Notes from the Leadership Welcome to the opening of our 2003-2004 season! This company has a long history of building new productions, and Rigoletto is the latest addition to that legacy. Designed by the Minnesota Opera staff artists that brought you last year’s glorious La traviata, Costume Director Gail Bakkom and Scenic and Lighting Director Tom Mays, Rigoletto is set in the story’s historical context—late Renaissance Italy. Inspired by period art, the Italian countryside and Zelinsky’s fairytale illustrations, this production has a distinctive sense of place and transitions elegantly from scene to scene through the use of a large revolve. Supportive of our voice-centered artistic philosophy, our hunchback’s costume was created to serve both the character and the singer by highlighting the important fact of the jester’s deformity without requiring the singer to distort himself to play the part. Director Casey Stangl guides the story through not only the lens of the complicated father/daughter relationship, nor solely through the handicap of the title character, but also through deep research into the power of superstition in the period. Monterone’s curse sets so much of the story into action, and you will see how it affects Rigoletto and drives his decisions. I hope you enjoy our new production!
Dale Johnson, Artistic Director
from the Board Chair and President Rigoletto is our second production built with the Production Innovation System, a program of The Minnesota Opera’s Opera at the Ordway Initiative. Our voice-based artistic philosophy drives all aspects of production, even the non-musical ones, and inspired a reinvention of the way we produce opera. Our System allows us to create stage designs that optimize the voice and Ordway Center’s forward stage configuration and that establish our unique visual identity with an economically viable method. Having been at the forefront of the opera co-production trend, The Minnesota Opera is now leading the next evolution in making the most expensive art form more cost-efficient to produce. The Production Innovation System lowers the cost of the hidden elements while allowing greater investment in the visible aspects by creating an inventory of reusable structural elements. Up to two-thirds of the cost of a production consists of structural elements the audience doesn’t see. From this production, our inventory will gain a turntable and the structure supporting the surrounding decking, as well as a stock of modular curved wall units to complement the flat ones Rigoletto borrows from The Handmaid’s Tale. The Board is committed to raise the resources necessary to produce the kind of opera you have come to expect and supports the innovative, creative solutions the company brings to the equation. We need your help and we ask you to make The Minnesota Opera a philanthropic priority. To learn how you can contribute to the Opera at the Ordway Initiative, please contact Patrick Dewane at 612-342-9565.
Susan S. Boren, Board Chair
Kevin Smith, President and CEO
Karen Bachman Richard P. Carroll Susan J. Crockett Ellie Crosby Rolf Engh Brad F. England John G. Forsythe Steve Fox R. Thomas Greene, Jr. Dan E. Gustafson Sharon Hawkins Heinz Hutter Paula Johnson Lucy Rosenberry Jones Michael F. Kelly, Jr. Sarah B. Kling Lynne E. Looney Elizabeth “Becky” Malkerson Thomas R. McBurney Diana E. Murphy Bruce Nelson Brian E. Palmer Jose Peris Connie Remele Steven M. Rothschild Virginia L. Stringer Catie Tobin
Officers Susan S. Boren, Chair John A. Blanchard, III, Vice Chair Lucy T. Searls, Secretary Thomas J. Foley Treasurer Kevin Smith, President & CEO Julia W. Dayton, Director Emeritus Mary W. Vaughan, Director Emeritus James A. Rubenstein, legal counsel, Moss & Barnett Honorary Directors Dominick Argento Philip Brunelle Elizabeth Close Dolly Fiterman Charles C. Fullner Norton M. Hintz Donald W. Judkins David P. Keefe Liz Kochiras Jevne Pennock Patricia H. Sheppard
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions celebrates its 50th Anniversary! Minnesota District Auditions November 22, 10am at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts Master Class and Book Signing with Shirley Verrett November 23, 1pm at Landmark Center, Ramsey County Courtroom. Upper Midwest Regional Auditions January 31, 12 noon at Ordway Center All events are free and open to the public. For more information, please call 763-476-2372 (Judith Boylan, Upper Midwest Reg. Dir.) or 952-938-6908 (Margaret Houlton, MN District Dir.)
7 • rigoletto
from the Artistic Director
Board of Directors