DEAD MAN WALKING Feb 2, 5, 8, 10, 2019 Cobb Energy Centre Music Jake heggie Libretto Terrence McNally Based on the Book by Sister Helen Prejean THIS OPERA WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
SCHWARTZ CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS
CANDLER CONCERT SERIES ERIC OWENS & LAWRENCE BROWNLEE Friday, March 22, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
“An open-hearted performance . . . a special evening and wholly enjoyable performance by friends” —Kansas City Star Two of opera’s leading vocalists join dynamic forces for an evening of music ranging from opera to spirituals. Bass-baritone Eric Owens has brought his powerful and expansive voice to stages around the world. Lawrence Brownlee, making his return to to Schwartz Center this season, is the most in-demand bel canto tenor in the world.
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WELCOME which binds these characters together. She truly is the embodiment of the famous Oscar Wilde quote: “The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death.”
photo: Patrick Heagney
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to bring you Dead Man Walking. With dozens of productions popping up around the globe, it is one of the most successful operas to come out of the past twenty years. And it is a show for our time: What could be more fitting for the culture that created Dexter and Breaking Bad than a white-knuckle anti-hero opera? Ours is a production that fires on all cylinders: It’s a homecoming for two Atlanta-based opera superstars: Jamie Barton (Sister Helen) and Jay Hunter Morris (Father Grenville). It co-stars Michael Mayes, the man who practically owns the role of Joseph De Rocher. It brings composer Jake Heggie back to Atlanta. And I’m happy to say we will be exporting this production to The Israeli Opera—the first American opera ever to hit that stage. On a personal note, this is a show that I had the honor of directing in New Orleans in front of the audience who lived these real-life events. I sat beside Sister Helen Prejean on opening night. And while the real-life Sister Helen is a much livelier, much funnier person, I can tell you her spirit hovers over this story, bearing witness to its events, and ultimately forming the excruciating glue
Dead Man Walking pivots around a loaded subject (the death penalty) which often finds currency in political arenas. Yet, Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally decline to stake out a position. For them, this is an emotional juggernaut. As always, it is the hope of The Atlanta Opera to bring you a great story that engages the mind and touches the heart. How you process the experience is a journey for you alone. I’m happy to report that The Atlanta Opera got off to a great start this year. Our production of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird was so successful, we added four performances to our schedule. Perhaps an even greater achievement came a few weeks later, when we added an additional performance of West Side Story, which enabled us to bring many more people to the Cobb Energy Centre – some for the first time. On the main stage, we’re looking ahead to Tchaikovsky’s classic setting of the Pushkin drama Eugene Onegin starring David Adam Moore and William Burden. And then we move on to the Verdi masterpiece La traviata, an opera loaded with irresistible tunes and an achingly beautiful love story. We’re glad you’re with us. Come back often and tell your friends.
Tomer Zvulun Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director The Atlanta Opera 5
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Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
Major support for The Atlanta Opera is provided by the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. This program is also supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency - the National Endowment for the Arts.
THE ATLANTA OPERA DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE Cathy & Mark Adams Mr. & Mrs. Ronald R. Antinori Nancy & *Jim Bland Mr. David Boatwright Laura & Montague Boyd Dr. Harold Brody & Mr. Donald Smith John & Rosemary Brown Mr. & Mrs. John L. Connolly Ann & Frank Critz Martha Thompson Dinos John L. Hammaker Howard Hunter - Gramma Fisher Mr. & Mrs. Michael L. Keough *Mr. & Mrs. Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. 6
Mary Ruth McDonald Peggy Weber McDowell & Jack McDowell James B. Miller, Jr. - Fidelity Southern Victoria & Howard Palefsky Mr. William Pennington Jerry & Dulcy Rosenberg Mr. William F. Snyder Judith & Mark Taylor Triska Drake & G. Kimbrough Taylor Brian & Marie Ward Rhys T. & Carolyn Wilson Ms. Bunny Winter & Mr. Michael Doyle The Mary & Charlie Yates Family Foundation *deceased
CREDITS MUSIC Jake Heggie LIBRETTO Terrence McNally BASED ON THE BOOK BY Sister Helen Prejean FIRST PERFORMANCE October 7, 2000, San Francisco Opera CONDUCTOR Joseph Mechavich PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Tomer Zvulun ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Brenna Corner SCENIC DESIGNER R. Keith Brumley COSTUME DESIGNER Joanna Schmink PROJECTION & LIGHTING DESIGNER Don Darnutzer WIG & MAKEUP DESIGNER Anne Ford-Coates PROJECTION PROGRAMMER Erin Teachman ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR/CHORUS MASTER Rolando Salazar FIGHT DIRECTOR Michelle Ladd CAST (IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE) JADE BOUCHER Maria McDaniel Willathgamuwa SISTER HELEN PREJEAN Jamie Barton MOTORCYCLE COP Jonathan Bryan* JOSEPH DE ROCHER Michael Mayes MRS. PATRICK DE ROCHER Maria Zifchak PRISON GUARD #1 Jonathan Bryan* PRISON GUARD #2 Mitch Gindlesperger SISTER ROSE Karen Slack OLDER BROTHER Jacob Augsten GEORGE BENTON Kevin Burdette YOUNGER BROTHER Matt Alea FATHER GRENVILLE Jay Hunter Morris SISTER CATHERINE Anna Koźlakiewicz* OWEN HART Wayne Tigges SISTER LILLIANE Elizabeth Sarian* KITTY HART Amy Little HOWARD BOUCHER Justin Stolz* MUSICAL PREPARATION Clinton Smith, Mauro Ronca* PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Brian August ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS Renée Varnas, Marisa Brink PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Riley Still CHILDREN'S CHORUS CAPTAIN Emily Copeland Performed in English with English supertitles Approximate running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes including 1 intermission Dead Man Walking is a co-production between The Atlanta Opera and The Israeli Opera. This production was originally created by the New Orleans Opera Association. *member of The Atlanta Opera Studio 7
SYNOPSIS
The New Orleans Opera’s 2016 production of Dead Man Walking. photo: Tom Grosscup
PROLOGUE Two teenagers are brutally murdered by Joseph and Anthony De Rocher. ACT I
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In a poor New Orleans school, Sister Helen and Sister Rose teach a hymn to a group of children. Helen is distracted as she thinks about her plan to visit Angola State Penitentiary where her new pen pal, a death row inmate named Joseph De Rocher, has asked her to visit. Against Rose’s advice, Helen makes the long drive to Angola and ponders the momentous step she is taking. A motor cop stops her for speeding, but lets her off with a warning, asking her to pray for his sick mother. As she resumes her journey, she prays for guidance.
When she arrives, Helen is greeted by the prison chaplain, Father Grenville. On the way to his office, they see inmates engaged in a rough game of basketball. Helen and Grenville then have a tense meeting in which the chaplain angrily warns her that she is wasting her time, and that Joseph is beyond anyone’s help. The prison warden arrives and tells her that Joe is likely to ask her to become his spiritual advisor to help prepare him for his execution. As she walks to the death row section of the prison, Helen is taunted by the inmates. Joe and Helen have an awkward first meeting. Hiding his fear with bravado, he tests her tolerance by recalling the pleasures he has known with women. Helen calls his bluff and Joe admits his
fear. He requests that she be his spiritual advisor and both acknowledge they “can’t do it alone.” Joe asks her to accompany his mother to the Pardon Board hearing and Helen agrees. In a courtroom setting, the frightened Mrs. De Rocher does her best to plead for her son’s life: she is a small woman in the face of enormous hostility. During her testimony, Owen Hart, the father of the murdered teenage girl, explodes with anger and recounts the grisly details of his daughter’s murder. In anguish, Joseph’s mother responds that another killing cannot undo what has been done. After the hearing, Joseph’s family and the murder victims’ families wait for a verdict outside the courtroom. Helen introduces herself to the parents and they express their grief at never seeing their children again. News arrives that the appeal has been turned down: Joseph will be executed. Back in the visiting room, Helen tells Joe that an appeal has been made to the governor. Angered by his selfishness, she urges him to acknowledge his guilt and seek forgiveness, but he sees no hope and blames his brother for the murders. The warden appears suddenly and insists that she leave. Helen has had no time to eat and becomes faint from hunger, stress, and exhaustion. As she looks for change at a vending machine, a jumble of conflicting voices clutter her mind. The warden tells her that the governor has turned down the appeal: “Joseph De Rocher is a dead man.” The voices in her head grow louder and Helen faints.
ACT II Joseph is counting pushups when the warden comes to tell him that his execution date has been set: August 4, midnight. Alone, Joe voices feelings about his impending death, Sister Helen, and his murder victims. Helen awakens from a nightmare about Joe and the murdered teenagers. Rose comforts her and helps her admit that she still has to find the strength to forgive Joe herself, just as mothers forgive their children’s failings. On the night of Joe’s execution, Helen tells him about seeing Elvis Presley in person when she was a girl. Somehow, their shared love of Elvis opens a door between them and they are able to laugh as friends. She once more urges Joe to admit his guilt and find forgiveness. The warden announces that Joe’s family has come to see him for the last time. Joe has a tearful farewell with his mother and two younger brothers. Joe begs his mother to forgive him, but she says she believes what he has always told her: that he is innocent and there is nothing to forgive. Mrs. De Rocher seeks comfort in her recollections of Joe’s innocent childhood. When Joe is led away, his mother falls apart, consoled by Helen with assurances that there is good in her son and that God’s love is not denied him. Left alone, Helen panics for a moment as she contemplates the harrowing task she faces that night. The parents of the murder victims have arrived to witness the execution. They upbraid Helen for siding with the murderer, 9
rejecting her words of consolation. Only Owen Hart voices doubts about the value of the execution. Helen offers him friendship and promises to visit him. After the guards prepare Joseph for execution, Helen is alone with him one last time. In the few moments remaining, Helen begs him to tell the truth. She reveals that she has visited the crime scene and asks him to relive that night. Reluctantly, Joseph tells her the whole story and, breaking down in sobs, admits his guilt. Helen assures him of forgiveness: not only hers, but God’s as well. She tells him she will be the face of love for him when he dies. The warden calls out, “Dead man walking.” As he escorts Joseph to the execution chamber, Father Grenville intones the Lord’s Prayer, echoed by the
voices of inmates, nuns, guards, and parents. Helen remains close to Joe, reading to him from the Bible. She is allowed this one time to touch him, and she puts her hand reassuringly on his back. When they reach the chamber, she is barred from going any further. Joseph and Helen exchange an emotional goodbye. She reminds him to look for her as she takes her place with the others in the viewing room. After being strapped to the execution table, Joseph asks the parents’ forgiveness. In silence, with only his heartbeat audible, the lethal injection is administered. In his final moment, Joseph says to Sister Helen: “I love you.” After his death, the witnesses leave and Helen is alone with Joseph. One last time, she sings her comforting hymn: “He will gather us around.” Courtesy of Jake Heggie New Orleans Opera’s production of Dead Man Walking.
G MISSIN
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photo: Tom Grosscup
SCENE THE ATLANTA OPERA 2018
The Studio Tour The Magic Flute January - June
The Daughter of the Regiment Student Short March
The Atlanta Opera Ball February
Out of Darkness: Two Remain April
Sweeney Todd June
Our Walk to Healing October
The Daughter of the Regiment February
Carmen April - May
Charlie Parker’s Yardbird September
The Studio Tour The Barber of Seville October
photos: John Becker, Greg Mooney, NJM Photography, Raftermen, Jeff Roffman
West Side Story November 11
“Human beings do unspeakable acts. And I’m outraged over those acts. But when you meet a real ... human being, you know you’re not meeting a monster. You’re meeting a person with a story.” – Sister Helen Prejean
photo: Scott Langley
A WALK WITH HUMANITY BY NOEL MORRIS
On Nov. 5, 1977, Patrick and Eddie Sonnier shot two teenagers in the head, three times each. Eddie was sentenced to life in prison; his older brother, Patrick, died in the electric chair. In 1982, in the months leading to his execution, Patrick began exchanging letters with Sister Helen Prejean of the Sisters of St. Joseph Medaille. She became his spiritual adviser and walked with him to his execution in what proved to be a transformative experience for both of them. Afterward, she realized the story needed telling, and 12
wrote the book “Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty.” Her life would never be the same. The book became an international best-seller, and later a feature film with Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. And Sister Helen began a crusade to end the death penalty. That, however, is not the object of this opera. Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking is an emotional tar pit. It doesn’t tell you what to think, but it does transfix you in a place of dread, outrage, revulsion, and empathy. You’re left with no easy way out. Whatever
views you bring to the opera house, you likely won’t be immune to the characters’ anguish. And that’s what makes Dead Man Walking a great piece of theater.
Before long, some of opera’s biggest names were singing Heggie’s music. One day, SFO General Director Lofti Mansouri asked Heggie to stop by his office.
Part of its genius lies in its laser focus. Composer Heggie (Moby-Dick, Music of Remembrance) and Tony Award-winning librettist Terrence McNally don’t take sidesteps. Audience members know the inmate, named Joseph De Rocher here, is guilty. They see that he’s unrepentant. They don’t see the electric chair (he dies by lethal injection in the opera). They do have to sit with the reality of a “human being who is being rendered defenseless and stripped of his humanity and walked across the room and killed,” as described by the real-life Sister Helen.
“I thought I was going to have to write another press release or a speech,” Heggie told the San Francisco Chronicle. Instead, Mansouri asked him to fly to New York to discuss Dead Man Walking with McNally (Broadway’s Master Class, Kiss of the Spider Woman).
It’s raw. But the opera goes “bigger and deeper than the question of the death penalty,” according to the Louisiana-based nun. “It helps us journey into the deepest places of our hearts where we struggle with hurts and forgiveness, with guilt for our failings, and the need for redemption.” A RELUCTANT COMPOSER Heggie grew up listening to big band and theater music. As a young man, he pursued a piano career but gave it up after injuring his hand. Although he composed music from age 11, he quit that, too, and worked in public relations at the San Francisco Opera. He wrote press releases and learned all aspects of the business: the singers, the managers, and the behindthe-scenes people. A friendship with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade inspired him to write some songs in 1994. She liked them well enough to perform them at recitals.
“I went from being a writer in the PR department to being the first composerin-residence of the San Francisco Opera,” Heggie says with a grin. THE STORY GOES ON Beyond the searing drama that unfolds onstage, Dead Man Walking is a story that continues to be written: Sister Helen still works as a spiritual leader, activist, and public speaker. She hosts an online network of volunteers that write letters to men and women in prison. She established a support group for the families of murder victims in her hometown of New Orleans. And always, some people flock to her side, while others find it impossible to reconcile with her campaign against capital punishment. Whether you agree or disagree with her, it’s hard not to like her. She is down-toearth, and striking in her humanity. In Act I of Dead Man Walking, this is best represented by a prayer offered just before her first meeting with De Rocher. It’s simple. And unfathomable. And it wraps itself around the entire opera: “Help me, dearest Jesus. Make me strong. Make me wise. Make me human. Amen.” 13
CAST & CREATIVE SISTER HELEN PREJEAN BOOK
Sister Helen Prejean is known around the world for her tireless work against the death penalty. She has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on capital punishment and in shaping the Catholic Church’s newly vigorous opposition to all executions. In 1982, Sister Helen started corresponding with Elmo Patrick Sonnier, sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary for the murder of two teenagers. Sonnier asked her to become his spiritual advisor and she accepted. In 1984, Elmo Patrick Sonnier was put to death in the electric chair. Sister Helen was there to witness his execution. In the following months, she became spiritual advisor to another death row inmate, Robert Lee Willie, who soon met the same fate as Sonnier. After witnessing this second execution, Sister Helen realized that this lethal act, performed at midnight, would remain hidden unless she spoke up about it. She came together with others to hold execution vigils and to march to draw attention to the issue. She founded a support group for victims’ family members, called Survive, wrote a book, “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.” The book ignited a national debate on capital punishment and it inspired an Academy Awardwinning movie, a play and an opera. A quarter of a century later and with capital punishment still practiced in 31 states, Sister Helen divides her time between campaigning against the death penalty, counseling individual death row prisoners, and working with murder victims’ family members. She has accompanied four more men to their deaths and is currently spiritual advisor to two men, both of whom she believes to be innocent: Manuel Ortiz on death row at Angola, and Richard Glossip on Oklahoma’s death row. Sister Helen has recently finished writing her third book, “River of Fire,” a ‘prequel’ to “Dead Man Walking.”
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DISCOVER THE SPIVEY DIFFERENCE
2018-2019 Concert Series Clayton State University
SONS OF SERENDIP Saturday, February 16
ANDREW VON OEYEN, piano Sunday, February 17
CALIDORE STRING QUARTET Sunday, February 24
MEET ME IN PARIS THE HOT CLUB OF SAN FRANCISCO featuring Isabelle Fontaine Saturday, March 23
WARREN WOLF: GENERATION VIBES Saturday, March 30
SARAH SHAFER, soprano RICHARD GOODE, piano Sunday, March 31
For tickets or more information call (678) 466-4200 or visit
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JAKE HEGGIE MUSIC
Jake Heggie is the American composer of acclaimed operas Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally), Moby-Dick (libretto by Gene Scheer), It’s A Wonderful Life (Scheer), Great Scott (McNally), Three Decembers (Scheer), The End of the Affair (McDonald), Out of Darkness (Scheer), To Hell and Back (Scheer), and The Radio Hour (Scheer). He has also composed chamber, choral, and orchestral works as well as more than 250 art songs, many for today’s most loved singers, including Kiri Te Kanawa, Renée Fleming, Audra McDonald, Susan Graham, Joyce DiDonato, Jamie Barton, Sasha Cooke, Frederica von Stade, Stephen Costello, and Bryn Terfel, to name a few. The operas have been produced extensively on five continents with major productions in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, San Diego, Washington DC, Dallas, Houston, Dresden, Vienna, Cape Town, Sydney, Adelaide, Montreal, Calgary, Dublin, Malmö, and Copenhagen. Dead Man Walking has received 50 international productions since its premiere, as well as two live recordings. Moby-Dick was telecast nationally as part of Great Performances’ 40th Season and released on DVD (EuroArts). Heggie was recently awarded the Eddie Medora King prize by the UT Austin Butler School of Music and was the keynote speaker for the 2016 meeting of the National Association of Schools of Music. This year, he will give commencement addresses at the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. A mentor for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative for three seasons, he is a frequent guest artist at universities and conservatories including Boston University, Bucknell, Cincinnati Conservatory, Cornell, The Royal Conservatory in Toronto, UNI, UNT, UT Austin, University of Colorado, USC Thornton School, and Vanderbilt University, and at festivals such as SongFest at the Colburn School. He lives in San Francisco.
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TERRENCE MCNALLY LIBRETTO
Playwright Terrence McNally was born in 1939 and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, listening to radio broadcasts of The Green Hornet and the Metropolitan Opera. McNally's love of the opera and especially of the famous diva Maria Callas would surface in his work, most notably in his Tony award-winning Master Class (1996). His love of music also inspired him to collaborate on several musicals, including The Rink (1984), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993), and Ragtime (1996). Graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia in 1960 with a degree in English, McNally enjoyed a fellowship in Mexico where he wrote a play that earned the attention of the Actors Studio and got him a job as a stage manager, allowing him to acquire some practical theatre experience. In 1961, he enjoyed bonding with John Steinbeck and his family, and toured with them through Europe as the Steinbeck children's tutor. After his first Broadway play And Things That Go Bump in the Night flopped, gaining notoriety for being 1964's most scandalous, he went forward working odd jobs until his subsequent and successful play Next elevated him to full-time playwright status. From the macabre to the farcical, the range of McNally's satire and drama borrows from his personal life and his personal understanding of the world. His plays about homophobia, love, fear, and AIDS, among other things, illuminate the dominant theme of how people connect and fail to connect. McNally has no fear of offending as he explores new territories with his pen. His controversial 1999 play Corpus Christi dramatized a homosexual version of Jesus Christ, drawing mobs of angry protesters to his home theater at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and inciting a fatwa or death sentence from a Muslim group in England. Despite the controversy surrounding some of his plays, he is one of the most beloved and prolific modern-day playwrights. Besides the afore-mentioned, some of his other notable credits include: The Ritz (1975), Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune (1987), The Lisbon Traviata (1989), Andre's Mother (1990), Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991), and Love! Valour! Compassion! (1994). In addition to four Tony Awards, McNally has received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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JOSEPH MECHAVICH CONDUCTOR ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: OUT OF DARKNESS: TWO REMAIN, 2018
Conductor Joseph Mechavich posesses passion and commitment to excellence in the art form. He has led productions for Calgary Opera, Utah Opera, The Aspen Music Festival, Tulsa Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Dayton Opera, Madison Opera, New England Conservatory of Music, Oberlin Opera Theatre, Opera Saratoga and Virginia Opera. Recent highlights include Porgy and Bess for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Nixon in China for Auckland Philharmonia/New Zealand Opera and San Diego Opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia for The Washington National Opera, Madama Butterfly for New York City Opera, Riders of the Purple Sage for Arizona Opera, and Roméo et Juliette for Florida Grand Opera. The 2018-19 season also includes Werther with Florida Grand Opera, Silent Night with Arizona Opera, Die Fledermaus with Opera Tampa, Cavalleria rusticana/ Pagliacci with Madison Opera, and Die Zauberflöte with Kentucky Opera. In addition to his impressive command of the standard operatic repertoire, he is also known for his deep commitment to American opera, and he is particularly a champion of the music of Carlisle Floyd and Jake Heggie. He has conducted productions of Floyd's Susannah, Of Mice and Men, and Cold Sassy Tree and recorded Wuthering Heights which is the first recording in a multi-year project to record Floyd's unrecorded operas. He has conducted highly acclaimed productions by Jake Heggie such as MobyDick, Great Scott, Out of Darkness: Two Remain, and Dead Man Walking.
TOMER ZVULUN PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, 2009
General & Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera since 2013, Israeli-born Tomer Zvulun is also one of opera’s most exciting stage directors, earning consistent praise for his creative vision, often described as cinematic and fresh. His work has been presented by prestigious opera houses around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, the opera companies of Seattle, San Diego, Minnesota, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Buenos Aires, Wexford, New Orleans, and Wolf Trap, as well as leading educational institutes and universities such as The Juilliard School, Indiana University, Boston University, and IVAI in Tel Aviv. Since taking the leadership in Atlanta he increased the operations of the company from 12 to 32 performances a season, while stabilizing the financials. Some of his noted achievements include launching the successful Discoveries series, a program that presents new contemporary works and rarely done operas in alternative venues, creating the first young artist program in the company’s history, and doubling the company’s annual fundraising. His work at The Atlanta Opera earned the company an international reputation and numerous awards and prizes. These include the nomination of The Atlanta Opera for the 2016 International Opera Awards in London and the selection of the acclaimed Discoveries series as Atlanta Best of 2015 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Silent Night for Atlanta Best of 2016. 18
BRENNA CORNER ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO, 2016
Brenna Corner has worked as a director, choreographer, and fight director across Canada and the United States. She moved to Atlanta in 2016 to become a member of the Atlanta Opera Studio program as the resident assistant director, and in 2018 made her main stage debut with the company directing Carmen. Select directing projects include: Pygmalion and Sweeney Todd (New Orleans Opera); Der fliegende Holländer (Cincinnati Opera); L’Elisir d’amore (Vancouver Opera); Scalia/Ginsburg (Glimmerglass Festival); Hansel and Gretel (Vancouver Opera); Cendrillon (Manitoba Underground Opera); Béatrice et Benedict (Fraser Lyric Opera); The Turn of the Screw (Accademia Europea dell’ Opera). Select other projects include: Der fliegende Holländer (Houston Grand Opera); Turandot (The Atlanta Opera); The Siege of Calais (Glimmerglass Opera Festival); Carmen (Canadian Opera Company); Stickboy (Vancouver Opera). She is also a certified member of Fight Directors Canada and has choreographed many fights for both opera and theatre. Brenna has a degree in music from The University of Manitoba, and theatre diplomas from Grant MacEwan College and The British American Drama Academy.
R. KEITH BRUMLEY SCENIC DESIGNER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
R. Keith Brumley is based in Kansas City and recently retired from The Lyric Opera of Kansas City where he was the resident designer for more than 30 years. Recent works for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City included Bizet’s Carmen, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Puccini’s Tosca. In addition, he has designed for The Des Moines Metro Opera for 25 years. His most recent work in Des Moines included Jonathan Dove’s Flight, and the regional Emmy-winning world premiere of the new orchestral performance of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd. Upcoming productions include Puccini’s Turandot, Bizet’s Carmen, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
JOANNA SCHMINK COSTUME DESIGNER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: COSÌ FAN TUTTE, 2000
Joanna has designed and coordinated costumes for The Atlanta Opera for more than 25 seasons. She has created original work for mainstage productions of Così fan tutte, Fidelio, Cold Sassy Tree, La rondine, La traviata, Porgy and Bess, Romeo and Juliet, and many others. Her designs have been presented in the Discoveries series productions of Three Decembers, Maria de Buenos Aires, The Seven Deadly Sins, and Out of Darkness: Two Remain. She also designs for the Alliance Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, Aurora Theatre, Horizon Theatre, and 7 Stages. Her work at regional companies includes productions with Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Memphis Ballet, Augusta Ballet, and Music Mansion Theater. 19
DON DARNUTZER PROJECTION & LIGHTING DESIGNER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE ELIXIR OF LOVE, 1991
Opera credits: Portland Opera, New Orleans Opera, Florentine Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Palm Beach Opera, Minnesota Opera, La Société Lyrique d’Aubigny (Quebec), Chautauqua Opera, Central City Opera, Anchorage Opera, San Antonio Festival. Broadway credits: It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues. Off-Broadway credits: Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Almost Heaven, The Immigrant. Regional credits: American Conservatory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City Repertory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Old Globe Theater, Geffen Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Awards: Best Creative Achievement in Opera, New Orleans, lighting and projection design (Rusalka); Bay Area Critic Award, lighting design (The Rainmaker); Denver Post Ovation Award (John Brown’s Body); Denver Westword Best of 2002 (The Immigrant); Denver Drama Critics Circle (A Midsummer Night’s Dream); Arizona Zoni Award (Amadeus).
ANNE FORD-COATES WIG, HAIR, & MAKEUP DESIGNER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: SILENT NIGHT, 2016
Selected designs include Frozen, A Bronx Tale, On Your Feet!, Disaster!, On the Twentieth Century, It Shoulda Been You (Broadway); Little Dancer, Show Boat, La bohème, Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Philip Glass’ Appomattox (Kennedy Center); Twelfth Night (McCarter Theatre); Candide (Opéra National Bordeaux); Dark Sisters (Gotham Chamber Opera); Freshwater (Women’s Project); and The Music Man (Royal Opera House Muscat).
ROLANDO SALAZAR ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR/CHORUS MASTER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: LA TRAVIATA, 2013
Rolando Salazar is the Associate Conductor and Chorus Master for The Atlanta Opera. He has served as assistant conductor and pianist at the Bellingham Festival of Music, as assistant conductor at La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy, and as coach/conductor for the Harrower Opera Workshop. He serves as artistic director and conductor of the Georgia Piedmont Youth Orchestra while maintaining a guest conducting schedule, most recently in performances with the Georgia State University Orchestra, Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, Georgia State University Opera, and the Ozark Family Opera. Mr. Salazar also keeps an active coaching and collaborative piano schedule in Atlanta, preparing numerous singers for engagements with major orchestras and opera houses worldwide. A student of Michael Palmer, he is a graduate of Georgia State University with a Master of Music in orchestral conducting and an Artist Diploma in orchestra and opera. 20
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JAMIE BARTON SISTER HELEN PREJEAN
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE GOLDEN TICKET, 2012
American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is the winner of the Beverly Sills Artist Award and Richard Tucker Award, both Main and Song Prizes at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Her debut solo album, All Who Wander, featuring songs by Mahler, Dvořák, and Sibelius, was recently named winner of the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award. Her 2018-19 season includes appearances as Azucena in Il trovatore at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Bayerische Staatsoper, a Renée Fleming Voices recital at the Kennedy Center, and the Verdi Requiem at Royal Opera House Covent Garden. She returns to San Francisco Opera as Jezibaba in Rusalka, and brings her Fricka to the Metropolitan Opera’s Ring cycle, with a Met Live in HD performance of Die Walküre simulcast to cinemas in over seventy countries. Ms. Barton has appeared with Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax at Tanglewood, and in recital at Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. She has sung Adalgisa in Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Houston Grand Opera; Eboli in Don Carlo at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Washington National Opera; Leonor in La favorite at Teatro Real Madrid; Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena at Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Fricka/Waltraute/2nd Norn in Wagner’s Ring cycle at Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera. Ms. Barton is proud to serve as a mentor with Turn The Spotlight, a foundation working to illuminate the path to a more equitable future in the arts.
MICHAEL MAYES JOSEPH DE ROCHER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: SWEENEY TODD, 2018
Michael Mayes returns to The Atlanta Opera following his recent success as Sweeney Todd. He has appeared at prestigious houses including Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Barbican in London. Critically-acclaimed for his portrayal of Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, he recently made his debut in that same role with Teatro Real in Madrid and the Barbican in London. Other Jake Heggie roles include Manfred in Out of the Darkness with Music of Remembrance, Charlie inThree Decembers with UrbanArias, and the world premiere of Great Scott with Dallas Opera and San Diego Opera. Additional contemporary performances include: Older Thompson/Glory Denied with Nashville Opera, Opera Memphis, and Fort Worth Opera; Lawrence/The Wreckers with Bard SummerScape; Adam/The Canticle of the Black Madonna with Anima Mundi Productions; Kinesias in Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata with Fort Worth Opera; Adam/Baden-Baden 1927 with Gotham Chamber Opera; and Edward Gaines/Margaret Garner opposite mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves with the Opera Company of Philadelphia and Opera Carolina. He continues to build an impressive resume in leading traditional opera roles including Jack Rance/La fanciulla del West, Scarpia/Tosca, Escamillo/Carmen, Sharpless/ Madama Butterfly, and the title role in Rigoletto. Recent and upcoming highlights include important debuts singing the title role in Nixon in China with the Staatsoper Stuttgart, with Seattle Opera as Count di Luna in Il trovatore, and singing Wozzeck with Des Moines Metro Opera, as well returning to Madison Opera for Tonio and Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci.
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MARIA ZIFCHAK MRS. PATRICK DE ROCHER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: COLD SASSY TREE, 2008
Maria Zifchak sings Mrs. De Rocher, a role she’s also performed with Central City Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Teatro Réal in Madrid and a live BBC radio broadcast with London Symphony. She is thrilled to return to The Atlanta Opera after performing last summer as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd. During this 2018-19 season, she also returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Annina in a new production of La traviata and Third Lady in The Magic Flute. She also returned to Seattle Opera as Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw. Upcoming engagements include the role of Serena Joy in a new production of Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale; her debut with Boston Lyric Opera this Spring.
KAREN SLACK SISTER ROSE
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: COLD SASSY TREE, 2008 Soprano Karen Slack was recently heard as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Nashville Opera, Serena in Porgy and Bess with the National Chorale and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking with both Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Vancouver Opera, and Anna in Le villi her debut with the Scottish Opera. The 2017-18 season included Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking with Kentucky Opera and Minnesota Opera, Serena in Porgy and Bess with the University of Michigan, her debut with New Orleans Opera as Emelda Griffith in Champion, and Micäela in Carmen with Mill City Summer Opera. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as Agnes Sorel in Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans, a role she also performed with the San Francisco Opera and has sung the title role in Aïda with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. She made her Metropolitan Opera and international radio broadcast debuts in the title role of Verdi’s Luisa Miller. Other notable engagements include Serena in Porgy and Bess with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra; Tosca; Leonora in Il trovatore and Alice Ford in Falstaff with Arizona Opera; and Emelda Griffithin Champion with Opera Parallèle. The 2018-19 season sees her as Addie Parker in Yardbird with Arizona Opera, Tosca with Opera Birmingham, Serena in Porgy and Bess with Fort Worth Opera, and her debut with Opera Theatre of St. Louis in Fire Shut Up In My Bones.
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KEVIN BURDETTE GEORGE BENTON ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, 2016
American bass Kevin Burdette has impressed audiences with his mellifluous voice and strongly dramatic characterizations. The San Francisco Chronicle called his Leporello “a tour de force of vocal splendor and comic timing,” and the New York Times dubbed him “the Robin Williams of opera.” Recent highlights include Stefano in Adès’ The Tempest with the Metropolitan Opera (Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 2014 Grammy Award); Beck Weathers in Talbot’s Everest, Eric Gold/Bazzetti’s Ghost in Heggie’s Great Scott, and Ob in Adamo’s Becoming Santa Claus, all world premieres with The Dallas Opera; multiple roles in Shostakovich’s The Nose with the Metropolitan Opera; Doktor in Wozzeck with the Philharmonia Orchestra, under Esa-Pekka Salonen; Scattergood in The Last Savage, Général Boum in La grande-duchesse de Gérolstein, Sulpice in La fille du régiment, and Stobrod/Blind Man in Higdon’s Cold Mountain (world premiere) with Santa Fe Opera; Leporello in Don Giovanni with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, under Gustavo Dudamel; Sulpice with Washington National Opera; Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with San Diego Opera; and Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Stobrod/Blind Man and Dulcamara with Opera Philadelphia. His upcoming engagements include performances with the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Cincinnati Opera, The Dallas Opera, Austin Opera, and San Diego Opera.
JAY HUNTER MORRIS FATHER GRENVILLE ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: PAGLIACCI, 2006
Opera singer, Grammy-winner and author Jay Hunter Morris came into the national spotlight when he created the role of Tony in Terrence McNally’s celebrated play Master Class, on Broadway in 1995. He debuted the role of Siegfried with the San Francisco Opera in 2011, and perhaps most famously at the Metropolitan Opera in their new production by Robert LePage in 2011-12. The production was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide, and won a 2013 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. He sang the role in Budapest at the Wagner Days Festival, and again in 2016 with Houston Grand Opera. Other recent successes include his first Tristan in Valencia, under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and Schoenburg’s GuerreLieder at the Vienna Konzerthaus with Kent Nagano. He was recently on PBS in the role of Captain Ahab in Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick, from the San Francisco Opera. A contemporary opera veteran of great renown, Mr. Morris has been heard in world premiere productions including Doctor Atomic (Adams), The Fly (Shore), Grendel (Goldenthal), Dead Man Walking (Heggie), A Streetcar Named Desire (Previn), A Christmas Carol (Bell), and he created the role of Teague in Cold Mountain (Higdon). Recently, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary. In 2013, his book, “Diary of a Redneck Opera Zinger,” was published by Opera Lively. 25
WAYNE TIGGES OWEN HART
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, 2017 Lauded by the Chicago Sun-Times for his “rich, dark tone and beautiful legato,” Wayne Tigges will sing Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana and Tonio in I Pagliacci with New Orleans Opera, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, and further performances of Tonio in I Pagliacci with Utah Opera, and Ping in Turandot with Tulsa Opera. He created the role of Sgt. Aaron Marcum in the world premiere of Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s An American Soldier in a return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Previous performances include of the title role in Der fliegende Holländer (Austin Opera), Owen Hart in Dead Man Walking, and Howie Albert in Blanchard’s Champion (Washington National Opera), the Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann (LA Opera and Hawaii Opera Theater), and Roy Cohn in Angels in America (New York City Opera). Other recent engagements include Méphistophélès in Faust (Macau Music Festival); the title role in Falstaff (Des Moines Metro Opera); Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd (San Francisco Opera); Picker’s Dolores Claiborne (San Francisco, world premiere); Giulio Cesare (Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago); The Makropolous Case (Opéra National de Paris); Les contes d’ Hoffmann (Santa Fe); Das Rheingold (Los Angeles); Il barbiere di Siviglia (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Colorado); Hamlet (Minnesota); Sam and Wesley in the world premiere of Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier (San Francisco Opera).
AMY LITTLE KITTY HART
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: IL TROVATORE, 2009
American soprano Amy Little offers her voice of purity and resonance to advance a wide repertoire of operatic and orchestral literature, contemporary art music, pop music, musical theater, and cabaret. From Mìmì in Puccini’s La bohème or Brahms’ Requiem to Marvin Hamlisch’s Broadway classics and recordings for the Psychedelic Ensemble, she masterfully traverses a diverse musical terrain. Recent solo engagements include the enchanting role of Sam in Rob Kapilow’s setting of Green Eggs and Ham with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Magnificat with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Huxford Symphony Orchestra at the University of Alabama, and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. She has performed numerous roles with The Atlanta Opera including the First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, the Priestess in Verdi’s Aida, Inez in Verdi’s Il trovatore, and Lula in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree. Her partnerships with Hewlett Studios and Big Snow Entertainment labels exemplify her skills in coaching and producing vocal solo and background tracks. It is a full-service performing arts facility with four, fully equipped studios for voice, keyboard, and instrumental study where she continues her teaching career of over eighteen years. www.amylittle.com 26
JUSTIN STOLZ HOWARD BOUCHER
STUDIO ARTIST ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, 2017 Praised for his “effortlessly powerful” voice (The Chronicle Journal), Canadian tenor Justin Stolz is quickly establishing himself as an exciting young performer. A resident artist at The Atlanta Opera, he made a “rousing” (Opera News) professional debut last season as Der Steuermann in The Flying Dutchman. He has since appeared with the company as Tamino in The Magic Flute and Le Remendado in Carmen. He spent the summer of 2018 as an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera, and returns to The Atlanta Opera as a resident artist this season. He will perform Gastone in La traviata, and cover Lensky in Eugene Onegin. He will return to Santa Fe as an apprentice artist covering the role of Števa Buryja in Jenůfa. In prior seasons, Mr. Stolz has appeared as Don José in Carmen (Brott Music Festival, Indiana University Opera Theater), B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Indiana University Opera Theater), Mr. Owen in Postcard from Morocco (The Glenn Gould School), and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (The Glenn Gould School). He is a recent recipient of the first prize in The S. Livingston Mather Competition of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Stolz is a graduate of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and The Royal Conservatory of Music (The Glenn Gould School).
MARIA MCDANIEL WILLATHGAMUWA JADE BOUCHER
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: COLD SASSY TREE, 2008 Mezzo-soprano Maria McDaniel Willathgamuwa is consistently praised for her excellence in versatility of repertoire, expressive passion, flexible virtuosity and her rich and commanding presence on recital, concert and opera stages. As a regular supporting and concert artist with The Atlanta Opera, her main stage appearances in recent seasons include Myrtis in Cold Sassy Tree, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Flora in La traviata, Zulma in L'italiana in Algeri and Giovanna in Rigoletto. She was also a member of the renowned Atlanta Opera Chorus for four seasons. Recent concert engagements include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She has also travelled the country as a recitalist sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs. She made her international debut with the Chinese National Symphony during I Sing Beijing at the National Center for Performing Arts. She completed two summers in the nationally recognized Young Artist Program at Chautauqua Opera and holds a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from Georgia State University. She is active as a vocal clinician and teacher through her studio Atlanta Academy of Vocal Arts. Vocal competition prizes won with Irene Dalis Voice Competition with Opera San Jose, Winner of Women’s Voice Young Artist Division National Federation of Music Clubs, American Traditions Competition and Southeastern Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. 27
JONATHAN BRYAN MOTORCYCLE COP / PRISON GUARD #1 STUDIO ARTIST ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Jonathan Bryan, a baritone from Dallas, holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Louisiana State University, and recently received his master of music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with world-renowned baritone, Wolfgang Brendel. Jonathan has performed many leading operatic roles, including the title character in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Danilo in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Other roles include Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Owen Hart in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and Rambaldo in Puccini’s La Rondine. He has appeared as a concert soloist in works such as Haydn’s Missa in angustiis, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, and sang with orchestras such as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. He is a former member of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio, and spent the summer of 2018 as a young artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, where he covered Eric Owens as the Forester in a new production of Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen, and the role of Lieutenant Gordon in Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night. This season, Jonathan will perform Zaretsky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and Baron Douphol in Verdi’s La traviata.
MITCH GINDLESPERGER PRISON GUARD #2 ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: SAMSON ET DALILA, 2000
Mitch Gindlesperger, bass-baritone, is a regular member of The Atlanta Opera Chorus, and has performed comprimario roles with The Atlanta Opera including Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, the Second Philistine in Samson et Dalilah, and the Old Gypsy in Il trovotore. He also has prior experience with The Atlanta Opera Studio teaching master classes and opera workshops for high schools across the state. Mr. Gindlesperger received his vocal performance degree from Clayton State University. Other roles he has performed include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Adonis in Venus and Adonis, Lancelot du Lac in Camelot, and the Mother in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins.
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ANNA KOŹLAKIEWICZ SISTER CATHERINE STUDIO ARTIST ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Anna Koźlakiewicz is a young Polish soprano who began learning piano and voice at the Mława Conservatory of Music as a child. She received her master of music in vocal performance at The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. She was chosen to perform with the National Opera in Warsaw, Warsaw Chamber Opera, Collegium Nobilium, Amphitheater Bemowo, and Our Savior Jesus Christ Church. She performed the roles of Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Gianetta in Elisir d’amore, Peaceblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Virtu in The Coronation of Poppea, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and the soprano part in Coronation Mass and Mass of the Children by J. Rutter. She also earned a bachelor in art history at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. Since 2015 she has continued her music education at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music studying with Carol Vaness. where she performed the title role in Handel’s opera Rodelinda. Other recent credits include Gilda and Manon in the IU Carol Vaness Opera Workshop productions, Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at the La Musica Lirica summer festival in Italy and the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in Prague and Salzburg during Prague Summer Nights International Festival. She also appeared with the Missouri Symphony singing the role of Musetta in La bohème and singing the role of Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with The Red River Lyric Opera.
ELIZABETH SARIAN SISTER LILLIANE STUDIO ARTIST ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Elizabeth Sarian, mezzo-soprano, is quickly gaining recognition for her unique timbre and versatility as a young mezzo-soprano. As an artist in residence, Ms. Sarian will sing Flora in La traviata, Olga (cover) in Eugene Onegin, and Rosina in the Studio Tour of The Barber of Seville. Ms. Sarian’s 2017-18 season included the title role in Massenet’s Cherubin with Peabody Opera, Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Bel Cantanti Opera, and several concert and oratorio debuts including Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Ms. Sarian received her second Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was previously a Studio Artist with Central City Opera to cover Mercédès in Bizet’s Carmen. Ms. Sarian is a recent graduate from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she earned her master of music and graduate performance diploma. Recent role debuts with Peabody Opera have included Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Hansel (cover) in Hansel und Gretel, Dorabella (cover) in Così fan tutte, and Third Lady in The Magic Flute. Originally from Long Island, she completed her undergraduate studies at Hofstra University. 29
THE ATLANTA OPERA CHORUS CHORUS MASTER Rolando Salazar
CHORUS MEMBERS SOPRANO ALTO Melanie Burbules Kate Doriot Laura Hernandez Anna Koźlakiewicz Nicole Lewis Yilam Sartorio Jeanette Simpson Tiffany Uzoije
Afton Herring Jessica Lane Elizabeth Sarian Eva Sullivan Amber Tittle Laurie Tossing Lenna Turner Jessica Wax
TENOR
BASS
Robert Banks Brendan Callahan-Fitzgerald Ramon Centeno William Green Truman Griffin John Harr Grant Jones William McChriston Cody Russell Chris Saltalamacchio Daniel Weisman
August Bair Christopher S. Connelly Samuel Ferreira C. Agustus Godbee Antoine Griggs Samy Itskov Michael Lindsay Timothy Marshall William Anderson Taylor Miller Ivan Segovia
FIRST MOTHER Laura Hernandez MRS. CHARLTON Tiffany Uzoije SOLO INMATE 1 William Green SOLO INMATE 2 Samuel Ferreira
CHILDREN’S CHORUS Catherine Amendola Stephanie Amendola Abby Antrim Andrew Bodrick Julian Bonis
Patrick Davey Amira Mia Denizard James Hart Eden Kearse Vinny Montague
JIMMY Reid Sullivan
SUPERNUMERARIES BOY VICTIM Brandon Michael Mayes GIRL VICTIM Montgomery Davis ANTHONY DE ROCHER Truman Griffin PRISON GUARD Ashton Carter PRISON GUARD Kristian Rodriguez 30
SOLO INMATE 3 Taylor Miller SOLO INMATE 4 August Bair SOLO INMATE 5 C. Agustus Godbee
Adrienne Ocfemia Sophia Ocfemia Connor S.L. Sample Lauren Smith Abby Snyder
Reid Sullivan Calli Thompson Ellie Ziglar
THE ATLANTA OPERA ORCHESTRA VIOLIN
BASS
TRUMPET
Peter Ciaschini The Loraine P. Williams Orchestra Concertmaster Chair Felix Farrar Acting Assistant Concertmaster Fia Durrett Principal Second Adelaide Federici Assistant Principal Second Virginia Respess-Fairchild Katie Gardner-Otwell Martha Gardner Sally Gardner-Wilson Robert Givens Patti Gouvas Lisa Morrison Shawn Pagliarini Patrick Ryan Angele Sherwood-Lawless Jessica Stinson Rafael Veytsblum
Lyn DeRamus Principal
Yvonne Toll Principal
Emory Clements
Hollie Lifshey
Robert Henson
Kevin Lyons
FLUTE
TROMBONE
James Zellers Principal
Mark McConnell Principal
Kelly Bryant
Edmon Nicholson
Jessica Sherer
Richard Brady Bass Trombone
VIOLA
Justin Stanley
William Johnston Principal Elizabeth Derderian-Wood Assistant Principal Julie Rosseter Karl Schab Joli Wu Meghan Yost
CELLO Charae Krueger Principal Hilary Glen Assistant Principal Barney Culver David Hancock Sarah Kapps Mary Kenney
OBOE Diana Dunn Principal Lara Dahl
PERCUSSION Michael Cebulski Principal
Christina Gavin English Horn
Jeff Kershner
CLARINET
John Lawless Principal
David Odom Principal John Warren Bass Clarinet
BASSOON Ivy Ringel Principal
TIMPANI
HARP Susan Brady Principal
PIANO Valerie Pool
Debby Grove
PERSONNEL MANAGER
John Grove
Mark McConnell
HORN David Bradley Principal Jason Eklund Eric Hawkins Jack Bryant Musicians employed in this production are represented by the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.
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CHORUS SPOTLIGHT CHRISTOPHER S. CONNELLY, BARITONE THE ATLANTA OPERA: What is your vocal part, and how long have you sung with the Atlanta Opera Chorus? CHRISTOPHER S. CONNELLY: I am a baritone. I have sung for 22 years, this is my 47th production. AO: Where did you grow up and how did you get into music? CSC: I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Our parish priest was from Ireland, and he would give me a dime every time I sang an Irish folk song for him. Later, I began doing local theatre while still in high school. Mostly musicals. Private voice lessons followed. Almost 40 years later, I'm still studying. AO: Tell us about your most interesting audition. CSC: Long story, but shortly after moving to Atlanta, and long before I gave a thought to classical rep, I was a temp for two weeks at The Atlanta Opera, cleaning up the subscriber database. Long-time volunteer Rachel Lehmann took me under her wing and made me feel at home. Seven years later, my teacher suggested I audition for the opera chorus. When I walked in, there was Rachel at the front desk greeting the auditioners. "Darlink!" she cried. I was home again. Good thing too, as I was nervous. I had dislocated my elbow a few days prior, I and showed up for my audition in a sling. When I walked into the hall to sing, chorus master Walter Huff's eyes got 32
very big at the sight of me, but he said nothing and heard me along the rest of the hopefuls. I got the job. AO: What do you do when you're not singing with The Atlanta Opera? CSC: By day, I am the IT Department for NEETRAC, an electrical testing facility that's a part of Georgia Tech. On nights when I am not singing, I am a film and theatre historian. One of my essays was included in the DVD release of Applause for Kino. I am also writing the biography of torch singer Helen Morgan, although I spend little time sitting upon pianos.
AO: Besides classical, what other genres of music do you like? CSC: I like just about anything, but my first loves of Irish folk music and musical theatre remain closest to my heart.
ceiling at the Fox Theatre. Oh yes, and no one could see the maestro for the first half of the number. The entire ensemble had to feel the presence of each other and breath as a group. It was terrifying and exhilarating ... and perfect every night.
AO: If you had to be another voice part, what would it be, and why?
AO: What are your favorite musical moments in Dead Man Walking?
CSC: Who cares what voice type so long as you get a tune to sing and get to die at the end?
CSC: I find the finale extremely powerful.
AO: What is your all-time favorite Atlanta Opera moment? CSC: The 1999 production of Verdi's “Scottish opera” [Macbeth]. We were staged to sing the Act 4 chorus “Patria Opressa” so that each chorister was in his or her own little world. I was on my back, with the nape of my neck on the very lip of the stage, looking up at the beautiful night-sky
AO: What should audiences listen for in this opera? CSC: This is a new piece for me, so I'm learning as much as the audience. Listen to everything. AO: Do you have any advice for young singers? CSC: When learning new music, listen more, sing less. Don't waste voice until you know the music cold. Chris on stage as a soldier with Carmen and Don Jose behind him in Carmen last season. photo: Jeff Roffman
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The Studio Tour’s The Barber of Seville at Barack and Michelle Obama Academy. photo: John Becker
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY JESSICA KIGER
A core mission of The Atlanta Opera is to provide educational opportunities for students of all ages – we believe opera is for everyone. Each year, we serve approximately 20,000 students in Metro-Atlanta and throughout the state of Georgia. Our programs seek to promote an enduring appreciation of opera and to create audiences for the future. We are committed to higher levels of learning and programming that foster cross-curricular connections. Our educational partners are instrumental in bringing the power and passion of opera to thousands of students across the state. Studio Tour: The Barber of Seville Founded in 1980, The Atlanta Opera Studio Tour is the company’s longestrunning education initiative. Over the past 38 years, hundreds of thousands of students have been introduced to opera through schools participating in the Studio Tour. This season, The Atlanta Opera is excited to present a bilingual version of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Opera’s most famous 34
barber, Figaro, plays the role of translator as Rossini’s sparkling, witty score takes center stage. Created by stage director Kristine McIntyre, the 45-minute adaptation is performed in Spanish and English and demonstrates the power of love to triumph over adversity of every kind. The sold-out tour will have a total of 60 performances at schools and community centers across the state reaching over 14,000 students. Feedback we’ve received from our Fall Tour performances: “AMAZING simply is an understatement! The performance was outstanding and kept our entire student body engaged the entire time. Many of our students rarely have an opportunity to leave the Oakland City community yet alone be exposed the arts in such a compelling manner. Having The Atlanta Opera come to our school truly left a lasting impression upon each of their lives; an experience for which I am most grateful. Thank you for touching so many in such a meaningful way.” - Principal Taylor, William Finch Elementary School
“This was an excellent experience for the students and faculty of M. Agnes Jones! The students were elated! Having the students here participate in an opera learning experience was perfect in bringing our STEAM initiative to life. The students were very engaged and had many comments and questions after the performance. This experience opened up a whole new way of thinking for our students about opera. The Atlanta Opera really made a lasting impact!” - Principal Woolfolk, Agnus Jones Elementary School “It was truly a great experience to have The Opera here at Benteen! The actors really engaged the students and the set was beautiful. The actors answered the questions of several students and the students were super excited to learn more about the singers, a career in music, and singing. It was a great show!” - Principal Lovett, Beteen Elementary School “This was an awesome performance for our students! It really gave me chill bumps with our kids having this experience. The performers were 5 star!
The performance of West Side Story for High School students. photo: Greg Mooney
Thank you for giving this opportunity to our students! The Atlanta Opera experience was phenomenal! From the planning to the execution The Opera team was awesome. Our scholars were truly engaged and enjoyed every aspect of the show. This is an experience that I am sure they will never forget.” - Principal Christian, Barack and Michelle Obama Academy West Side Story for Students Continuing our partnership with the ArtsBridge Foundation at Cobb Energy Centre and the Cultural Experience Project at the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, we welcomed over 1,600 students from across the state to a FREE field trip presentation of West Side Story for high school students on Friday, November 2, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. Through The Atlanta Opera Studio Tour and our other educational programs, we hope to inspire the students of today to become opera lovers of tomorrow. Learn more about these education and community programs by visiting us at atlantaopera.org/education.
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through the lobby. We have learned much from Barbara's steely determination to see he Opera succeed. Here are just three lasting lessons: 1. If you are going to succeed you must think first. Don’t make decisions based on emotion; base the decision on a clear need, a plan of action, then engage the right people, follow through, evaluate the outcome, and adjust the plan when necessary.
BARBARA D. STEWART BY RAE WEIMER
According to all who knew her, Barbara Stewart had passion for life, and gave wholeheartedly to those things dear to her heart. She loved to travel, and crossed the globe to destinations including southeast Asia, China, Tibet and India, as well as Canada and New Zealand, which she toured by motorcycle. In her journeys throughout the U.S. and Europe, however, opera was the major focus. She loved The Atlanta Opera and served on the company’s board as Treasurer, Vice President, and President at various times. Thanks to her professional background in economics, strategic planning, and financial analysis, she understood the imperfections of the company, but also its strengths and its potential. She invested both her time and her gifts to ensure the Opera’s future. The Atlanta Opera lost a tremendous friend when Barbara passed away in 2010, and the company misses the petite, quiet woman with the warm smile entering the theatre before a performance. We miss seeing the little twinkle in her eye as she cast a sideways glance as she walked 36
2. Invest your time in what educates, entertains, and inspires. Opera uses the human voice and glorious orchestration to tell stories. Opera can reflect humanity at its best and at its worst. Opera can open our minds to different perspectives and ideas. Opera can make us laugh, make us feel compassion and empathy, make us cry, and make our spines tingle. 3. Give a gift that continues long after you have left this earth, perhaps in the form of a planned gift in your will. Barbara did just this. Her gift allowed the Opera to survive the recession, helped grow the endowment, provided immediate financial resources for the operations of the company, and set the stage for the company’s future. This became her legacy. We would like to thank Barbara for the woman she was, the advice and counsel she provided, and the gifts she gave to The Atlanta Opera. In honor of Barbara’s many contributions to The Atlanta Opera, our planned giving division, the Encore Society, has been renamed the Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society. How would you like to be remembered?
BARBARA D. STEWART LEGACY SOCIETY The Atlanta Opera established the Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society to recognize donors who have designated The Opera as a beneficiary in their estate plan. In honor of Barbara D. Stewart’s many contributions to The Atlanta Opera, our planned giving division, the Encore Society, has been renamed the Barbara D. Stewart Legacy Society. Anonymous Cathy Callaway Adams & Mark Adams Mr. & *Mrs. Shepard B. Ansley Mrs. Wallace F. Beard The Bickers Charitable Trust Mr. Montague L. Boyd, IV Ms. Mary D. Bray Mr. Robert Colgin Martha Thompson Dinos The Roy and Janet Dorsey Foundation Arnold and Sylvia Eaves Ms. Dorothy E. Edwards *Heike and Dieter Elsner Ms. Melodi Ford Carl and Sally Gable Peg Simms Gary Mr. and Mrs. Sidney W. Guberman Ms. Judy Hanenkrat Mr. Hilson Hudson *Mrs. Joseph B. Hutchison Mr. J. Carter Joseph Mr. Alfred D. Kennedy Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Keough Ms. Corina M. LaFrossia Dr. Jill Mabley
Mr. and Mrs. John G. Malcolm Mr. Robert L. Mays Mr. & Mrs. Allen P. McDaniel Peggy Weber McDowell & Jack McDowell Mr. and Mrs. Craig N. Miller Miss Helen D. Moffitt Mr. J. Robert Morring Clara M. and John S. O’Shea Mrs. Polly N. Pater Mr. William E. Pennington Mr. Bruce Roth Ms. Hazel Sanger Mr. D. Jack Sawyer, Jr. Anita & J. Barry Schrenk Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel Christine and Mark St.Clare *Ms. Barbara D. Stewart Dr. Jane T. St. Clair and Mr. James E. Sustman Mr. & Mrs. Thomas H. Teepen Dr. and Mrs. Harold Whitney *Mrs. Jane S. Willson Rhys T. Wilson Ms. Bunny Winter and Mr. Michael Doyle Mr. Charles R. Yates, Jr. & Mrs. Mary Mitchell Yates *Mr. & *Mrs. Charles R. Yates, Sr.
*deceased
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ANNUAL GIVING We are grateful for the following donors’ generous support. This list reflects gifts and pledges to unrestricted operating expenses, special projects, and/or endowment made between May 1, 2017, through Nov. 30, 2018. DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE $1,000,000+ John & Rosemary Brown Ann & Frank Critz $500,000+ Peggy Weber McDowell & Jack McDowell $200,000+ Anonymous *Mr. & Mrs. Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Jerry & Dulcy Rosenberg Harold Brody & Donald Smith $100,000+ Mr. & Mrs. Ronald R. Antinori Mr. Howard W. Hunter - Gramma Fisher Foundation $50,000+ Nancy & *Jim Bland Mr. David Boatwright The Laura & Montague Boyd Foundation Martha Thompson Dinos John L. Hammaker Mary Ruth McDonald Mary & E.P. Rogers Foundation, Inc. Judith & Mark Taylor Triska Drake & G. Kimbrough Taylor Rhys T. & Carolyn Wilson Ms. Bunny Winter & Mr. Michael Doyle $25,000+ Cathy & Mark Adams Mr. & Mrs. John L. Connolly Mr. & Mrs. Michael L. Keough Mr. James B. Miller, Jr. Victoria & Howard Palefsky Mr. William E. Pennington Mr. William F. Snyder The Mary & Charlie Yates Family Foundation Brian & Marie Ward 38
PATRON’S CIRCLE $15,000+ Julia & Jim Balloun Mr. & Mrs. C. Duncan Beard Mr. Robert P. Dean & Mr. Robert Epstein William & Debbie Hyde Candy & Greg Johnson Mr. Kevin Kelly Mr. Alfred D. Kennedy & Dr. Bill Kenny Donald & Marilyn Keough Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Michael E. Paulhus Drs. Aileen & Richard Robinson Christine & Mark St.Clare GOLD $10,000+ Anonymous Elizabeth & Jeremy Adler Mrs. Phillip E. Alvelda Bryan & Johanna Barnes Dr. Florence C. Barnett Dr. & Mrs. Asad Bashey Mr. & Mrs. Dante Bellizzi Mr. & Mrs. Andy Berg Ms. Janine Brown & Mr. Alex J. Simmons, Jr. Mr. Mario Concha *Heike & Dieter Elsner Carl & Sally Gable Dr. & Mrs. Alexander Gross Mr. & Mrs. Michael A. Klump Ms. Carla Knobloch Sandra & Peter Morelli Mr. Thomas & Mrs. Eleanor Ratchford, Jr. Mr. Charles Sharbaugh Mr. & Mrs. Timothy E. Sheehan John & Yee-Wan Stevens Mr. & Mrs. William E. Tucker Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
SILVER $5,000+ Mr. & *Mrs. Shepard B. Ansley Dr. R. Dwain Blackston Dr. Bruce Cassidy & Dr. Eda Hochgelerent Jean & Jerry Cooper Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge Dr. Morgan Eiland & Dr. Susan Eiland Elise R. Donohue Charitable Trust Mr. & Mrs. Lance Fortnow Ms. Rebecca Y. Frazer & Mr. Jon Buttrey Mr. Ethan Garonzik Mrs. John W. Grant III Judge Adele P. Grubbs Mr. L. D. Holland Mrs. Gail G. Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Harry C. Howard James M. Kane & Andrea Braslavsky Kane Dr. & Mrs. James Lowman Belinda & Gino Massafra Mr. Conrad Mora Mrs. Polly N. Pater Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ratonyi John & Barbara Ross Milton J. Sams Mr. & Mrs. J. Barry Schrenk Mr. & Mrs. George B. Taylor, Jr. Rae & George Weimer Larry & Beverly Willson Mrs. Wadleigh C. Winship Bob & Cappa Woodward Charitable Fund BRONZE $2,500+ Mrs. Elizabeth Tufts Bennett Mrs. Enrique E. Bledel Dr. John W. Cooledge Amy & James Davis Mr. Richard H. Delay & Dr. Francine D. Dykes Mr. Robert S. Devins Col. & Mrs. Edgar W. Duskin Rita Evans Dr. & Mrs. Donald J. Filip Kevin Greiner & Robyn Roberts Mr. & Mrs. Edward J. Hardin
Mr. Jake Heggie Mr. & Mrs. Thomas D. Hills Lisa Kennedy Linda L. Lively & James E. Hugh III Dr. Jill Mabley Ms. Priscilla M. Moran Mr. & Mrs. Richard P. Nicholas III Dr. & Mrs. Lawrence S. Phillips Morton & Angela Sherzer Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Shreiber Johannah Smith Mr. Tarek Takieddini Dr. & Mrs. Nicholas Valerio III FRIEND’S CIRCLE INVESTOR $1,000+ Anonymous Michael Arens & Jeff Daniel Mr. & Mrs. Robert O. Banker Christine M. Beard Mr. & Mrs. Paul Blackney Martha S. Brewer Chris Casey & Douglas Weiss Mr. & Mrs. Edward S. Croft III Mrs. Lavona Currie Maureen & Michael Dailey Dr. & Mrs. F. Thomas Daly Jr. Ms. Ariana B. Fass Dr. Mary M. Finn Mr. & Mrs. Michael Flaherty R. Derril Gay, Ph.D. Dr. Thomas N. Guffin, Jr. Kay & Neil Hightower Donna & Richard Hiller James Honkisz Mr. & Mrs. David C. Huffman Lou & Tom Jewell Mrs. Cecile M. Jones Mr. & Mrs. Gert Kampfer Mr. & Mrs. Gedas Kutka Ms. Brenda O. Lambert Mrs. Treville Lawrence Ms. Salli LeVan Dr. Carlos E. Lopez Dr. & Mrs. Steven Marlowe 39
Mimi & Dan Maslia Mr. & Mrs. Allen P. McDaniel Shelley McGehee James & Kathleen Meucci Mrs. Audrey B. Morgan Jane & Jim Murray John & Agnes Nelson Mr. & Mrs. John L. O’Neal The Opera Guild for Atlanta Clara M. & John S. O’Shea Dr. & Mrs. Donald A. Paul Mr. Darryl C. Payne & Ms. Lisa C. Richardson Lucy S. Perry Mr. Lawrence F. Pinson Mrs. Betsy Pittman Dr. Michael F. Pratt & Nancy Peterman The Reverend Neal P. Ponder, Jr. Mr. James D. Powell Tandi Reddick R.J. & D.G. Riffey, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. George P. Rodrigue Katherine Scott Mr. & Mrs. Milton W. Shlapak Mr. & Mrs. S. Albert Sherrod Mr. Fred B. Smith Mr. Paul Snyder Lynne & Steven Steindel Mr. Peter James Stelling Dr. Jane T. St. Clair & Mr. James E. Sustman Mr. Stephen H. Thompson & Mr. Drew Mote Beth O. Wade Mr. & Mrs. Leroy Walden Alan & Marcia Watt Dr. & Mrs. James O. Wells, Jr. Jone Williams Dr. & Mrs. R. Craig Woodward Mr. Allen W. Yee SUPPORTER $500+ Anonymous Dr. Raymond Allen Mr. Larry M. Anderson Daniel & Bethann Berger Mrs. Marilee F. Betor Cynthia & Albert Blackwelder 40
Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Blumenthal Stanford M. Brown Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Catalfano Mr. & Mrs. Raymond H. Chenault Mrs. Carol J. Clark Don & Linda Coatsworth Mr. Lawrence M. Cohen Ms Lillianette Cook & Ms. Carol Uhl Dr. & Mrs. Harold L. Chapman, Jr. Mr. Thomas J. Collins & Jeff Holmes Mr. & Mrs. Michael J. Curry Mr. James M. Datka & Ms. Nora P. DePalma Dr. & Mrs. Albert De Chicchis Jim & Carol Dew Mr. Mark du Mas Ms. Diane Durgin Mr. Micah Fortson John Gam, Ph.D. Marie Graham Mr. Ronald L. Harris & Mrs. Jacqueline Pownall Dean & Vivian Haulton Mr. George Hickman, III Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Hantula Mr. & Mrs. Howell Hollis III Richard & Linda Hubert Mary & Wayne James Robert L. Jeffrey Ms. Eleanor Kinsey Joan & Arnold Kurth Brenda Lawrence Chris & Jill Le Sophie Li Vaneesa & Allan Little Alex Livingston Dr. Robert & Judge Stephanie Manis Samantha & William Markle Mr. Stedman C. Mays, Jr. & Mr. Charles Bjorklund Mortimer Family Barbara & Mark Murovitz Terri & Stephen Nagler Ms. Nancy W. Noe Mr. Vernon Norris The Honorable & Mrs. George A. Novak *Mr. & Mrs. William A. Parker George Paulik Mr. Daniel V. Pompilio III & Mrs. Lark Ingram
Ward Reed Lynn & Kent Regenstein Mr. John B. Rofrano Sandra & Ronald Rousseau Dr. & Mrs. William M. Scaljon Gail & Barry Spurlock Judge Mike & Mrs. Jane Stoddard Steve & Christine Strong Mr. & Mrs. James Summers Dr. & Mrs. Michael Szikman Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth G. Taylor Ms. Virginia S. Taylor Mr. & Mrs. Charles D. Tuller Mrs. Jody Collins Weatherly Mr. James Weis Virginia S. Williams Kiki Wilson Sherrilyn & Donn Wright Ms. Jerrie Woodward CONTRIBUTOR $250+ Anonymous Judith Alembik Charles Arp Mr. David Baker Colonel & Mrs. John V. Barson, D.O. Mr. & Mrs. Harris P. Baskin Mr. & Mrs. Matthew H. Bernstein Mr. & Mrs. George Boulineau Ms. Susan H. Branch Mr. Paul Brenner Ms. Melodye G. Brown Mark & Peg Bumgardner Mr. & Mrs. George Cemore Dr. & Mrs. Arthur E. Chapman Mr. David F. Chastain III Mr. N. Jerold Cohen & Ms. Andrea Strickland Mr. & Mrs. Charles Cohn Mr. & Mrs. Newt Collinson Mrs. Claudia Colvin Carol Comstock & Jim Davis Mr. T. Dennis Connally Mr. & Mrs. John H. Crawford Ms. Suzanne Mott Dansby Mr. Mark Edmundson
Mrs. Arnoldo Fiedotin Dr. & Mrs. Richard D. Franco Mr. Glen Galbaugh Col. & Mrs. Donald M. Gilner Ms. Louise S. Gunn Ms. Sharon E. Hill Ms. Jan W. Hughen Mr. Scott Ingram Stuart Jackson & Robyn Jackson Ms. Brenda D. Jennings Mr. Johnny C. Johnson Cliff Jolliff & Elaine Gerke Mr. & Mrs. Edward Katze Mr. & Mrs. Fred R. Keith Mr. & Mrs. Windell R. Keith John & JoAnn Keller Mrs. Peter G. Kessenich Juliette & Andrew Lebor Ms. Leslie Leland Mrs. Jeanine Lewis Ms. Joanne Lincoln Livvy Kazer Lipson Richard Lodise & Valerie Jagiella Mr. Thomas L. McCook Mr. M. Sean Molley Mr. & Mrs. Henry C. Parrish III Mr. & Mrs. John Payan Ms. Sandra Perkowitz Mr. W. Ray Persons Ms. Sophia B. Peterman Mr. Stephen L. Rann Ms. Regina Schuber Mr. Robert Sidewater Dr. & Mrs. Stanley J. Smits Mr. & Mrs. Robert Stansfield Mr. & Mrs. John Stephenson Dr. Susan Y. Stevens Mr. & Mrs. Frederick A. Stuart Carolyn & Robert Swain Mr. Richard Thio Dr. & Mrs. James H. Venable Mrs. Linda P. Vinal Ms. Parsla A. Welch Ms. Ann D. Winters *Mr. & Mrs. John Zellner *deceased
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TRIBUTES & MEMORIALS IN HONOR OF CATHY ADAMS Turknett Leadership Group Mr. Allen W. Yee Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland IN MEMORY OF MRS. BOYCE L. ANSLEY Milton J. Sams Mr. & Mrs. J. Barry Schrenk Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
IN HONOR OF MR. & MRS. ARTHUR FAGEN ’73-’74 Chi O’s IN HONOR OF MR. LANCE FORTNOW Annie Fortnow
IN MEMORY OF ELEONORA MARGET BARSON Colonel & Mrs. John V. Barson, D.O.
IN MEMORY OF ULF-DEITER FILIPP Ms. Kaaren Nowicki
IN HONOR OF DR. HAROLD BRODY Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
IN HONOR OF JOANNE & ALEX GROSS Mr. Alle W. Yee
IN HONOR OF ROSEMARY & JOHN BROWN Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
IN MEMORY OF HARRIETT HARRIS Gary Hanson Ms. Freya Harris Dr. & Mrs. Stuart H. Silverman
IN MEMORY OF DR. JOSEPH & MRS. RUTH P. BARNETT Dr. Florence C. Barnett IN MEMORY OF DR. JAMES W. BLAND, JR. Mr. & Mrs. J. Barry Schrenk IN MEMORY OF MR. ENRIQUE BLEDEL Mrs. Enrique E. Bledel IN HONOR OF ANN & FRANK CRITZ Mr. Allen W. Yee IN HONOR OF THE ATLANTA OPERA CHOIR & ORCHESTRA John Gam, Ph. D. IN HONOR OF MR. ROBERT P. DEAN Mr. Allen W. Yee IN MEMORY OF MRS. THELMA DEAN Marianne Craft Rae & George Weimer
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IN HONOR OF MR. ROBERT G. EDGE Mrs. Eleanor Crosby Leslie Gordon & Blake Leland
IN MEMORY OF MR. & MRS. KENNETH BRYAN HORTON Dr. Morgan Eiland & Dr. Susan Eiland IN HONOR OF MS. SYDNEY HEMBREE Anonymous IN HONOR OF MARGARET TALMADGE HOWELL Dr. John W. Cooledge IN HONOR OF MR. WALTER HUFF Milton J. Sams IN HONOR OF MR. ALFRED D. KENNEDY Kay & Neil Hightower Mr. Allen W. Yee IN HONOR OF THE KEOUGH FAMILY Mr. Allen W. Yee
IN MEMORY OF MR. CARL W. KNOBLOCH, JR. Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
IN MEMORY OF MRS. ELEANOR H. STRAIN Mr. Vernon Norris
IN HONOR OF MR. & MRS. ALLAN LITTLE III Kristin Whatley
IN HONOR OF MR. MARK K. TAYLOR Mr. S. Jarvin Levison
IN HONOR OF MR. WILLIAM A. MARKLE Anonymous
IN MEMORY OF MR. THOMAS H. TEEPEN Mr. & Mrs. David S. Baker Dr. & Mrs. Sheldon B. Cohen
IN HONOR OF MRS. MARY RUTH MCDONALD Anonymous
IN HONOR OF BILL TUCKER Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
IN HONOR OF PEGGY & JACK MCDOWELL Mrs. Enrique E. Bledel Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland
IN HONOR OF MRS. REBECCA WARNER Mr. Allen W. Yee
IN MEMORY OF JANET MIDDLEBROOKS Mr. & Mrs. John Riley
IN HONOR OF CINDY WIDNER WALL Mr. Allen W. Yee
IN MEMORY OF KARINA MILLER Peggy Weber McDowell & Jack McDowell
IN MEMORY OF MADISON WEEKS Judge Adele P. Grubbs
IN MEMORY OF PHYLLIS MORA Mr. Conrad Mora
IN HONOR OF MRS. RAE WEIMER Mr. & Mrs. Montague L. Boyd IV
IN HONOR OF MRS. POLLY N. PATER Anonymous Mr. & Mrs. Brian Beem Mr. Johnny C. Johnson
IN MEMORY OF MS. GOLDIE T. WEINSTEIN Ms. Edith Kelman Lori Smith
IN HONOR OF MR. LAWRENCE F. PINSON Anonymous IN MEMORY OF DR. GEORGE "PETE" RODRIGUE Mr. & Mrs. Thomas D. Hills Dororthy McDaniel Catherine Rodrigue IN MEMORY OF MR. ROBERT SNEAD Dr. Florence C. Barnett
IN MEMORY OF MARYA GABRIELLE WILLIAMS Jone Williams IN MEMORY OF MRS. LORAINE P. WILLIAMS Mr. Tomer Zvulun & Mrs. Susanna Eiland IN HONOR OF MR. CHARLES R. YATES, JR. Mr. & Mrs. John Stephenson IN MEMORY OF MRS. DOROTHY M. YATES Mr. & Mrs. J. Barry Schrenk
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CORPORATE PARTNERS $100,000+ The Coca-Cola Company Fidelity Southern Corporation The Home Depot Foundation $50,000+ Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta Gas South $10,000+ Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters Capital Group Companies The Hilbert Law Firm, LLC Republic National Distributing Co., Inc. PNC Wealth Management SAP Success Factors TriMont Real Estate Advisors, Inc. Turner
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$5,000+ Ad Graphics Affordable Equity Partners, Inc. Atlantic Trust Georgia Dermatology Center Indian Hills Country Club Modern Luxury St. Regis Atlanta UBS Financial Services Inc. $2,500+ BNY Mellon Wealth Management Wallace Graphics $1,000+ Anonymous Empire Distributors, Inc. Orange Cone Productions, LLC
TOGETHER, LET’S MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OUR NATION’S HEROES The Home Depot Foundation is proud to partner with the Atlanta Opera to honor our U.S. military, veterans and their families.
45 © 2018 Homer TLC, Inc. All rights reserved.
homedepot.com/teamdepot
FOUNDATIONS & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOUNDATIONS $1,000,000+ Molly Blank Fund of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
GOVERNMENT FUNDING $20,000+ Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs National Endowment for the Arts
$850,000+ The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation
10,000+ Georgia Council for the Arts
$225,000+ Livingston Foundation $50,000+ Atlanta Music Festival Association The Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc. The Sara Giles Moore Foundation The Zeist Foundation $20,000+ The Roy and Janet Dorsey Foundation J. Marshall and Lucile G. Powell Charitable Trust The Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation Opera America, Inc. $10,000+ George M. Brown Trust Fund Ida Alice Ryan Charitable Trust Norfolk Southern Corporation Foundation Ray M. & Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation, Inc. David, Helen, & Marian Woodward Fund $5,000+ Camp-Younts Foundation Frances Wood Wilson Foundation, Inc. Fraser-Parker Foundation JBS Foundation Nordson Corporate Foundation $1,000+ Bright Wings Foundation Enterprise Holdings Foundation Hills Family Foundation Kiwanis Foundation of Atlanta, Inc. Mary Brown Fund of Atlanta, Georgia Piedmont National Family Foundation Publix Super Markets Charities
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS
CHAIR Ms. Cathy Callaway Adams IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Mr. William E. Tucker VICE CHAIR Mr. John L. Hammaker VICE CHAIR Mr. Rhys T. Wilson VICE CHAIR Mr. Charles “Charlie” R. Yates, Jr. TREASURER Mr. Robert Dean SECRETARY Mr. Michael E. Paulhus
MEMBERS
Mrs. Elizabeth Adler Mr. Bryan H. Barnes Mr. Dante Bellizzi Mr. Montague L. Boyd, IV Mrs. Rosemary Kopel Brown Ms. Mary Calhoun Mr. Mario Concha Dr. Frank A. Critz Ms. Martha Thompson Dinos Mr. Robert G. Edge Mr. Dieter Elsner Dr. Donald J. Filip Mr. Kevin Greiner Mrs. Joanne Chesler Gross Mr. Howard W. Hunter
HONORARY MEMBERS
Mrs. Nancy Carter Bland The Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler Mr. Carl I. Gable, Jr. Mrs. Nancy Hall Green Mr. Carter Joseph Mr. Alfred Kennedy, Jr. Mr. Michael Keough Mr. George Levert
Mr. Gregory F. Johnson Mr. Kevin Kelly Mr. Andrew Long Mr. James B. Miller Mrs. Sandra S. Morelli Mr. William E. Pennington Mr. Herbert J. Rosenberg Mr. Charles Sharbaugh Mr. Timothy E. Sheehan Mr. Alex Simmons, Jr. Mr. Paul Snyder Mr. William F. Snyder Mrs. Christine St.Clare Mr. G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr. Ms. Bunny Winter
Mrs. Peggy McDowell *Mr. Harmon "Sandy" B. Miller, III Mr. Bruce A. Roth Mr. J. Barry Schrenk Mr. Mark K. Taylor Mr. Thomas R. Williams Mr. Robert G. Woodward *deceased
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STAFF EXECUTIVE Tomer Zvulun CARL W. KNOBLOCH, JR. GENERAL & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Micah Fortson MANAGING DIRECTOR
ARTISTIC Arthur Fagen CARL & SALLY GABLE MUSIC DIRECTOR Lauren Bailey DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION Rolando Salazar ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR / CHORUS MASTER Wade Thomas ARTISTIC SERVICES & STUDIO MANAGER Mark McConnell ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER Tyler Benware ORCHESTRA LIBRARIAN Jessica Kiger AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION MANAGER Alexandria Sweatt EDUCATION COORDINATOR
PRODUCTION Kevin G. Mynatt DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Alix Strasnick TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Jody A. Cohen PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Brian August PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Renée Varnas RESIDENT ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Justin Michel LIGHTING SUPERVISOR Joanna Schmink COSTUME DIRECTOR Mary Torres WORK ROOM MANAGER Laura Elizabeth Payne CUTTER/DRAPER Abigail Dupree Polston CUTTER/DRAPER Emory C. Tuttle STITCHER Daniella Ampudia FITTING ASSISTANT/STITCHER Amy Jackson STITCHER Alyson Rubin COSTUME INTERN
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Kathy J. White DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Inga V. Murro CONTROLLER Kenneth R. Timmons HUMAN RESOURCES & OFFICE MANAGER Chamberlynn Shelton EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Ruth Strickland BOOKKEEPER 48
DEVELOPMENT Lisa Kennedy CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER Rae Weimer DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Rachel Jorgensen DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS Amy Davis MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER James Tyson ANNUAL FUND MANAGER Katie Lawrence DEVELOPMENT SERVICES & DATABASE MANAGER
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Holly Hanchey DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Renee Smiley SENIOR MANAGER, TICKETING SERVICES Matt Burkhalter CREATIVE SERVICES MANAGER Rebecca Danis MARKETING MANAGER
The Atlanta Opera | 1575 Northside Drive N.W., Suite 350 | Atlanta, GA 30318 404-881-8885 | atlantaopera.org
photo: Jeff Roffman
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HOUSE POLICIES CONCESSIONS
Concession stands are located in the center of the lobbies on all three levels. Food and beverage items are prohibited inside the theater. Thank you for your cooperation.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms are located on house right and house left of all three lobbies. Family restrooms are also located on house right of all three lobbies. Mobility-impaired patrons may use any of our restrooms.
PARKING
There are 1,000 parking spaces available at $10 per car. Valet service is available for $15. Please be sure to allow enough time for travel to the theater and parking as there is no late seating.
Persons requiring access assistance are asked to contact the box office at 770-916-2850 for advance arrangements. Audio-clarification devices are available to our hearing-impaired guests at no charge. This is on a first-come, first-served basis, or you may call the House Manager ahead of time to reserve one at 770-916-2828. A limited number of booster seats are also available. All items require a form of identification to be held until the item is returned.
COBB ENERGY CENTRE RULES & REQUESTS
ATM
• All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket in order to be admitted to the performance. Please be aware that not all performances are suitable for children.
COAT CHECK
• Infants will not be admitted to adult programs. Parents will be asked to remove children who create a disturbance.
There is one Bank of North Georgia ATM located in the grand lobby.
Coat check is available at the concierge desk.
EMERGENCY INFORMATION In the event of an emergency, please locate the nearest usher who will direct you to the appropriate exit.
ELEVATORS
Elevators are located on each side of the lobbies on all levels.
LOST & FOUND
Lost and Found items are turned into the concierge desk on the day of a performance. To inquire about a lost item, please call the House Manager at 770-916-2828.
SMOKING
Smoking is prohibited inside the building. 50
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE
• There is no late seating allowed. Closedcircuit monitors are provided in the lobby as a courtesy to latecomers. • Please turn off all cellphones prior to the beginning of each performance. • Please limit conversation during the performance. • Cameras (including use of cellphone camera) and audio and video recording devices are strictly prohibited at all times. • Leaving while the show is in progress is discourteous and we ask that you refrain from doing so. • Please unwrap all candies and cough drops before the performance.
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COMFORT AND
DELIGHT 4300 PACES FERRY ROAD S.E . 30339 - VININGS
(404)205-8255
FRESH, SEASONAL FOOD IN VININGS VILLAGE Join us before or after the show! Theater menu available.
4300 Paces Ferry Road • 770.801.0089 • www.SOHOatlanta.com
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CHARLESTON ADVENTURE
Whether you’re a first-timer or a South Carolina regular, our rundown of must-do’s and should-do’s takes you all around town — to eateries, to the beach, back in time and back to nature. Story & Photos by David Danzig
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The veranda at the Zero George Street Hotel. Conde Nast named the Zero one of its Top 5 Foodie Hotels in the World. 53
You're just a ferry ride away from the ruins of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired some 150 years ago.
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T
he Lowcountry in South Carolina marks the gradual transformation from land to sea, a fascinating nexus where terra firma gradually becomes something unstable, its surface beauty concealing a watery mystery below. The city of Charleston, like its environs, presents a duality of experiences. It’s one of the most beloved tourist towns in the world, a city endowed with Instagram-worthy beauty and preserved antebellum charm, punctuated by churches, cobblestone streets and gas lanterns that are more than a century old. But the city is also ballasted by conflict and mystery, a place where the narrative includes tales of pirates and persecution, all of it built upon slave labor. A visit to Charleston lays before you an inexhaustible supply of must-do experiences and, if you’re willing to dig a bit deeper, a whole world of should-do’s. With that in mind, we offer five must-do’s for novice visitors and five should-do’s for those of you who’ve been here a time a two. 1. GET ACQUAINTED MUST DO: Before the internal combustion engine, the horsepower around Charleston was provided by, well, horses. That clip-clopping still echoes in the streets, adding a rhythmic soundtrack to the city’s array of historically preserved homes, churches and cemeteries. Palmetto Carriage Co. staffs wooden carriage rides with knowledgeable guides who dispense historical information — some of it candidly controversial — while your noble steeds
ladies and gentlemen,
RONNIE JOHNSON Singer-songwriter Ronnie Johnson has done gigs and jam sessions that have taken him from Antarctica to South America, and from England to South Florida (Key West). These days, you’re just as likely to catch his act at any number of restaurants and clubs in the Charleston area. The Lowcountry artist, who was born in Valdosta, Ga., is known for his versatility and for playing a mix of original and cover songs. He works, he says, “wherever the music takes me.” His legions of fans are happy about that. Listen to some of their comments on his Facebook page (Ronnie Johnson Music, where you can also find upcoming gigs):
RONNIE JOHNSON
• “Supremely talented and a master showman. Don’t miss the chance to see him.” • “Ronnie is a wonderful musician. Talented and able to play a wide variety of genres. Beautiful voice.” • “Tons of fun, and he plays it all! Guaranteed to have a blast.”
Johnson has shared the stage with Chuck Berry, opened for Tom Jones and Loretta Lynn, and hit the Billboard charts with his tune “For Old Times Sake,” recorded by rockabilly’s Jerry Naylor in 1986. Johnson even played ukulele and drums before settling on the guitar in his teenage years. For more than 14 years he performed regularly at Wild Dunes, a 1,600-acre gated oceanfront resort on South Carolina’s Isle of Palms. He took full control of his music when he left Wild Dunes and opened Buddy Roe’s Music Bar & Grill, also on the Isle of Palms, where food was the appetizer and music the main dish. The restaurant relocated and became Buddy Roe’s Shrimp Shack and then Sawyer’s on the Boulevard, but it’s no longer open. Johnson’s gravelly voice and precise picking sometimes lean toward the blues, but his country roots are always evident, as is his well-traveled, well-honed musicianship. He’s best described, he has said, as an all-round entertainer.
— Encore Atlanta
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Tour the Old City Jail (above) if you dare. It housed some of the worst criminals of its day. Palmetto Carriage Co. and its horses (right) will show you historic downtown Charleston all year long.
saunter through pre-selected hourlong routes around the historic downtown grid. Tickets: $26; $16 age 4-11. SHOULD DO: The Old City Jail caged some of the worst criminals of their day for 137 years — a who’s who of baddies that included pirates, Union Army prisoners and even the alleged first female serial killer, Lavinia Fisher (1793-1820), who was eventually hung. Now, while the 4-acre parcel awaits its future (developers are salivating to turn into a mixed-use something or other), guides from Bulldog Tours lead a frightful nightly journey through the jailhouse and share real-life tales of terror (conditions here were unimaginably inhumane) as well as tales of prisoners’ spirits who may still manifest themselves for guests. The 45-minute tours happen nightly. Tickets: $28; $18 children.
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2. FEEDING FRENZY MUST DO: The Atlantic Ocean’s relationship with the Lowcountry creates a glorious fishing environment, and its bounty makes its way quickly from nets and hooks to your plate.
The Hyman family has been in business in the Hyman Seafood building since the late 1800s and, since 1986, has served worldrenowned dishes (The Food Network lists it in its Top 5 seafood category). From Lowcountry boils to build-your-own seafood platters, Hyman’s serves the classics from an area stocked with oysters, crab, shrimp and even alligator for sausage. SHOULD DO: The micro-kitchen of Zero George Restaurant + Bar is, perhaps, an under-the-radar surprise. Found in the boutique-chic Zero George Street Hotel, it churns out some of the most creative culinary art around (it made Conde Nast’s Top 5 Foodie Hotels in the World). Crispy blowfish tail, liquid center corn tortellini and a nitro mozzarella balloon are a few of chef Vinson Petrillo’s masterpieces. Also seek out the elusive “Royal With Cheese,” a highly coveted burger made from wagyu beef, mushrooms, shaved truffles and Kraft Singles fondue. Petrillo makes only five each night and once they’re gone, they’re gone. The eatery opens at 5 nightly Tuesday-Sunday.
If seafood's your thing, arrive hungry. The family-owned Hyman Seafood on Meeting Street (top left) has been in business since the 1800s. Keep it fresh at the Folly Beach Crab Shack (above). Or commune with chef Vinson Petrillo (left) and his staff at Zero George.
3. NOTHING CIVIL ABOUT WAR MUST DO: About 150 years ago the first shots of the Civil War rang out here, over Fort Sumter. You’re just a ferry ride away from that piece of American history. Board a ship at Liberty Square and sail to the ruins that once guarded Charleston Harbor. Much of the fort was destroyed in the siege, but you can still walk the grounds and touch the 42-pounder smoothbore cannons and 100-pounder Parrott rifles on their original carriages. Tickets: $22; $14 children. SHOULD DO: In 1864, the Confederacy launched what would become the world’s first combat submarine. It sunk a
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The Folly Beach Crab Shack on Folly Island south of Charleston is a quintessential sand-andsurf dive known for its hyper-fresh seafood.
Union ship and eventually disappeared. The H.L. Hunley was raised off the coast of Charleston in 2000 and is now on display as part of an ongoing restoration project that’s as fascinating as the vessel itself. Incomprehensibly primitive by today’s standards but technologically ahead of its time, the Hunley is a historic, engineering and military marvel that tells an Icarus-like tale of military ambition and the lives it can take. Tickets: $16; $8 students/youth. 4. BEACH, BABY! MUST DO: Perhaps not in January, but if you want to feel your toes in the sand and bathe in gentility, keep the luxe 255-room Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in mind. You can live like a Vanderbilt or Carnegie at this five-star seaside castle and play some of the finest golf courses in the world. (January temperatures in Charleston normally range from 43 degrees to 57 degrees, by the way.) Other possibilities: bike-riding along island trails, playing tennis or letting resort personnel arrange a Lowcountry fishing experience or expert-led alligator tour for you. Note: Kiawah is 21 miles south of Charleston. Double rooms at The Sanctuary begin at $270 per night. SHOULD DO: Folly Island is, perhaps, the laidback “yang” to Kiawah’s posh “yin.” The beach lies just south of Charleston and is known to the locals as “the edge of America,” a nod to its community pier and surfer vibe. Bed-and-breakfasts and
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small hotels dot the seven-mile island and its sandy beaches. Visiting the pier is essential, especially if you wish to rent fishing gear and bait. In town, visitors and residents alike zip around on golf carts and devour hyper-fresh seafood in quintessential dives like the Folly Beach Crab Shack.
The Civil War-era H.L. Hunley (top), the world's first submarine, is open for tours.
5. NATURE CALLS MUST DO: The Center for Birds of Prey is home to 50 species, including eagles, hawks, owls, falcons, kites and vultures. A visit here gets you up close and personal with the South’s avian carnivores. The center is ideal for birders, photographers and anyone who enjoys watching raptors devour small rodents(?). The center’s Avian Medical Clinic treats more than 600 injured raptors and shorebirds each year, releasing most back into the wild. Tickets: $18; $12 kids. SHOULD DO: The South Carolina Aquarium, although pint-sized compared to the Georgia Aquarium, nevertheless documents Lowcountry animal life in fascinating ways. It brings freshwater, saltwater and brackish dwellers into a neatly organized environment and is home to more than 10,000 plants and animals. Aquarium residents include North American river otters, loggerhead sea turtles, alligators, bald eagles and sharks. It does top the Georgia facility in one category: Its Great Ocean Tank is the deepest in North America. Tickets: $29.95; $22.95 children. 59
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