
BLUE
LA TRAVIATA 2021-2022 SEASON
OPERA. TOGETHER. Since we last took the stage at the Valentine Theatre in February 2020, the world has changed in ways that few of us could have imagined. We’ve been guided through the challenges of the past year by a simple commitment: creating ways for you to experience the unique power and beauty of world-class live opera, whenever and wherever it was safely possible. For that reason, it brings me great joy to announce our return to the stage for a live opera season in 2021 and 2022. Our 2021-22 season brings together iconic Toledo Opera favorites with a cutting-edge contemporary work. It features timelessly compelling stories and timely reflections on contemporary issues, all rendered in breathtaking music. In different ways, each of our main-stage productions tells a deeply relevant story for our time: a story of people striving to come together in a world determined to keep them apart. Toledo Opera has been able to weather the storm of the past year thanks to you, our audiences and community, and we return to the Valentine full of gratitude and excitement to share the magic of live opera with you once again. We hope you’ll join us for a truly historic season. Suzanne Rorick Executive Director
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BITTER REVENGE. FORBIDDEN LOVE. Not seen by Toledo Opera audiences since 2008, Il Trovatore makes its triumphant return to the Valentine stage this fall. Set in Spain, Verdi’s lush music tells the story of sorcery, familial revenge, bitter rivalry, and forbidden love. Count di Luna, is obsessed with Leonora, a young noblewoman in the queen’s service, who does not return his love. She loves the troubadour Manrico, leader of the partisan rebel forces. In di Luna’s past, a bohemian woman seeks revenge for the murder of her mother. All of the confluent story lines culminate in tragedy, conducted by Maestro Adam Turner and staged by director Jeffrey Buchman. Performed in Italian with English supertitles.
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JENNIFER ROWLEY, LEONORA
CARL TANNER, MANRICO
DEBORAH NANSTEEL, AZUCENA
KYLE PFORTMILLER, COUNT DI LUNA
FAMILY TRAGEDY. NATIONAL STRUGGLE. An African American couple in Harlem anticipates the birth of their firstborn, a son, with both hope and fear. As the baby grows into a young man, the mother worries for his future, and the father tries to prepare his son for the realities of 21st century America, while wrestling with his own identity as a police officer, a “Black man in blue.” When their deepest fears come true, the family is forced to navigate a devastating reality seeking answers and support from their church and community. Toledo Opera presents the Tony Award® –winning composer Jeanine Tesori and NAACP Theatre Award–winning librettist Tazewell Thompson’s new opera inspired by contemporary events and Black literature. Influenced by gospel music and using vivid flashbacks, Blue places timely issues at the forefront of modern opera and invites audiences to the emotional epicenter of their impact. Blue stars Allen Michael Jones as The Father and Krysty Swann as The Mother. Chelsea Tipton, II conducts and librettist Tazewell Thompson directs.
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ALLEN MICHAEL JONES, THE FATHER
KRYSTY SWANN, THE MOTHER
GORDON HAWKINS, THE REVEREND
CHELSEA TIPTON II, CONDUCTOR
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. TRAGIC SACRIFICE. Featuring some of Verdi’s most beloved arias and memorable characters, La Traviata tells the tragic love story of a Parisian courtesan who struggles to free herself from her social constraints and follow her heart. At a party in her Paris salon, Violetta meets Alfredo and quickly falls for him. After the lovers run away together, they live in bliss for a very short time. However, Alfredo’s father, Giorgio, starts to interfere, concerned that Violetta’s bad reputation will affect the marriage prospects of Alfredo’s sister. Violetta’s health and declining circumstances make for a typically tragic operatic ending. La Traviata will star internationally renowned soprano, Kathryn Lewek as Violetta, and tenor Zach Borichevsky as Alfredo. Together, this real-life couple will bring a smoldering romantic energy to one of Verdi’s most iconic scores, stage directed by Toledo favorite Marc Verzatt. Performed in Italian with English supertitles.
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KATHRYN LEWEK, VIOLETTA
ZACH BORICHEVSKY, ALFREDO
MALCOLM MACKENZIE, GIORGIO GERMONT
MARC VERZATT, STAGE DIRECTOR
THREE SHOW SUBSCRIPTIONS
SUBSCRIPTION
YOU SAVE SINGLE TICKETS
Main Floor
Orchestra Boxes (Rows A-F)
$ 2 18
$ 127
$115
Main Floor
Orchestra (Rows A-N)
$ 1 68
$ 129
$99
Main Floor
Orchestra Dress Circle (Rows O & P) $ 2 21
$ 136
$119
Main Floor
Dress Circle (Rows Q-T)
$ 118
$85
$ 137
2nd Floor
Golden Circle Boxes (Rows A-E)
$ 2 21
$ 136
$ 119
2nd Floor
Golden Circle (Rows A & B)
$ 2 21
$ 136
$ 119
2nd Floor
Loge (Rows C-G)
$ 1 68
$ 129
$ 99
3rd Floor
Balcony (Rows A-E)
$ 98
$ 1 09
$ 69
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HEALTH & SAFETY
Toledo Opera is committed to providing you with a world-class live opera experience, and we place the highest priority on the safety of our audiences, performers, and staff. Toledo Opera productions will observe all relevant federal, state, and local public-health regulations current at the time of the performance. Additional health and safety measures may be taken as required by the venue, or recommended by the guidance of public-health authorities. In the event that it becomes necessary to take safety precautions that may impact your ticketing, seating, or other aspects of your Toledo Opera experience, we will notify you immediately by email. Please contact us on our website or at 419-255-SING (7464) with any questions about health and safety protocols. We appreciate your patience and flexibility as the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic continue to evolve.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS THE STYLIST OF SEVILLE
PORGY AND BESS
OPERA ON WHEELS
AN OPERA IS A STORY!
Toledo Opera’s flagship educational program touring regionally for K-8 students this fall and spring. This season’s 40-minute opera, sung in English, is adapted from Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia by Jennifer Cresswell and directed by James M. Norman.
An opera educational program designed for preschool learners. This year An Opera Is a Story (AOIAS) will be offering an age-appropriate adaptation of the American opera, Porgy and Bess, in Toledo Public Schools Head Start classrooms.
STUDENT NIGHT AT THE OPERA
PRE-OPERA TALKS
Student Night at the Opera invites middle and high school students, accompanied by teachers and/or parents, to come to the final dress rehearsal of the season’s main stage productions for the nominal fee of $8 a ticket.
Bowling Green State University musicologist Dr. Eftychia Papanikolaou presents a free Pre-Opera Talk one hour before each opera in the Grand Lobby of the Valentine Theatre. Dr. Papanikolaou provides historical context and insight and is available to take questions after each talk.
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