PRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF ECS PUBLISHING GROUP. ST. LOUIS, MO SOLE AGENT FOR E. C. SCHIRMER MUSIC COMPANY, PUBLISHER AND COPYRIGHT OWNER
William R. Langley conductor Naples Festival Orchestra Wang Opera Center March 18th, 7:30 pm & March 20th, 2:00 pm
Sondra Quinn Executive Director
Ramón Tebar Artistic Director
Since 2006, Opera Naples brings internationally acclaimed artists to perform in some of the most beloved operas and world-class performances, earning significant praise from both critics and patrons. Just two years after its inception, Opera Naples was named Best Performing Arts Group by Gulfshore Life magazine! A community-based, nonprofit arts organization rooted in volunteerism, education and audience engagement, Opera Naples conducts an educational outreach program in local schools and an artist-in-residence program for emerging opera singers and the Opera Naples Academy, a 10-day intensive for exceptional professional opera singers to train with such opera luminaries as Sherrill Milnes, Veronica Villaroel, Manny Perez, and Maestro Ramón Tebar. Opera Naples produces a full season of opera and concerts in its permanent home, the Wang Opera Center, and main stage operas in Hayes Hall at Artis-Naples.
Mission Statement: To be a professional opera company known for excellence and innovation by presenting quality opera, musical performances, education, and community engagement programs.
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CAST
Skyler Schlenker Older Thompson Wesley Frye Younger Thompson Linda Collazo Older Alyce Emilie Faiella Younger Alyce
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ARTISTIC STAFF
Cara Consilvio Stage Director Greg Haydock Scenic Designer Justin Keenan Miller Lighting Designer Tlaloc Lopez-Waterman Video Designer Barbara Erin Delo Costume Designer Gina Weiner Wig, Hair and Make-up Designer Surtitles written by John Hoomes
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PERFORMANCES C O N T I N U E D
Tonight’s performance will last approximately 1 hour and 21 minutes (There will be no intermission)
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Please be sure that your cell phones and electronic devices have been silenced. The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited
WILLIAM R. LANGLEY C O N D U C T O R
Founding Music Director of the Memphis Repertory Orchestra, William R. Langley, began his career as an orchestral conductor at age sixteen. His tenure with the MRO “Shaping the Next Gener-ation of Orchestral Musicians” spanned a decade and included over 50 concerts and 3 recorded albums. An avid performer, the young maestro has guest conducted the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, CCM Philharmonia, Starling Chamber Orchestra, Blueshift Ensemble, and made his Carnegie Hall debut with All of the Above Ensemble in 2019. Langley holds a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati where he studied under the tutelage of Maestro Mark Gibson. In 2019 he was selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the American Austrian Foundation to be awarded one of two esteemed Ansbacher Fellowships for Young Conductors with the opportunity to study in Austria at the Salzburger Festspiele. Langley has covered conductors as Sir Donald Runnicles, Louis Langrée, Carlos Kalmar, Juanjo Mena, Ramón Tebar, Xian Zhang, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya, to name a few.
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CARA CONSILVIO S T A G E
D I R E C T O R
Cara Consilvio is a director and producer of opera, theater, and film. Recent directing credits include Il Trovatore for Opera in the Heights, Scalia/Ginsburg for Chautauqua Opera and the world premiere of Our Trudy for the Ad Astra Music Festival. In the Spring of 2021, she directed the chamber opera season at Grand Rapids Opera, which included Penny, an opera film, and Second Nature. In January of 2021, Cara directed and edited Bernadette’s Cozy Book Nook; a world premiere opera film for Fort Worth Opera. In 2020, Cara directed Scalia/Ginsburg for Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids, and the world premieres of The Leader and Kassandra for Opera in the Heights. Other stage directing engagements include new productions of Philip Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox at Chautauqua Opera, An American Dream at Anchorage Opera, The Threepenny Opera for Syracuse Opera, Suor Angelica and Glory Denied at Tri-Cities Opera, and The Elixir of Love for Piedmont Opera. Cara is a co-founder of Hup! Productions and is currently in post-production on her feature film directing debut, a feature documentary called For the Love of Friends, which will premiere on the film festival circuit in 2022.
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SKYLER SCHLENKER O L D E R
T H O P M P S O N
Baritone Skyler Schlenker has most recently studied under Carol Vaness at the Aspen Music Festival and School and at Indiana University. He began studying voice in his mid-twenties after playing football in college and studying drama and psychology. Before formally studying voice, he became a young artist at the Brevard Music Center’s Janiec Opera Company, and soon after began playing and covering supporting and leading roles at the Aspen Music Festival and School as an opera fellow. He has performed challenging roles, including the role of Yeshua in Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, and Marcello and Ford in the Jacobs School of Music’s productions of La bohème and Falstaff. He joins Opera Naples to sing the roles of Older Thompson in Glory Denied, and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, among others.
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WESLEY FRYE Y O U N G E R
T H O M P S O N
Wesley Frye has been praised for his “big...sensitive,” and “handsome” tenor voice, receiving several laudatory reviews in Minneapolis for performances as Male Chorus in Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and Haydn’s Paukenmesse. Wesley was the 2018 recipient of the Opera Omaha Award at the Metropolitan Opera District Auditions in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was a Wisconsin District Finalist in 2020. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Wesley was slated to make a debut with the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra as the tenor soloist in their performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Recent performance credits include: King Kaspar (Amahl and the Night Visitors, Skylark Opera), Goro (Madama Butterfly, Opera West), Faust (Faust, Opera Reading Project), and Gabriel von Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus, Opera on the Lake). Wesley holds a B.A. in Voice Performance from Luther College, as well as a M.M. in Voice Performance from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with John De Haan.
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LINDA COLLAZO O L D E R
A LY C E
Hailed as having a voice that is “elastic and luxurious” (Ars Raving Mad), Bronx-native Mezzo-Soprano Linda Collazo has performed at Carnegie Hall, the United Palace Theater, the United Nations, Lincoln Center, and with the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Roles include Armelinde in Viardot’s Cendrillon with City Lyric Opera, Lola (cover) in Cavalleria Rusticana with New Camerata Opera, Vera in The Consul with Encompass New Opera Theater, Orlofsky (cover) in Die Fledermaus and Meg Page (cover) in Falstaff with Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, Solo Handmaiden in Turandot with Sarasota Opera, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, Cherubino and Dorabella (cover) in Le Nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte, La Cesca and Zita in Gianni Schicchi, and Hansel in Hansel & Gretel. She won the Woodmere and Bronx Arts Ensemble Competitions and an encouragement award from the MONC auditions. She is a graduate of the Macaulay Honors College.
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EMILIE FAIELLA Y O U N G E R
A LY C E
Soprano Emilie Faiella most recently performed as Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance) with Opera Naples, Jeannette (The Blacksmith) with Opera Lafayette, and as Lucy (The Telephone), Geraldine (A Hand of Bridge), and Lola (Gallantry) in Portland Opera’s An American Quartet. Her past roles include the Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen), the Girl (Afterlife), Selena (Dolores Claiborne) and Yniold (Pelléas et Mélisande) with Boston University’s Opera Institute, as well as Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Ginevra (Ariodante), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and others. She is a District Winner of the 2020 MONC Auditions and finalist of the 2020 Classical Singer Competition, and received Second Prizes at the 2019 Rochester International Vocal Competition and 2017 James Toland Vocal Arts Competition. Emilie is affiliated with Houston Grand Opera’s YAVA, CoOPERAtive’s Fellowship program, and SongFest’s Young Artist program, and received her M.Mus. at Boston University. Concorso Mario Lanza di Filignano, Giulio Gari Foundation, Bel Canto Competition, National Opera Association, Opera Pienza, Concorso Internazionale di Maria Caniglia, Concorso Lirica di Toti dal Monte among several others. Ms. Donatti attended The Juilliard School and graduated with both a Bachelors and Masters in Music.
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MARIO MARRA R E S I D E N T
A R T I S T
C O A C H
Mario Antonio Marra, sought after collaborative pianist, coach, and conductor, has served on the music staff at Oper Frankfurt, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera among others. He was a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center young artist program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Until 2015, he was on the coaching staff of the Manhattan School of Music, while earning a Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Warren Jones. An active recitalist, he has recently performed with many of today’s most sought after singers including Željko Lučić, Eric Owens, Quinn Kelsey, and with Stephanie Blythe in her widely celebrated Sing America! program. During his time in Chicago, he also curated a recital series of Neapolitan Music for the Art Institute of Chicago in conjunction with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Lauded by the legendary Marilyn Horne for his “superb technique,” Marra won the 2013 Marilyn Horne Song Competition, along with the critically acclaimed young baritone John Brancy. In the spring of 2014, Marra and Brancy presented a concert tour performing at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA, Hahn Hall in Santa Barbara, and Opera America in New York City. Other performance highlights include master classes with luminaries of the vocal world such as Marilyn Horne, Christa Ludwig, Vladimir Chernov, Deborah Voigt, and Stephanie Blythe. In early 2014, Marra was selected to participate in Carnegie Hall’s “The Song Continues,” a week-long series of master classes and recitals. In 2010, he toured Tuscany, performing solo and chamber music with renowned new music flutist Roberto Fabbriciani and had the rare privilege of playing a High Mass on the organ of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
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BARBARA ERIN DELO C O S T U M E
D E S I G N E R
Barbara Erin Delo is a Costume Designer and Artisan working in dance, theatre and opera. A New York native, she has previously designed costumes for Williamstown Theatre Company, Theatre at St Clements (The Bigot, Off Broadway premier), Judson Church (Beyond Babel, Off Broadway Premier) Martha Graham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, The Flea, Castillo Theatre, Parsons Dance Company, Megan Williams Dance Projects, Capital Repertory Theatre, Battery Dance Company, NYC Fringe Festival, Chain Theatre Company, Third Rail Productions as well as many other NY and regional theatres. She studied costume design at SUNY Binghamton and NYU Tisch.
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SYNOPSIS A C T
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Captain Thompson (Jim), America’s longest-held prisoner of war, recalls episodes of his nine-year ordeal which include escape attempts, torture, the overwhelming loneliness of five years in solitary confinement, and being forced to sign a propaganda statement. He finds the strength to survive in memories of his family, letters from his wife Alyce about their home and children, and thoughts of his elaborate plans to build his dream house.
Pregnant with their fourth child and only son, Alyce receives the news that Jim’s plane has been shot down. Denied any reliable information about his status or whereabouts, she soon begins a relationship with another man (Harold), eventually moving with him to Massachusetts and telling her children that their father is dead. Alyce refuses to have Jim’s name released to the public as Missing in Action, or inscribed on a P.O.W. bracelet, a popular solidarity symbol at the time, and consults a lawyer to have her husband legally declared dead. Thompson, in captivity, finds comfort in the 23rd Psalm.
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SYNOPSIS A C T
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Several American P.O.W.s are released and Jim returns home, but the Pentagon honors another man, Everett Alvarez, as the longest-held prisoner. With the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, Jim receives a letter welcoming him back from President Richard Nixon and suggesting that “some things about America may appear to have changed” since his departure. Alyce greets Jim’s homecoming and confesses her new relationship. She offers to go away if that is what he prefers, but Jim wants to reconcile. He notes how life has changed during his nineyear captivity and soon the couple begins to fight with Jim complaining that Alyce is not the wife he left behind. Alyce asserts her independence and describes what her life has been like during his absence. Jim, considered a local hero, is asked to give a sermon at the church where he and Alyce were married, and recalls his idealized family life. But Alyce has moved on. The years pass and Jim, having suffered a stroke, lives alone, estranged from his family, struggling with all that has occurred.
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NAPLES FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA Violin
Viola
Avi Nagin
Carl Larson
Cello
Flute
Clarinet
Jason Calloway
Jennifer Grim
Orlando Scalia
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French Horn
Percussion
Christopher Komer
Mark Schubert
Harp
Piano
Leefei Chen
Mario Marra
PRODUCTION STAFF Tony Johnson Director of Production Dara Swisher Stage Manager Hannah Delmore Stage Manager Dan Jobbins Technical Director Louis Dall’ Ava Props Master Mario Marra Rehearsal Pianist/Resident Artist Coach Public Relations, Marketing and Design B3 Marketing Gravina, Smith, Matte & Arnold Credits: Produced by permission of ECS Publishing Group. St. Louis, MO. Sole Agent for E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Publisher and Copyright Owner The surtitle translation used in this production is owned by the Nashville Opera. Costumes by Costume World, YB Productions Special Thanks: The Naples Players, TheatreZone
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sondra Quinn Executive Director Ramon Tebar Artistic Director Gerald Goldberg Chairman Emeritus Larry Ost Chairman Emeritus John Pepe Vice Chairman/Treasurer Linda Kehoe Secretary Jan Burrus Sally Gleason Wendy Needham Dr. Krzysztof Biernacki DMA Moira Fennessey Livio Ferrari Patrick Moran Brian R. Dorn Ph.D. Carl Sceusa Susan Mullin Scott
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DONORS
With heartfelt thanks, Opera Naples acknowledges our generous sponsors who make the grandest of art forms thrive in Southwest Florida.
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR DONORS
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OPERA NAPLES STAFF
Leah Summers Artistic Coordinator Robin Shuford Frank Director of Education and Community Outreach Carla Calavitta Director of Development Kent Kyle Development Associate Rita Albaugh Box Office Manager
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A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Nicky & John Pepe Louise & Larry Ost Lois & Bruce Selfon Susan Mullin Wendy Needham FineMark PNC Private Bank Winfield Coffee
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