A Message from the Board Chair Dear Friends, I am very proud to welcome you to the first production of OPERA San Antonio’s inaugural season. Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the story by Roald Dahl, is an opera for all ages and tells the story of a resourceful but sensitive fox who leads his family and fellow forest creatures out of danger when their lives are threatened by a trio of nasty farmers. This new production of Fantastic Mr. Fox supervised by its composer, Tobias Picker, OPERA San Antonio’s Artistic Director, comprises a unique combination of talent ranging from internationally acclaimed opera stars, members of the San Antonio Symphony and the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio. It also includes the great talents of OPERA San Antonio Resident Conductor, Andres Cladera, Stage Director Erica Olden and sets and costumes based on the dazzling illustration of Emily Carew Woodard, especially commissioned for OPERA San Antonio’s first production. OPERA San Antonio is honored to be the resident opera company at the spectacular Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. This great new addition to the cultural landscape of San Antonio will provide all the resident companies with an ideal venue to showcase and present their talents. We are proud to partner with the San Antonio Symphony, our orchestra and Ballet San Antonio in providing the greater San Antonio community with the highest caliber of opera our area has ever seen. Mel Weingart, Chairman
In January, OPERA San Antonio will be presenting a thrilling new production of Strauss’ biblical tale, Salome, (January 8 and a matinee on January 11) featuring superstar soprano Patricia Racette in her first fully staged production of the work and San Antonio Symphony’s Music Director Sebastian LangLessing conducting members of the San Antonio Symphony. OPERA San Antonio’s season concludes in March with an Italian/French double bill in the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater. Legendary Italian soprano, Anna Caterina Antonacci makes her Texas debut in II Segreto di Susanna/ La voix humaine. This double bill production is currently SOLD OUT. None of our productions would have been possible without the extraordinary partnership between our Board of Directors, the City’s Department for Culture and Creative Development, the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, The Tobin Endowment, Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, businesses and the many additional generous personal donors throughout San Antonio. OPERA San Antonio is comitted to bringing you today’s finest possible opera productions, singers and designs. It is only with the support of the community that OPERA San Antonio can continue to bring you great opera in the world-class venue San Antonio deserves. We hope you enjoy this inaugural production and we look forward to your continued support of the various artistic and educational events sponsored by OPERA San Antonio in the coming months. It all begins tonight!
With Sincere Appreciation,
Mel Weingart, Chairman 2
A Message from the Artistic Director “Like Roald Dahl, I firmly believe children deserve art that engages them and their whole imaginations without talking down to them.” -Tobias Picker Dear Friends, Welcome to the inaugural production of OPERA San Antonio. I’m immensely thrilled to be able to greet you as the first audience for our brand new opera company. You are part of a dynamic new moment in the cultural life of a greater San Antonio. The moment when the lights go down in the theater still gives me goose bumps — just as it did more than half a century ago, when I saw my own first opera at the old Met, Puccini’s Girl of the Golden West, at the age of nine. It changed my life, and I hope that the experience you will be sharing with your young companions will plant the seed for a lifetime of enjoyment of the king of all performing art forms. One of the joys of being a composer is finding out, somewhere down the road, how a piece you’ve written has affected somebody in a way you could never have predicted. Few things for me are as moving as running into Tobias Picker, Artistic Director music lovers who tell me about what it meant to see Fantastic Mr. Fox as a kid, how it inspired them to take up a musical career. As it happens, two of the original fox cubs from the premiere production decided to become professional opera singers, including Theo Lebow, who was Lennie Fox Cub in the original 1998 LA Opera Production and who now plays Mr. Porcupine. I wrote Fantastic Mr. Fox in part because I could so vividly remember the magic of my early experiences with music, like attending one of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts in 1963 and being able to witness the exciting debut of the pianist André Watts. Like Roald Dahl, I firmly believe children deserve art that engages them and their whole imaginations without talking down to them. As Lady Bird Johnson aptly put it: “Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.” I wrote this to be a family opera — not to single out the children, but to be inclusive, to be a meeting ground for children and their parents, for the young and the young at heart. We envision OPERA San Antonio as a place where fantastic and imaginative collaborations take place, for that is what the art form is truly about. I’m proud to be able to introduce you to the work of visual artist Emily Carew Woodard. As you enjoy the performance, make sure to savor every detail of her enchanting design and costumes, which reflect the impish spirit of Dahl and Donald Sturrock’s witty libretto. Please tell your friends and acquaintances about your experience here. Our goal is to enrich the cultural landscape of San Antonio and, most of all, to enrich your lives with the joy of opera. Thank you all for joining the OPERA San Antonio family. I look forward to welcoming you back for our next two productions this season, including Richard Strauss’s Salome in January and a remarkable double bill in the spring: the witty Il Segreto di Susanna by Puccini’s younger contemporary Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari and La voix humaine, a masterful psychological portrait by the great French composer Francis Poulenc. Warmly,
Tobias Picker Artistic Director, OPERA San Antonio 4
OPERA San Antonio Presents An opera in three acts by Tobias Picker
Fantastic Mr. Fox Libretto by Donald Sturrock Based on the book by Roald Dahl
Used by arrangement with Schott Helicon Music Corporation, publisher and copyright owner.
Tuesday, Sep 23, 2014, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, Sep 26, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sep 27, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, September 28, 2:00 p.m.
Cast Conductor Andres Cladera Director Erica Olden Production Design Illustrator Emily Carew Woodard Scenic Design Associate Karen L. Miller Costume Design Associate Tommy Bourgeois Lighting Designer Chad R. Jung Wig and Makeup Designer Stephanie Williams Choreographer Jayson Pescasio Production Stage Manager Michelle K. Engleman
Mr. Fox
John Brancy
Mrs. Fox
Renée Rapier
Farmer Boggis
Andrew Craig Brown
Farmer Bunce
Edwin Vega
Farmer Bean
Gabriel Preisser
Mavis the Tractor
Gail Novak Mosites
Agnes the Digger
Andrey Nemzer
Miss Hedgehog
Elizabeth Futral
Badger the Miner Mole
John Dooley Jonathan Blalock
Rita the Rat
Tynan Davis
Mr. Porcupine
Theo Lebow
Bennie Fox cub
Hollis Wilkins
Lennie Fox cub
Tony Rodriguez
Jennie Fox cub
Morgan Teel
Pennie Fox cub Jenna Takach Children’s Chorus of Trees Program cover illustration and content Emily Carew Woodard
Assistant Stage Manager Kait Samuels Properties Master Dave Morgan Program Content Writer Thomas May
The performance will last approximately 80 minutes performed without intermission. The use of cameras, cellular phones and any kind of recording equipment is strictly forbidden. PLEASE TURN OFF AND REFRAIN FROM USING ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES.
Pre-performance Lecturer Dr. Kay Lipton
5
Performance Collaborators
The Children’s Chorus of San Antonio was founded in 1983 to bring the highest quality of choral music education and performance opportunities to young people ages 8-22 in greater San Antonio. Comprised of more than 450 young artists, CCSA serves the city’s diverse and vibrant community through year-round programming, various concerts, and collaborations with the San Antonio Symphony, Youth Orchestra of San Antonio, and now with OPERA San Antonio. CCSA singers have toured Europe and Canada, performed in Carnegie Hall and Cathédral of Notre-Dame, and have been featured on NBC-TV’s Today Show. Dr. Doreen Rao is the Interim Artistic Director. Associate Director, Children’s Chorus of San Antonio Irma Taute Assistant Conductor Rebecca Morgan
Gabriel Eddy, Tree Uriel Eddy, Tree Elizabeth Elizondo, Tree Emily Elizondo, Tree Sofia Follman, Tree, Jennie Foxcub (cover) Chelsea Huffman, Tree, Lennie Foxcub (cover) Emily May, Tree, Bennie Foxcub (cover) Matthew McCutcheon, Tree Alejandro Moncada, Tree
Elizabeth Morrey, Tree Evelyn Morrey, Tree, Pennie Foxcub (cover) Tony Rodriguez, Lennie Foxcub Naomi Rosario, Tree Jenna Takach, Pennie Foxcub Morgan Teel, Jennie Foxcub Kyra White, Tree Hollis Wilkins, Bennie Foxcub
Members of the San Antonio Symphony Eric Gratz….………………………………………violin Allyson Dawkins…………….…………………….viola David Mollenauer…………………...…………… cello Ilya Shterenberg………………clarinet/bass clarinet Brian Petkovich…………….…………………bassoon Riely Francis…………….…………………percussion Cheryl Cellon Lindquist……….……...…………piano Director of Orchestra Personnel Karina Bharne Stage Manager Robert Mines OPERA San Antonio acknowledges H-E-B for generously supporting the September 27 simulcast.
6
Production Accompanist Cheryl Cellon Lindquist Wardrobe Supervisor Raul McGinnes, SRO Associates, Inc. Wig and Makeup Staff Alexandra O’Reilly Nora Maoui Charles Douglas Scenery constructed and painted by SRO Associates, Inc. Costumes built by Dallas Associates: Draper/Cutter- Matt Nunn, Susan A. Cox, Brooke Wilkerson, Catie Pool Painter/Dyer-Susan Mayes Crafts-Lyle Huchton, Leila Heise Additional costumes constructed by Raul McGinnes, SRO Associates, Inc.
Special Thanks Boys and Girls Clubs Children’s Chorus of San Antonio Forth Worth Opera Joe Johnson, V, “Mr. Fox” Summer 2014 Kids Who Care Metzger Middle School Opera Guild of San Antonio Texas Public Radio The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund The Management and Staff of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts San Antonio Parks and Recreation San Antonio Public Library Quik Print The Storytime Chicks, Miss Anastasia The Witte Museum University of Texas San Antonio Dr. Bill McCrary
Head Electrician Aaron Krohn Simulcast by Maverick Productions Company Photographer Karen Almond Marketing ARTS San Antonio LHA PR, Press and Public Relations Laura Hernandez Aplin and Leanne Davis
Connect with us on social media
7
Synopsis Act One The Curtain Rises, revealing the farms of Boggis, Bunce and Bean, the valley’s three nastiest farmers. Mrs. Fox introduces her family and traces a portrait of Boggis, extremely fat from a fondness for chicken. Boggis enters, singing the praises of his favorite food, when Bunce, short and amusingly dapper, waddles onto the scene and interrupts him, the two quickly start arguing. Bean enters, reminding his fellow farmers that money is what matters. Mr. Fox has been stealing Boggis’s chickens, Bunce’s geese and Bean’s apples, so the farmers decide to lie in wait outside the foxhole and shoot him when he emerges. That evening, at the foxhole, Mr. Fox wakes up eager to venture out into the night. Mrs. Fox warns her husband to be careful. The farmers arrive outside the foxhole. Boggis and Bunce start bickering in the spirit of their earlier tussle over the birds, but Bean warns them to quiet down. The three hide in the undergrowth and wait. As Mr. Fox leaves his home, they shoot. Act Two Mr. Fox is sitting in the den, lamenting his lost tail, which was shot off by the farmers. He’s afraid that no one will respect him anymore, but Mrs. Fox and the fox cubs reassure him. His confidence restored, Mr. Fox sends the children to bed, promising to tell them his plan for revenge when the sun rises. The next morning, Bunce and Boggis continue their bickering. Bean comes in with Agnes the Digger, an earthmover. The farmers decide to dig up the foxes’ den with the help of Agnes and Mavis The Tractor. They all head out for the den. Meanwhile, Miss Hedgehog arrives at the foxhole. She’s getting old and thinks she can only look forward to spinsterhood. Mr. Fox, Badger, the Miner and Burrowing Mole rush into the foxhole to plot their revenge on the farmers. They hear the sound of the earthmover growing louder and louder. Sensing the danger, they start to dig deeper into the hill. The farmers and their machines arrive at the den, and Agnes leads them in the destruction of the hillside. Act Three Mavis, Agnes and the three farmers are in the bottom of an enormous crater. Boggis and Bunce want to leave, but Agnes browbeats them into staying. Bean tells everyone to wait for the fox, but Boggis and Bunce eventually manage to sneak off. On a distant hillside, the animals burrow out of the ground and celebrate their escape. Mrs. Fox mourns her lost home, but her friends comfort her and promise to build a new den. The time for revenge has arrived. Mr. Fox, Mole and Badger head for Bean’s farm. At the farmer’s cellar, they meet Rita the Rat, who agrees to help the farmers if they’ll get rid of a mysterious and terrifying beast who has taken over the cellar. Mr. Fox accepts Rita’s challenge and emerges moments later with Mr. Porcupine who has been stuck down there for several days with only cider for food. The Fox cubs join their father, and they run rampant through the farmyards. Bunce and Boggis arrive too late to catch any of the animals but vow again to get revenge on Mr. Fox. That evening, at the new foxhole, Mrs. Fox and the Fox cubs entertain their friends. Mr. Porcupine arrives a bit late, and his eyes meet Miss Hedgehog’s across the crowded room. They fall in love at first sight. Outside in the pouring rain, the farmers and their machines wait for the foxes in the crater. For all anyone knows, they’re still there to this very day. By Donald Sturrock
8
The Cast John Brancy - Mr. Fox
Baritone (Mullica Hill, New Jersey) Recent: Sonora, La fanciulla del West, Opera Frankfurt; Harlekin, Ariadne auf Naxos, Pacific Opera Victoria; Fiorello,The Barber of Seville, Dresden Semperoper; Mike the Cop, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. Upcoming: Papageno, The Magic Flute, Edmonton Opera; Figaro, The Marriage of Figaro, Opera Lyra Ottawa; TBA, Los Angeles Opera; TBA, Opera Theatre Saint Louis
Renée Rapier - Mrs. Fox
Mezzo-Soprano (Marion, Iowa) Recent: Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro, Ravinia Festival; Cornelia, Giulio Cesare, Wolf Trap Opera; Meg Page, Falstaff, San Francisco Opera. Upcoming: Page, Salome, OPERA San Antonio; Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro, Los Angeles Opera; Mrs. Bass, Emmeline, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Elizabeth Futral - Miss Hedgehog
Soprano (Smithfield, North Carolina) Recent: Alice B. Toklas, 27, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Elsa Schraeder, The Sound of Music, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Desiree Armfeldt, A Little Night Music, Houston Grand Opera; Zdenka, Arabella, Minnesota Opera; Vera Donovan, Dolores Claiborne, San Francisco Opera Upcoming: Mimì, La bohème, Opera Birmingham; Elle, La voix humaine, Nedda, Pagliacci, Opera Columbus
Tynan Davis - Rita the Rat
Mezzo-Soprano (San Antonio, Texas) Recent: Third Wood Sprite, Rusalka, OPERA San Antonio; soprano soloist, Abyssinian Mass, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Upcoming: A slave, Salome, OPERA San Antonio
Theo Lebow - Mr. Porcupine
Tenor (Sierra Madre, California) Recent: Pablo Picasso and F. Scott Fitzgerald, 27, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Jaquino, Fidelio, Shippensburg Music Festival; Schubert Part-Songs, Bard Music Festival Upcoming: Jupiter, Semele, Seattle Opera; New York Festival of Song
Andrey Nemzer - Agnes the Digger
Countertenor (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Recent: Guardian, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Metropolitan Opera; soloist, Carmina Burana; Pittsburgh Symphony; soloist, Carmina Burana, Rhode Island Philharmonic; Giulio Cesare (cover), Giulio Cesare, Metropolitan Opera; recital, The Pocket Symphony (Moscow) Upcoming: Arsace (cover), Partenope, San Francisco Opera
Gail Novak Mosites - Mavis the Tractor
Soprano (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) Recent: Valencienne, The Merry Widow, Opera Theater Summerfest; First Lady, The Magic Flute, and Violetta, La traviata, Undercroft Opera; Cathleen, Riders to the Sea, and Mavis, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Microscopic Opera Company Upcoming: Soprano Quartet, Frida, The Microscopic Opera Company 9
Andrew Craig Brown - Boggis
Bass-Baritone (Decatur, Illinois) Recent: Dr. Grenvil, La traviata, San Francisco Opera; Colline, La bohème, English National Opera; Achilla, Giulio Cesare, English National Opera Upcoming: First Nazarene, Salome, OPERA San Antonio; bass soloist, Missa Solemnis, Jacksonville Symphony
Edwin Vega - Bunce
Tenor (Cleveland, Ohio) Recent: First Young Officer, Die Soldaten, Komische Oper Berlin; Dance Master, Ariadne auf Naxos, Virginia Opera; Faninal’s Major-domo, Der Rosenkavalier, National Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Opera; Molqi, The Death of Klinghoffer, English National Opera Upcoming: Little Bat, Susannah, Toledo Opera; Fourth Jew, Salome, OPERA San Antonio
John Dooley - Badger
Baritone (Washington, D.C.) Recent: Carousel, New York Philharmonic; Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream - opera a cappella, Opera Memphis; The Best of Sondheim, Utah Symphony; Captain Von Trapp, The Sound of Music, Arizona Broadway Theater; Major General Stanley, Pirates of Penzance, Opera Roanoke; Upcoming: The Guilded Age of Operetta, Opera Theater of Connecticut; Man 2, Frida, The Microscopic Opera
Jonathan Blalock - Mole
Tenor (Burlington, North Carolina) Recent: Baker, An American Soldier, Washington National Opera; Paul, Paul’s Case, PROTOTYPE Festival; tenor, Hydrogen Jukebox, West Edge Opera; Rodrigo (cover), La donna del lago, Santa Fe Opera; Ottavio, Don Giovanni, Nevada Opera Upcoming: Ottavio, Don Giovanni, Cedar Rapids Opera; Ramiro, Cenerentola, Opera Roanoke
Gabriel Preisser - Bean
Baritone (Apopka, Florida) Recent: Silvio, Paglicci, Opera Naples; Husband, Les mamelles de Tirésias, Bobby, Weill’s Mahagonny-Songspiel, Opera Parallèle; Lt. Gordon, Silent Night, Cincinnati Opera; Falke, Die Fledemaus, Minnesota Orchestra. Upcoming: Figaro, The Barber of Seville, St. Petersburg Opera; Angelotti/Jailer, Tosca, Colorado Symphony; Billy Bigelow, Carousel, Minnesota Orchestra
Biographies Donald Sturrock
Librettist, writer (Henley-on-Thames, England) Recent: Storyteller (biography of Roald Dahl); Eight Women, Southwark Playhouse; Rain Dance, North Cambridge Family Opera Upcoming: Roald Dahl’s Letters (Blue Rider Press), Stinkpot Heroines (TBA)
Andres Cladera
Conductor (Montevideo, Uruguay) Resident Conductor of OPERA San Antonio; Founding Director of The Microscopic Opera Company, Pittsburgh, PA; Music School Director at Swallow Hill Music, Denver, Colorado 10
Recent: Speed Dating Tonight!, Night of The Living Dead (world premiere),Thérèse Raquin, Microscopic Opera Company; Aindamar, Quantum Theater Upcoming: Salome, La voix humaine, Il Segreto di Susanna, OPERA San Antonio; Madama Butterfly, Opera Colorado; Frida, Mercy Train (world premiere), Microscopic Opera Company.
Erica Olden
Director and Producer (Cupertino, California) Founding Director of The Microscopic Opera Company, Pittsburgh, Pensylvania Recent: Speed Dating Tonight!, Night of The Living Dead (world premiere), Thérèse Raquin, Three Decembers, Lizbeth, Riders to the Sea, Happy Garden of Life, The Monkey’s Paw, The Little Sweep, To Hell and Back, The Proposal, Microscopic Opera Company Upcoming: Frida, Mercy Train (world premiere), Microscopic Opera Company
Emily Carew Woodard
Illustrator (Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom) Recent: solo show, Chelsea, London (2012); Make Space Open Studios, London, 2014; clients: McCann, Random House Publishers, OnEarth Magazine; McGraw Hill Publishers, Alexander McQueen, The Guardian, The National Trust, The Times, The Last Tuesday Society, The House Of Fairy Tales Upcoming: solo show, London (December 2014)
Chad R. Jung
Lighting Design (Fort Worth, Texas) Resident Lighting Designer for Amphibian Stage Productions, Fort Worth Opera, Kids Who Care, and UNT Opera. Recent: Rusalka, OPERA San Antonio; The Pearl Fishers, Così fan tutte, Fort Worth Opera; Shrek, Kids Who Care; La traviata, Atlanta Opera. Upcoming: The Magic Flute, UNT Opera; The Nutcracker, Ballet Austin; Rigoletto, Opera Tampa; Hamlet, La traviata, Fort Worth Opera
Karen L. Miller
Associate Designer (San Antonio, Texas) Senior Vice-President of Design and Construction at SRO Associates, Inc. Recent: My People, Dolly Parton Museum, Dollywood; Drench!, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom; Big Tex Recreation, State Fair of Texas; Dracula, Ballet San Antonio; The Caretaker, The Lover, Convergent Theatre Company; Dickens Village, City of Boerne Upcoming: The Nutcracker, Ballet San Antonio; Themed Design, SeaWorld; Exhibit Design, Cibolo Creek Nature Center; Christmas at the Caverns, Natural Bridge Caverns
Tommy Bourgeois
Costume Design Coordinator (Dallas, Texas) Props Designer and Costume Design Consultant for The Dallas Opera, Freelance Designer
Stephanie Williams
Wigs and Makeup Designer/Department Head (New Braunfels, Texas) Wig and Makeup Assistant Department Head at Santa Fe Opera, Resident Wig Designer at Pegasus Theatre, Associate/Wig & Makeup Artist at Opera Philadelphia Recent: Carmen, Don Pasquale, Fidelio, Impresario/Le Rossignol, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, Santa Fe Opera; Ainadamar, Don Giovanni, Opera Philadelphia Upcoming: Designer: TBA, Pegasus Theatre; Salome, OPERA San Antonio; Associate: Yard Bird, Opera Philadelphia
11
The Fox Cubs
Tony Rodriguez – Lennie Foxcub Soprano (Pembroke Pines, FL) Recent: National Anthem Any Baby Can’s 10th Annual Walk for Autism, Winner Upper Elementary Division Piano - Junior Tuesday Musical Club Competition Upcoming: Children's Chorus of San Antonio/YOSA, "Peter and the Wolf," Tobin Center; cellist in YOSA's Sinfonietta Strings, YOSApalooza!, Tobin Center.
Jenna Marie Takach – Pennie Foxcub Soprano (San Antonio, TX) Recent: TCDA Elementary Honor Choir, Annie in “Annie”, Children’s Chorus of San Antonio Upcoming: Children’s Chorus of San Antonio
Morgan Teel – Jennie Foxcub Soprano (San Antonio, TX) Recent: First Chair Soprano Region 12 Honors Choir, TCDA Middle School Honors Choir, Most Outstanding Vocalist UIL Solo & Ensemble Contest Upcoming: Children’s Chorus of San Antonio
Hollis Wilkins – Bennie Foxcub Soprano (College Station, TX) Recent: Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, Junior Chorus Upcoming: Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, Youth Academy Treble Ensemble
Operas by Tobias Picker Emmeline, libretto by J.D. McClatchy (based on the novel by Judith Rossner): premiered July 27, 1996, Santa Fe Opera; New York premiere at New York City Opera in 1998; European premiere by Dicapo Opera Theater in Szeged, Hungary in 2009. Upcoming performance: Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, June 2015. Fantastic Mr. Fox, libretto by Donald Sturrock (based on the book by Roald Dahl): premiered December 9, 1998, Los Angeles Opera (version for full orchestra). Small orchestra version premiered February 18, 2011, London, Ashcroft Theatre, English Touring Opera (subsequent UK tour with stops in England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland). Chamber version for seven players premiered July 26, 2010, London, Opera Holland Park ( also performed 2010, 2011, 2012). Thérèse Raquin, libretto by Gene Scheer (based on the novel by Émile Zola): premiered November 30, 2001, Dallas Opera; subsequent performances by Opéra de Montréal and San Diego Opera chamber version premiered March 14, 2006, London, Royal Opera House II at Convent Garden. Upcoming performances: Long Beach Opera. January 2015; Chicago Opera Theater, February 2015. An American Tragedy, libretto by Donald Sturrock (based on the novel by Theodore Dreiser): premiered December 2, 2005, at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Revised version premiered July 20, 2014, at the Glimmerglass Festival, Cooperstown, NY. Dolores Claiborne, libretto by J.D. McClatchy (based on the novel by Stephen King): premiered September 18, 2013, at San Francisco Opera.
12
Introduction What better choice for OPERA San Antonio’s first production than a fun, entertaining, comic opera that the whole family can enjoy! Thank you for joining to inaugurate the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater as we present Roald Dahl’s beloved Fantastic Mr. Fox as adapted for the operatic stage by OPERA San Antonio’s Artistic Director, Tobias Picker. Appearing in this exciting new production are baritone John Brancy in the title role, 2013 Winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, alongside soprano Elizabeth Futral, under the baton of OPERA San Antonio Resident Conductor Andres Cladera. Director Erica Olden and designer Emily Carew Woodard collaborate on a breathtaking new production that bring the characters of Dahl’s novel to life in an enchanting way.
Fantastic Mr. Fox Finds a New Home at OPERA San Antonio As a child, Tobias Picker became intrigued by Roald Dahl’s fiction — only his first exposure wasn’t the children’s books that are beloved around the world, but Dahl’s stories for grown-ups, to which his parents had taken a liking. “I watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents every week as a kid, and one of my favorites was a version of the story “Lamb to the Slaughter.” I loved Dahl’s sensibility from the start.” The key to the enduring appeal of Dahl’s fiction for children, Picker believes, lies in his gift for writing stories that don’t condescend to young readers. “Dahl had a unique sense of humor that adults can also relish.” And that’s exactly the kind of work Picker wanted to emulate with his adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox for the opera stage. “I recoil at the phrase ‘children’s opera,’ because so often it suggests an intentional dumbing down,” he explained. “I think ‘family opera’ is a much better term for this. It’s an inclusive opera, with something for both children and adults.” The writer and TV film producer, Donald Sturrock, describes the outlook instinctively shared by these two artists, though they never actually had the chance to meet: “Tobias made the story very much his own. He brought his energy and gifts as a composer to it, but also the enthusiasm, curiosity, and eagerness of a child. He also sees the world through a child’s eyes. That’s one of the reasons why the story works quite well. Roald [Dahl] would have felt happy with the result because it isn’t full of artifice.” Sturrock got to know the often prickly writer in the years right before Dahl died in 1990. His book Storyteller (2010) is the definitive biography. After consulting closely with Dahl’s widow, Felicity (Liccy), to commission several new pieces of music inspired by her husband — pieces modeled after Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf — Sturrock soon realized that Fantastic Mr. Fox would be an ideal source for an opera and crafted a libretto. Finding the right composer, though, proved more difficult. “One of
my keystones was this: does the composer have an instinctive sense of the child still within?” Sturrock recalls. “I didn’t want a composer who would dumb down what they do. And to write a successful opera for kids, you also have to be able to write tunes.” Flash back to the summer of 1996, when Picker — already an acclaimed composer of orchestral and chamber music — made his stunning debut as an opera composer at the Santa Fe Opera Festival with Emmeline. Based on a novel by the American writer Judith Rossner, Emmeline focuses on the suffering but also strength of a woman who is ostracized in 19th-century Maine. In the audience were Sturrock and Felicity Dahl, still on the hunt for their Fox composer. It may seem ironic that Emmeline — an opera as stark and grim as a Greek tragedy — convinced them they’d found exactly what they were looking for. “Liccy turned to me and says, ‘He should do it.’ And from my own experience with opera, I knew her instinct was right,” says Sturrock. “We both heard a natural lyricism in Tobias’s music for Emmeline that made us confident.” He feared that the remarkable success of Picker’s first foray into opera meant he’d inevitably become too booked up to commit to their project, even if it did captivate him. Picker was soon approached by the Metropolitan Opera as well as Dallas Opera and received commissions from each. These eventually resulted in two more operas (An American Tragedy and Thérèse Raquin, respectively) that feature characters hemmed in by fateful, tragic circumstances, further mining the dark psychology explored in Emmeline. As it happened, their timing couldn’t have been better. “Usually things that come in unsolicited are not very good,” says Picker, “but I recognized Donald’s libretto as a brilliant piece of work and was enthralled. I’d already decided I wanted to look for a children’s story for my next opera anyway because I knew I would be writing a tragic opera for Dallas. So I wanted something to cleanse my palate, something that could appeal to a child’s sensibility.” Liccy Dahl invited the composer to visit her late husband’s writing hut in their home located in the village of Great Missenden in south central England. Picker says, “I was able to soak up the atmosphere and the spirit of Roald by spending time there and saw the garden where he’d spotted the actual fox which had inspired the book.”
Sturrock, Picker adds, “Understood what a composer wants from a libretto. The words were eminently settable. They sparkled like a shiny toy. There was an economy in the way he told the story but he also occasionally spiced it with clever things. Plus, it was very funny and witty, but also touching.” Fans of Dahl’s original story will notice a few twists that create opportunities for music: the commentary (and atmosphere-setting) of the children’s Chorus of Trees, for example, or the tiny, but piquant, subplot of the amour between Miss Hedgehog and Mr. Porcupine. Sturrock says, “Some of those things came from having heard Emmeline. I could see what Tobias did particularly well. And I wanted to give kids an introduction to all the different kinds of opera voices — the whole range, deep bass and high soprano and between. The construction, in a sense, is more like opera from the 18th century, with its rapid changes of scene from one place to another, where you suddenly encounter a new character.” Andres Cladera, OPERA San Antonio’s Resident Conductor, draws on his memories of falling in love with the art of opera at age seven, when he sang in a children’s chorus in his native Uruguay. Cladera describes the sophistication that lies hidden behind the seeming simplicity of Fox’s score. “It’s a mistake to underestimate children and their ability to absorb musical concepts and musical emotions. Tobias knows they can assimilate music that is complex and beautiful. He can write a simple tune that kids might remember, with their sense of playfulness, but he doesn’t shy away from real emotions that you feel at any age. His music for the farmers and Agnes is truly scary.” For this new production to inaugurate OPERA San Antonio, Picker was determined to present Fantastic Mr. Fox “as a great entertainment that emphasizes the colorful aspects of the animal world. That meant engaging someone with a visual sense to anchor this world, someone who is a real illustrator.” Sturrock says, “It’s such a shame that opera productions rarely go to actual artists or illustrators for the visual component. So for this production I suggested we use a talented young artist to offer kids a real visual delight that’s true and has integrity. The sensibility of the acclaimed artist Emily Carew Woodard thrilled Picker, who is keenly responsive to the visual arts, in a way that reminded him of his own reactions to Dahl. Picker says, “I fell in love with Emily’s illustrations, their incredible detail. There’s a 13
real spiritual kinship between her work and Dahl’s, and they also share a sense of dark, at times twisted humor.” The London-based Woodard spent lots of time studying animal behavior “and the humor animals can exhibit” when she began thinking of her designs for the production. She says, “The animals have been personified, which would of course appeal to children, but actually I think it’s an adult story in a children’s costume. What I’ve come up with overall is true to my aesthetic, which is inspired by Arthur Rackham and the golden era of the Victorian Age. I want to make the audience be able to look closely at the set and spot details while watching the opera. For example, there’s an arrow sticking through the weathervane cockerel. I interpreted the story straight from Donald’s libretto.” In Storyteller, Sturrock declared that Fantastic Mr. Fox represents Dahl’s “most autobiographical” children’s story. “In the 1960s he was struggling to keep body and soul together. His son was injured in an accident, his daughter died, and his [first] wife [the actress Patricia Neal] had a terrible stroke. The book was written at the end of all of that. Roald saw himself as Mr. Fox — the guy who had pulled everyone through this with his tenacity and energy.” All of these layers coexist — the charm, the eccentric wit and humor, the autobiographical, and of course the story’s power in our era of environmental devastation as a parable of nature out of balance thanks to humanity’s depredations. And they endow Fantastic Mr. Fox with its quality of being more than “just” a children’s tale.
R I S TOR A N T E
S A N A N TO N I O
“With Fantastic Mr. Fox,” says Picker, “I wanted to write something for children and adults — for the entire family. I like works that are multilayered.” Which might be the most efficient definition of the art of opera itself. —Thomas May writes about the arts and blogs at memeteria.com.
14
L UNCH
D INNER 7 D AYS A W EEK PRG-SA.COM
Downtown North Central PAESANOS LINCOLN HEIGHTS PAESANOS RIVERWALK 555 East Basse Road 111 West Crockett Street (210) 828-5191 (210) 227-2782 North West PAESANOS 1604 3622 Paesanos Parkway (210) 493-1604
D L O S
! T U O
15
2014-15 Season Donors
Thank You! The Board of Directors, artists and staff of OPERA San Antonio gratefully acknowledge the generous support from our donors: (Donations received by September 16, 2014)
Founder’s Circle ($100,000 and above) Charles C. Butt The City of San Antonio – Department of Cultural and Creative Development
Chairman’s Circle ($50,000 to $99,999) Kronkosky Charitable Foundation The Tobin Endowment Terry Touhey
Underwriter ($25,000 to $49,999) H-E-B Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts
Sponsor ($10,000 to $24,999)
Asel & Associates Barry and Natalie Beller Charles Forster Joe Johnson and Karen Diaz The Gorman Foundation Blair and Barbara Labatt James and Lisa McCutcheon Marshall Miller and Claudia Huntington Gerald and Pat Schulz Kimberly Terry The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund Mel and Sandy Weingart
Patron ($5,000 to $9,999) Anonymous Braverman Family Foundation Charles Schwab, San Antonio Jim and Janet Dicke Frost Bank Tom and Pat Frost Marie Halff James and Aurora Nester Albert and Kathleen Vale
Benefactor ($2,500 to $4,999)
16
Michael and Molly Amini Ann Ash Charles Schwab, San Antonio Al and Mary Jane Ely Thomas and Maryanne Guido Phil and Linda Hardberger Kendra Scott Design, Inc. Patrick and Joan Kennedy
John and Florence Newman Foundation The Watson Foundation Sue E. Turner Keith and Mary Young
Fellow ($1,000 to $2,499) Marion Bell Ron and Genie Calgaard James Calvert Lance W. Cameron Fully and Gloria Clingman Barbara S. Condos Steve and Libby Golden Jim and Roxie Hayne Plato and Dorothy Karayanis Ronald Keller John and Susan Kerr Bill and Camilla Parker Margaret King Stanley Jean Stein Terracina Family Foundation Emily Ellen Volk Charles Thomas Wright
Contributor ($500 to $999) Aaron Asel Scott and Karin Beckendorf Phillip and Sarah Alice Benson Jim and Ruth Berg Mike Davis Barbara Gentry James Griffin Jim and Roxie Hayne Rosemary E. Kowalski Gregory Jackson Joan Lynch David and Kathleen Meriwether Ian and Ale Mitchell Carmen Perez Matilda Perkins Patricia Pratchett Marc and Gail Raney Chere Reneau Leland Rudofsky Linda A. Seeligson Ruth Eilene Sullivan Sergio and Alice Viroslav Joe and Janet Westheimer Charles Wright
2014-15 Season Donors
Thank You! The Board of Directors, artists and staff of OPERA San Antonio gratefully acknowledge the generous support from our donors: Friend ($100 to $249)
Supporter ($250 to $499)
Christina Ortega Alton Brad and Peg Breuer Bill and Liz Chiego Harriett E. Christian Anne Connor Rafael Escandon Roger Foxhall Kathleen Garrison John and Joella Gordon Nicholas Grimes Thomas and Margarite Guggolz Ruth Jean Gurwitz Diana S. Hamner Gary and Angela Hoeffler Stephen Kowalski Glen J. Krueger Carl and Ann Leafstedt Christine Mayer James Nelson Harvey and Benita Newman David and Amy Phipps Nathan Poerner Jane Cheever Powell Carolyn B. Sanders Marianne Schreiber Judith Sobre Elsie Steg Shaun Sullivan Elizabeth Venson Leopoldo Zorilla
Ben and Janet Adams Roger Bessey Mary Ann Bruni Arturo Camacho Raymond and Keena Cole Chuck and Elinor DuVal Sarah E. Harte Mary Jane Howe Norm and Linda Idleberg Joe Johnson V Judith Lachman Scott and Elizabeth McMillian Joseph P. Murgo George and Margo Olson Kendall Purpura Epitacio V. Resendez Ira and Susan Ross Lynn Stahl Rachel Stalnaker Keith Swinney Steven Tyler Coella Walk Lyle Williams Barbara Wulfe
Please consider supporting OPERA San Antonio Ticket sales cover less than half of what it costs to stage these fabulous productions and bring you the world’s best singers. OPERA San Antonio relies on gifts from you to make world-class opera a reality in our community.
Your gifts:
• Help us raise the curtain for each performance this season. • Sustain this remarkable art form. • Help ensure opera is made accessible to the widest possible audience. Call (210) 637-7270 or visit operasa.org 17
Board of Directors Mel Weingart, Chairman Charles A. Forster, Vice Chairman John Asel, Treasurer Margaret King Stanley, Secretary Natalie Beller Sheldon Braverman Karen Diaz Maryanne Guido Linda Hardberger Blair Labatt James Nester Eduardo Parra Marc Raney Terry Touhey Kathleen Weir Vale Ex-Officio Members Bebe Canales Inkley, President – Opera Guild of San Antonio James McCutcheon, Legal Counsel International Advisory Board Edgar Foster Daniels David Gockley Nathan Gunn Desmond Heeley Eric Owens Patricia Racette Dolora Zajick Nancy Zeckendorf
Staff Chairman and General Manager Mel Weingart Artistic Director Tobias Picker Director of Development Lisa McCutcheon
Development Assistant Rhanda Luna
Director of Production Marie Barrett
Administrative Assistant Cecille Martinez
Resident Conductor Andres Cladera
Production Assistant Jonathan Moore
Artistic and Production Coordinator Stephanie McCranie
OPERA SAN ANTONIO 417 8TH STREET SAN ANTONIO, TExAS 78215 (210) 673-7270 18
19
H-E-B proudly supports OPERA San Antonio, the resident opera company of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
20