Des Moines Metro Opera Vivace Winter 2020

48TH FESTIVAL SEASON SWEENEY TODD | PLATÉE | THE QUEEN OF SPADES | THE HUMAN VOICE | FELLOW TRAVELERS

WELCOME 2020 is finally here and with its arrival, Des Moines Metro Opera launches into a busy few months. First up in January, we present Francis Poulenc’s uncompromisingly realistic monologue The Human Voice (La voix humaine) that provides us with an opportunity to feature one of my favorite artists, mezzo-soprano Elise Quagliata. This one-woman tour de force highlights how technology connects (and disconnects) us to one another at times when we most need to hear a voice of comfort and reassuring words on the other line. Both technology and this piece have evolved since its first iteration in 1958, but Kristine McIntyre’s new English text will create a performance that feels very much of our time. Seating is limited at the Viking Theatre at Grand View University so secure your tickets soon!

Our priority to inspire new audiences through statewide education programming is fulfilled each year with our OPERA Iowa program. On March 2 we hit the road for our 34th annual tour, converting school gymnasiums and cafeterias into creative theatrical spaces to sing the stories of Little Red’s Most Unusual Day and Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Just a few spots remain in our booking calendar, so if you’d like to see the program brought to the school of children near and dear to you, please contact us.

Is it safe to say that I’ve never been more excited about the collection of pieces we’ll be offering this coming summer? Though the solution to the programming puzzle is different each season, my priorities that guide

Season Presenting Sponsor THE LAURIDSEN FAMILY FOUNDATION

assembling a season are usually the same. These include creating dynamic contrasts across periods, styles and languages, broad name recognition versus new and unusual works and then finally, appealing to both firsttime attendees and experienced opera aficionados who come from all corners of the globe. This year, we’ve put the puzzle together utilizing the same strategies, but with new and fascinating results. Sondheim’s musical thriller Sweeney Todd, one of Broadway’s most recognized and popular works, returns to our stage to open the season.

Then new territory is explored through Rameau’s Baroque romp Platée, direct from the Palace of Versailles.

While Tchaikovsky is certainly a familiar name, his operatic ghost story The Queen of Spades is a largely underperformed masterpiece of Imperial Russian proportions.

Central to our mission is to demonstrate how the power of sung stories can speak to a modern world. In 2016 a new opera called Fellow Travelers premiered at Cincinnati Opera and a spark was ignited. When I saw it in Chicago the next year, I could sense the audience’s collective involvement with the work and I knew we needed to present it here in Iowa. A one-night-only performance at the newly renovated Hoyt Sherman Place on Saturday, July 11, will be a focal point of the summer. I hope you’ll mark your calendar for that special date.

The excitement around Des Moines Metro Opera is palpable. I’ll be counting down the days until the season, and I hope you will be too. Tickets are moving quickly and preferred dates sell out first—don’t wait to secure yours!

Michael Egel, General and Artistic Director

Vivace is a newsletter published annually by Des Moines Metro Opera, Inc., 106 West Boston Avenue, Indianola, Iowa 501251836. Volume 7, Issue 1.

Editor SCOTT ARENS Design KIMBERLY DRAGELEVICH Contributors MICHAEL EGEL TIM KRUMM ROBERT L. LARSEN KRISTINE MCINTYRE MARK TIARKS Photographers MARK DAVITT BEN EASTER JEN GOLAY SUSIE HULST DUANE TINKEY Proofreader JULIA HAGEN

On the cover A scene from last summer's production of La Bohème, featuring Joshua Guerrero as Rodolfo and Julie Adams as Mimì.

6/26 Fri

6/28 Sun

7/4 Sat

7/9 Thurs

7/14 Tues

7/16 Thurs

7/19 Sun

SONDHEIM

SWEENEY TODD

Attend The Tale Des Moines Metro Opera founder Robert L. Larsen explains how Sondheim's musical thriller came from Broadway to Des Moines Metro Opera's stage.

THE ORIGIN OF THIS STRANGE TALE may have been a recorded murder in the later 18th century in the area of Fleet Street in London. A version appeared in serialized form for The People’s Periodical and Family Library—a 16-page weekly penny newspaper in November 1846. It hit the stage in a version

by George Dibden Pitt in March of 1847. The production was full of sensational stage effects including a disappearing barber chair. The Pitt version was the first of many stage versions, mostly melodramas, in which virtue triumphed over vice.

Sweeney Todd ZACHARY NELSON

Mrs. Lovett LUCY SCHAUFER

CUTTING THROUGH THE CHORUS Defining Sweeney Todd

Conductor DAVID NEELY

Director KRISTINE MCINTYRE

It was a new version rife with revenge and social commentary by Christopher Bond that Sondheim saw in the Theatre Royal in London’s West End in 1973 when he was in the city working on a production of Gypsy.

Todd, in this version, was a sympathetic figure driven to crime by a lecherous judge who takes his wife and child from him.

Fifteen years later he escapes from exile and returns to London to avenge his wrongs.

Hal Prince’s production at the Uris Theatre on Broadway with Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou was popular, but beset with symbolism that cluttered the story. In my opinion it took a far more effective version at the Circle in the Square and inclusion by opera theatres, including New York City Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago in their repertory, for the work to achieve its real life and stature as one of the most amazing of 20th century theatrical phenomena.

I saw it on Broadway shortly after its premiere in 1979, and I thought even then that the right voices and a different theatrical approach might work wonders. It interested me enough that I bought a recording when I got home—something I almost never do.

The demon barber struck and would not be assuaged until I first shared this feast of music, mirth, and mayhem with Des Moines Metro Opera audiences back in 1995, and I'm thrilled to see Sweeney make its triumphant return to DMMO's stage 25 years later.

Sweeney Todd has been called by people who care about categories everything from an opera to a song cycle. When pressed, I have referred to it as a dark operetta, but just as all baggage comes with labels, so do all labels come with baggage.

“Opera” implies endless stentorian singing; “operetta” implies gleeful choirs of peasants dancing in the town square; “opéra bouffe” implies hilarious (in intent, at least) complications of mistaken identity; “musical comedy” implies showbiz pizzazz and blindingly bright energy; “musical play” implies musical comedy that isn’t funny.

For me, an opera is something that is performed in an opera house in front of an opera audience.

The ambience, along with the audience’s expectation, is what flavors the evening. When Porgy and Bess was performed on Broadway, it was a musical; when it was performed at Glyndeborne and Covent Garden, it was an opera. Opera is defined by the eye and ear of the beholder. So where does that leave Sweeney?

Dark operetta is the closest I can come, but that’s as much a misnomer as any of the others. What Sweeney Todd really is is a movie for the stage.

—Stephen Sondheim

Angela Lansbury, Stephen Sondheim and Len Cariou during the original Broadway cast recording of Sweeney Todd in 1979. Photo Credit: Henry Grossman; copyright Sony Music.

6/27 Sat

7/3 Fri

7/12 Sun

7/17 Fri

RAMEAU

PLATÉE

vaNitY at veRsailles Rameau's colorful ballet "buffon" made a splash at its premiere at Versailles in 1745, and now the marsh nymph prepares to make her debut on DMMO's mainstage.

IT’S STRANGE TO IMAGINE how an opera that is primarily an exercise in comeuppance was commissioned for a wedding celebration. Platée was composed for the nuptials of the famously imperious Spanish princess Maria Theresa at Versailles in 1745. The plot hinges on the behavior and antics of Platée, a vain marsh nymph who finds herself at the center of an elaborate joke devised by Jupiter and other gods to cure his own wife Juno of her jealousy.

Before going too far, it is important to note that the title role is meant to be sung by a man portraying a female character. Audiences are accustomed to the practice of women playing the roles of young men in some operas—here that concept is turned on its ear. In our production tenor Taylor Stayton will assume heels and corset to make his role debut as the nymph herself.

Composing it in this way highlights the role’s sillier side without damaging its sympathetic qualities. To be fair, the opera’s deceptive shenanigans are more acute on page than the stage, and Rameau does direct all empathy towards Platée. Nevertheless, the premiere couldn't have been a comfortable experience for the bride.

When it opens this season, Platée will become the earliest opera that Des Moines Metro Opera has ever programmed. When companies venture into

works of the Baroque period, audiences expect operas by Handel or Monteverdi—stoic tales extoling the virtue of heroic mortals, the intervening of Fate and Fortune, and the heaping of praise on Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.

But when it came time for Des Moines Metro Opera to program a work from this period, the priority was to do something unexpected and have some fun along the way. Because comedy was never exactly central to the French opera tradition, Platée comes as a welcome surprise and serves as an anomaly of its period, no matter how baffling its origins. And its company premiere this summer is a cause for celebration.

On one level, Platée is a parody of the serious operas of its time in which Rameau ridicules the stilted gestures, language and music of his predecessors. The exaggerated vocal acrobatics will seem silly even if you don’t know what they are lampooning. The music develops into a farce at the marriage ceremony in which Momus, pretending to be Cupid, is accompanied by exaggerated orchestral effects to mimic his grief and sighs. Central to the French tradition, the dance music underscores the hilarity and near the end, the celebrants dance to a “plus noble” chaconne that is anything but noble. Rameau makes use of charming naturalistic effects to imitate the marsh sounds and various other animalistic references. With music that is both sweet and hilarious, audiences will be won over

by Platée’s zany adventures.

Company favorite Zachary James appears as Jupiter, opposite Taylor Stayton as Platée. Chas Rader-Shieber and Jacob A. Climer, who have created stunning productions of Orphée and Rusalka in previous seasons, return to give us a very fresh take on this early work. Astute listeners will note a line sung by Amour in the prologue who says, “In the end, love comes to all.” This is a clue to the outcome of the story, whose lesson on the pitfalls of vanity delivers a timeless message to all while getting in quite a few laughs along the way!

Platée TAYLOR STAYTON

Jupiter ZACHARY JAMES

La Folie ELIZABETH SUTPHEN

Momus JOHN BRANCY

Juno ZOIE REAMS

Conductor GARY THOR WEDOW

Director CHAS RADER-SHIEBER

7/5 Sun

7/7 Tues

7/10 Fri

7/18 Sat

TCHAIKOVSKY

THE QUEEN OF SPADES

Long Live the Queen

While Eugene Onegin is his most popular opera, The Queen of Spades may be Tchaikovsky's best. In it, the composer of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake tackles Pushkin's eerie Russian ghost story.

Faro, the card game that figures prominently in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, was one of the most popular forms of gambling throughout Europe and the United States in the 19th century. Part of its appeal was the simplicity of the game, which involves the player placing a bet on a rank of card (nine, ten, Jack, etc.). The dealer then turns over two cards from the top of the deck—one for himself and one for the player. The player wins if the rank of his card matches the rank he bet on and loses if the dealer’s card matches it. If neither card matches, the next pair of cards is revealed.

IF ANY COMPOSER embodies the essence of "Russianness," it is Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, whose music often evokes his country’s landscape and is characterized by its tunefulness, sentiment, bombast and grand passions. While he shared a devotion to Russia’s folk heritage that was popular among his contemporaries, an outward looking fascination with western European music was key in his development.

His extensive travels earned him wide acclaim.

Late in his career in 1891, he conducted the inaugural concert of what was to become Carnegie Hall in the United States. There, he wrote back to his brother Modest, “I am a much more important person here than in Russia.”

Today he is mainly remembered for his numerous symphonies and ballets, but the turbulence of his extraordinary life is most vividly reflected in his operas to which he devoted more of his time than any other genre. The two most successful of his 11 operas, Eugene Onegin (seen at DMMO in 2012) and The Queen of Spades, remain in the repertory today, though opportunities to see the latter are much less common. Through it, he brilliantly displays his obvious admiration for, and understanding of, the genius of Mozart, Wagner and especially Georges Bizet, whose Carmen he desperately loved.

An opera that explores extremes of mood and color, The Queen of Spades is an excellent example of great literature that is enhanced when set to great music. Pushkin’s story tells of a young officer in love with Lisa, the granddaughter of an aged countess who is rumored to hold the secret of winning at cards. The officer, Gherman, becomes obsessed with this secret and spirals into addiction and madness trying to learn it.

With the role of the Old Countess, Tchaikovsky creates one of the most theatrical and terrifying characters in Russian opera—making it a perfect vehicle for the venerable Joyce Castle (left).

Set in the later years of the reign of Catherine the Great in imperial St. Petersburg, Tchaikovsky’s skillful maneuvering between the most refined to the most harrowing of scenes is breathtaking.

Tchaikovsky keeps his principal characters just shy of the boiling point as the cards guide them to their ultimate doom (not unlike Carmen), all the while evoking the gilded Rococo style of Catherine the Great and the effervescent musical world of Mozart. This juxtaposition of intense emotion and delicate, archaic music is the dramatic principle of The Queen of Spades.

In his own time, many considered it his finest opera and Tchaikovsky himself wrote to his brother before the opera’s 1880 premiere, “Unless I’m terribly mistaken, this opera is a masterpiece.” Indeed, the wider public shared his view and soon it became his most performed opera. At long last this fascinating score will be heard for the first time at Des Moines Metro Opera in the Company's second foray into Russian repertory.

Gherman JONATHAN BURTON

Conductor DAVID NEELY

The Queen of Spades is one of several operas and literary works to reference faro. In recent seasons at DMMO, audience members have seen faro played in Massenet’s Manon, where the heroine and her lover attempt to recover their fortunes at the faro table, and in Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West where there was a memorable accusation of cheating in the Act I saloon scene.

Lisa SARA GARTLAND

Director MATTHEW OZAWA

1/31 Fri

2/2 Sun

PRESENTED AT GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY’S VIKING THEATRE

Human Voice

POULENC

The

My mobile phone is on the desk beside me.

The ringer is turned off, but like most of us I’ve become highly attuned to the sudden lighting-up of its screen and addicted to being able to connect with others at any time, from any place. And with that ease comes also the fear of disconnect—missing calls, not getting through, why is it going to voice mail, why won’t he answer?

The particular paranoia of our digital age was not part of Cocteau’s world when he wrote his monodrama The Human Voice (La voix humaine) in 1928. His technology was still the good oldfashioned telephone, handset connected to base unit connected to the outside world via a thin phone cord. But even as he updated the particulars of phone communication for each new incarnation (the 1948 film by Roberto Rossellini, or with Poulenc for an opera 10 years later), the ideas at the heart of the piece remained the same: can we really know another human being? Can we connect? Does the phone make it too easy to lie? Does it help us hide, or just expose, our human foibles and deepest fears?

Today, especially, Cocteau and Poulenc’s drama seems relevant and shockingly modern.

Towards the end of the piece, the heroine, sung by Elise Quagliata (right), whom we know only as “Elle” or “she” in French, admits to her lover that the previous night she brought the phone with her to bed and fell asleep with it there on her pillow. In 1928 that idea was surely a little shocking—an indication of Elle’s obsession. But now doesn’t it seem entirely normal? As someone with a

phone often plugged in on the nightstand and an iPad at the ready on the other side of the hotel bed, I’m probably in no position to judge.

These devices connect us in ways that Cocteau and Poulenc would have found unimaginable.

And yet in The Human Voice, they have so perfectly captured our intense desire to find each other across the very waves in the air— phone lines as life lines and nooses—rendering us helpless, like children crying into the night, Here I am, talk to me, please don’t leave.

—Kristine McIntyre, Director TICKETS $30 | $50 (includes Artist Reception)

7/11 Sat

PRESENTED AT HOYT SHERMAN PLACE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ONE IOWA, CAPITAL CITY PRIDE, IOWA SAFE SCHOOLS AND THE HOYT SHERMAN PLACE FOUNDATION

SPEARS/PIERCE

Fellow Travelers Fellow Travelers explores an era in American history that is largely unknown. The story is set during the “Lavender Scare” of the 1950s when anti-Communist paranoia led to the specific persecution of gay and lesbian government workers who were considered easy targets for blackmail by enemy agents. Since its high profile premiere in 2016 at Cincinnati Opera, the success of the work has a very simple explanation. It is a love story that is both deeply romantic but unsentimental, set to music that is beautiful and familiar, yet fresh and timely.

It follows the story of Timothy Laughlin, a recent graduate of Fordham University newly arrived in Washington, D.C., as he falls under the spell of the suave and worldly Hawkins Fuller. Hawk works in the State Department and helps Tim to get a job as a speechwriter for a senator close to Joseph McCarthy. As

the relationship develops and McCarthy’s investigations intensify, Tim and Hawk find it increasingly dangerous to navigate their double lives. Ultimately, each of the opera’s characters must grapple with their personal beliefs against a highly charged political landscape.

At its premiere the opera was lauded as “a near-perfect example of fast-flowing music drama” by the New York Times. This season, Fellow Travelers will be presented on July 11 for a one-night-only performance at the newly renovated Hoyt Sherman Place. Partnerships with One Iowa, Capital City Pride, Iowa Safe Schools and the Hoyt Sherman Place Foundation will underscore the opera’s ability to address topical subject matter and build bridges within our communities.

TICKETS $22-$72 (additional fees apply)

Photo credit: Philip Groshong/Cincinnati Opera

2/16 2:00p

ZACHARY JAMES

On Broadway

Spend an afternoon at Plymouth Church in Des Moines with DMMO favorite and Broadway star Zachary James, fresh from his Metropolitan Opera debut. Enjoy this critically acclaimed one-man show, which combines tales from his time in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at the Lincoln Center, his portrayal of “Lurch” in the original cast of The Addams Family, as well as performances of the greatest hits from Oklahoma, Sweeney Todd, On The Town, Phantom of the Opera, The Fantasticks, Camelot, and Most Happy Fella.

TICKETS Adults $25 | Students Free

[ Sound [ National Audition Tour ] Des Moines Metro Opera hit the road this past October for its annual audition circuit. After receiving nearly 1,000 applications, the opera’s artistic team—Michael Egel, Lisa Hasson, Sam Carroll and David Neely (not pictured)—completed the extensive pre-screening process and then travelled to Houston, Cincinnati, New York City and Des Moines to hear over 500 live auditions and choose the 40 young artists that will comprise the 2020 Apprentice Artist Program. Now in its 46th year, Des Moines Metro Opera’s Apprentice Artist Program is one of the oldest and most competitive young artist training programs in the country.

[ Welcome, New Board Members ] This season Des Moines Metro Opera is pleased to welcome a new board member to the Foundation Board of Trustees, Colin Pennycooke (pictured). In addition, the Board of Directors welcomed back two former members, Adrienne McFarland (pictured) and Sheila Tipton.

2/21 6:00p

WINE FOOD BEER

SHOWCASE DOWNTOWN DES MOINES MARRIOTT

Sample the night away at the Wine, Food & Beer Showcase, one of the oldest tasting events in Des Moines. An annual favorite for foodies, wine lovers and beer enthusiasts alike, the event features over 40 of the finest restaurants, caterers, wineries, breweries and distilleries in the area offering their most innovative fares and flavors. Guests may also partake in a silent auction and raffle filled with packages that can only be found at the Showcase.

Gain access to exclusive fine wines and high-end culinary creations in the secluded elegance of the Reserve Experience room, which is generously sponsored by the Elder Corporation. Reserve Experience tickets include access to the entire event.

TICKETS

Advance $50 | Door $60 | Reserve Experience $150

Clips ] [ a Giving Honor ] Linda Koehn, longtime DMMO Board Member and past president in 2007, has been honored through Opera America’s Trustee Recognition program as the 2020 Recipient from the Company’s budget class. This program honors outstanding trustees of U.S. opera companies for exemplary leadership, generosity and audience-building efforts.

Linda’s guidance during leadership transitions was instrumental at a critical time.

She will join honorees from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Minneapolis at an awards dinner in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2020.

[ Sage advice ] Every year dsm Magazine honors our city’s most prominent and respected civic leaders at its annual “Sages Over 70” awards. Congratulations are in order for Mary Seidler, one of DMMO’s earliest and most ardent supporters, who was awarded this prestigious honor in November. A passionate advocate for the arts, Mary served on DMMO’s Board of Directors from 1985 to 1996 and as President in 1988 and 1989, leading the opera through a difficult transition after the sudden passing of managing director, Douglas Duncan.

A Revolutionary Theatre Turns 50

In 1970 America’s heartland created one of the country’s most radically designed theaters. BY MARK TIARKS

THE BLANK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER’S mainstage, called Pote Theatre, successfully incorporated both a traditional proscenium design and a thrust-stage auditorium. This unique configuration, which put the orchestra and conductor in the center of the action for opera productions, reflected a wave of “prairie populism” that was revolutionizing opera in America and was centered in the Midwest.

theater.” The Herbert firm had already designed dormitories for the college, as well as the student center, and work on the project proceeded rapidly at first. By April of 1967, revised designs were being finetuned; notes from a planning meeting indicated that the music department’s Robert Larsen and the theater program’s Richard J. De Laubenfels were caroling in unison about the need to keep the audience-performer relationship as intimate as possible.

The latter part of the process wasn’t as fast or as harmonious. Scott Stouffer, lead architect on the project, recalls, “There was a great deal of federal government money available at that time for new college facilities, but it came with lots of strings attached and a slow review and approval process.” (Federal funding for the $1.25M project eventually totaled $350,000.)

The Blank Performing Arts Center while under construction in 1969.

Des Moines Metro Opera was at the epicenter of the seismic shift, along with three other companies that were also born in the 1970s and were all within a 350-mile radius of Indianola—the Minnesota Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. They all shared a belief that theatrical values were just as important as musical ones in opera production, that high-quality performances didn’t require importing European singers, that their repertories should include a commitment to American works, that performing in smaller venues would enhance dramatic impact, and that a larger, more diverse audience could be generated through affordable ticket prices and a more informal attendance atmosphere.

“We also ran into a number of problems during construction itself, especially with the concrete work, much of which had to be redone,” Stouffer says. The design style with which the Simpson officials were enamored is now known as Brutalism, and exposed concrete is one of its defining characteristics, so this was an aesthetic issue as well as a structural one. As a result, almost three years elapsed from groundbreaking to the building’s completion, with the grand opening taking place in the spring of 1970.

The launching of Des Moines Metro Opera was just three years later, in 1973, with a programming strategy that included American operas and 20th century European works. The unparalleled intimacy of a 467seat theater meant that the Company was poised to play a major role in creating a truly American identity for opera in the U.S.

While the Blank Performing Arts Center opened in 1970, work on the project actually began in the mid1960s. The original concept was for a three-building arts center which would provide a theater with an orchestra pit for Simpson College’s rapidly growing opera student program as well as a home for the theater arts and fine arts departments and one day, an independent professional opera company.

As reported in Beneath the Whispering Maples, a 1995 history of Simpson College, “Enamored of the style employed by Charles Herbert & Associates in their design of the Brenton Student Center, the Simpson people asked that firm to draw up plans for the new

The Blank Performing Arts Center today in 2020.

OPERA UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL Critics, audience members and performers alike rave about the theatre's unparalleled intimacy.

THE UNIQUE STAGE of the Pote Theatre is Des Moines Metro Opera’s greatest asset and a signature feature. Dubbed the "playing circle," the thrust-stage projects over a sizable orchestra pit and holds a hydraulic lift that allows for scenic versatility and fluidity in storytelling. A design element itself, the playing circle presents a challenge to relish for inventive stage directors and designers.

The space has ingeniously created memorable scenes such as the hull of a British battleship, the Paris apartment of Manon and Des Grieux, a saloon in an Old West mining town or the gateway to the underworld.

Critics have lauded the theatre as being ahead of its time. At the theatre’s grand opening, the Minneapolis Star Tribune exclaimed, "It’s the Fenway Park of theaters, very intimate!"

Audience members are so close that they can experience a performance both as a witness to the story and practically as a participant in it. "With its 467 seats arranged in a dozen curved rows, the Pote Theatre draws you into the action in ways impossible to achieve in gargantuan theaters," said the Chicago Tribune.

“Patrons in the front row sit within touching distance of the performers.”

This heart-stopping intimacy is often cited as the number one reason patrons from 40 states travel to DMMO performances each season.

Audience member John Greer, who comes each season from Washington, D.C., said, "Why do I travel half-way across the country from D.C. every summer to attend DMMO’s operas in Indianola? Obviously, DMMO is a great company producing great work, but

the theatre in Indianola offers some special advantages that not all opera houses have.

For opera lovers, there’s nothing like the excitement of feeling totally immersed in an opera performance, and that’s what this amazing theatre gives you whenever you’re enjoying a DMMO opera production in Indianola. I’ll be keeping DMMO on my summer opera travel schedule for years to come. You should too."

At the end of particularly theatrical performances like Wozzeck, Dead Man Walking or Billy Budd, one can sometimes sense the entire audience holding its breath and then letting out a collective, communal sigh of relief as the final notes of the show are played. Such intimacy comes at a price, though. Ticket sales cover less than 20% of DMMO’s annual operating budget, even operating at 92% capacity sold.

This means a greater emphasis must be placed on philanthropic support from individuals, corporations and public grants.

Still, it’s safe to say the audiences and artists wouldn’t trade it for anything. Said baritone Michael Mayes, our Wozzeck last season, "There isn’t another theater like it in America."

And we’re thankful that he’s right about that.

MY FIRST OPERA

BY TIM KRUMM

In this new series, DMMO Board Member and Iowa City resident Tim Krumm reflects on his first experience with Des Moines Metro Opera.

The first opera I remember seeing at DMMO is Madama Butterfly in 1974 with my mom, dad, my brother David and Grandma Laura. The great Carol Stuart was singing the role of Cio-Cio-San, and though I’m sure she was tremendous that night, at age 13 I was more drawn in by the theater craft. As an inexperienced opera-goer, I had not been prepared for the tragic ending­, but seeing my grandmother so obviously moved by it made a huge impression on me.

That is my first opera memory. There are other early memories: the popcorn—my dad, in particular, loved—and meeting the cast and Maestro Larsen after shows. We lived in Newton, so as long as we were either still at home or able to make it back, my parents would take my brother and me to most of DMMO's performances. The drive home was often late at night, during which we always discussed the show. Everybody would weigh in on everything from the singers we liked (and didn’t) to the things we noticed happening on stage (sets, etc.). It was always interesting and also served to keep Dad awake on the drive home!

I understand why some people find opera inaccessible, but this has never been the case for me—and I know the early introduction provided by my parents is why.

Mom and Dad also made it possible for our kids—their grandchildren—to see opera at DMMO. In the case of our oldest, Laura, her first opera was Der Rosenkavalier in 1993 when she was just shy of age five. Though Rosenkavalier was long, Laura was attentive throughout, and it ended up being the first of many for her. While our boys also benefitted from early exposure to the arts, we can’t help but credit it specifically for Laura's choice to become a professional opera singer.

Spotlight On MARGOT

BURNHAM

A LONG-TIME * OPERA LIEDER IT IS DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE a Des Moines Metro Opera performance without Margot Burnham, whose distinctive presence and long-time devotion have made her an indelible part of the Company. Although she currently resides on the south side of Des Moines, her journey to DMMO began on another continent.

Margot grew up in Hambach, Germany, and attended her first opera at the age of 13. In her usual determined manner, she purchased a ticket to Carmen in the nearby town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, hopped on a bus alone and saw her first opera by herself! She was hooked. “It is the singing that I love,” she said. “The voices and the music.”

She moved to the United States in 1958 when a friend introduced her to her first husband. They lived in Rolla, Missouri, for six years and eventually settled in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1964. She raised four children and worked hard to create a life for them. Her return to opera happened when a neighbor who was aware that “something was happening in Indianola” insisted that she join her for performances of the new opera company in 1973. She hasn’t missed a season since!

In subsequent years she has been a loyal and enthusiastic member of the Des Moines Guild Chapter and served as president from 1983 to 1986. She was deeply involved in some of the Company’s most imaginative fundraisers, including the Younkers Auction of Unique Items. As a leader of the Guild and lover of good singing, she organized the Iowa District Metropolitan National Council Auditions for many years. In 1997 she received the Volunteer of the Year award from the Guild Council (pictured below).

Margot Burnham and Des Moines Metro Opera co-founder, Robert L. Larsen

“The Guild has offered me a way to enjoy the art form I love so much with friends who love it, too,” she said.

"Together with all the Chapters, we have given back to the Company and artists that have given us so much enjoyment over the years." Always in search of the newest opera enthusiast, Margot is usually spotted at performances with a friend or a neighbor who is likely experiencing the art form for the first time. Her long-time dedication inspires next generation attendees to discover their own life-long passion. “Des Moines Metro Opera has been my life,” she said. “I don’t know what I would have done without it.” * Lieder (pronounced "Leader")means a type of German song, especially of the romantic period, typically for solo voice with piano accompaniment.

2O2O FESTIVAL CALENDAR

JULY JUNE

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

26

27

28*

29

30

1

2

3

4*

5*

6

7

8

9

10

11

12*

13

14

15

16

17

18

19*

SWEENEY TODD PLATÉE THE QUEEN OF SPADES FELLOW TRAVELERS

STARS OF TOMORROW SHUTTLE DINING TECH TALK * 2PM MATINEE

ENHANCE YOUR EXPERIENCE OPERA SHUTTLE

DINING WITH DMMO

TECH TALKS

Book a round-trip shuttle from Des Moines or Ames to the performance site. The shuttle is available on June 28 for Sweeney Todd, June 27 and July 12 for Platée, and July 5 for The Queen of Spades. Opera tickets are sold separately. See website for prices and pickup locations.

Enjoy gourmet dining pre-performance right in the convenience of the theatre lobby. The themed dinners catered by the Des Moines Embassy Club are $45/person, and the Gateway Market brunches are $25/ person. Reservations will start in April.

After meeting the artists, close out the evenings of July 3, 9 and 18 with a free behind-the-scenes look and discussion hosted by the Director of Production as the production team “strikes” the set for the next day’s show.

OPERA PRELUDE TALKS

MEET THE ARTISTS

Warm up for each opera with a free preview presented by director Joshua Borths.

Evening talks begin at 6:45pm. Matinee talks begin at 1:15pm. There will be no prelude talks for The Human Voice or Fellow Travelers.

Continue the celebration after each performance with singers, audience members and production personnel in the theatre lobby. Greet the cast and crew, get autographs, take photos or simply mix and mingle!

FESTIVAL EVENTS MAY 30 DEATH BY ARIA 6:30PM Blank Performing Arts Center lobby

JUNE 11 & 13 PICNIC & PUCCINI 10AM Blank Performing Arts Center lobby

Forty apprentice artists, selected from a national audition process, open the season in the theatre lobby with their signature arias. FREE

Attend a performance of Little Red’s Most Unusual Day, then enjoy a sack lunch and take a behind-the-scenes tour of the theatre! $12/person

JUNE-JULY APPRENTICE SCENES 1:30PM Lekberg Hall, Simpson College

JUNE 27 OPENING NIGHT GALA 5PM Des Moines Metro Opera, Indianola

The apprentice artists take the spotlight in fully-staged excerpts from across the operatic spectrum. Stay tuned for a complete listing of the six scenes programs! FREE

Join us for an exquisite dinner and the popular aria auction.

After dinner sit back and enjoy the opening night performance of Jean Philippe Rameau's delightful comedy, Platée. $200/person

JUNE 10 THREADS & TRILLS COSTUME SHOW 12PM Embassy Club West, 520 Market St, West Des Moines Lunch in high style at the Embassy Club West while enjoying a sneak peek at the costumes from DMMO’s 2020 Season. $45/person

JULY 15 STARS OF TOMORROW 7PM Sheslow Auditorium, Drake University Catch the Apprentice Artists and Festival Orchestra as they present some of the most famous arias, duets and ensembles from the world of opera. A dessert reception with the artists follows the concert. $25/adults, FREE/students

DID YOU KNOW? Ticket sales cover less than 20% of DMMO’s annual operating expenses, so we rely on the tremendous generosity of friends like you to support the opera’s record of sound fiscal management, extraordinary productions, providing a stage for rapidly rising professional vocal talent and serving the community with innovative learning programs.

To learn more visit desmoinesmetroopera.org/donate or give us a call at 515-961-6221.

TICKET INFORMATION SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES STARTING AT

A1

A

B

C

D

$267

$246

$213

$138

$75

A1

A

B

C

D

$94

$89

$79

$55

$25

SINGLE TICKETS STARTING AT

BLANK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 513 N. D St. Indianola, IA

Prices are subject to change at any time based upon availability by section and performance dates. Casts and repertory are also subject to change.

All ticket sales are final. No refunds or cancellations. Ticket orders paid with credit card will incur an $8 processing fee for subscriptions and a $5 processing fee for single tickets. Full ticketing and box office information can be found at: desmoinesmetroopera.org/boxoffice.

READY TO ORDER?

Visit DESMOINESMETROOPERA.ORG or call our box office at (515) 961-6221.

STARS OF TOMORROW FEATURING THE APPRENTICE ARTISTS AND THE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA JULY 15, 7:00PM SHESLOW AUDITORIUM, DES MOINES Discover opera’s rising stars at one unforgettable concert! Chosen from over 1,000 applicants and live auditions in New York, Chicago, Houston, Cincinnati and Des Moines, the 40 members of our Apprentice Artist Program take the stage for one night only to perform opera’s greatest duets, trios and ensembles alongside our acclaimed Festival Orchestra.

After the performance, don’t miss the opportunity to mix and mingle with the artists at the complimentary dessert reception.

TICKETS Adults $25 | Students FREE

2

0

1

9

Experience an evening of

HARMONY

in creative partnership with Des Moines Metro Opera We’ll help make it a night to remember:

• Free Hot Be Our Guest Breakfast • Free High-speed Internet access • Free Weekday Newspaper • Club Carlson Hotel Rewards Program SM

• Pool and Whirlpool © 2017 Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SM

Country Inn & Suites By Carlson® Indianola, IA 501 East Trail Ridge Avenue Indianola, IA 50125 +1 (515) 962-5777 • countryinns.com/indianola

Change Service Requested

106 West Boston Avenue Indianola, IA 50125-1836

Visit: desmoinesmetroopera.org Like: facebook.com/DesMoinesMetroOpera Follow: instagram.com/DesMoinesMetroOpera Follow: twitter.com/DesMoinesOpera Watch: youtube.com/user/DesMoinesMetroOpera

2O2O SUMMER FESTIVAL SWEENEY TODD Sondheim PLATÉE Rameau THE QUEEN OF SPADES Tchaikovsky FELLOW TRAVELERS Spears/Pierce