Oklahoma City University Opera and Music Theater Season Brochure 2021-22

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Welcome to Oklahoma City 2021–22

70th CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Oct. 1-3 Mainstage Musical

CHILDREN OF EDEN Nov. 5-7 Spotlight Musical

CABARET Nov. 19-21 Mainstage Opera

THE THREEPENNY OPER A

our platinum season!

University

Wanda L. Bass School Of Music Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Company

Feb. 18-20 Mainstage Opera

LITTLE WOMEN Feb. 25-27 Spotlight Musical

LEGALLY BLONDE April 22-24 Mainstage Musical

IN THE HEIGHTS

1991

CHILDREN of EDEN

OCTOBER 1–3

David Herendeen

Mainstage Musical Kirkpatrick Auditorium

Matthew Mailman

Director

Music Director

OPENING NIGHT DINNER

MUSIC & LYRICS Stephen Schwartz

BOOK John Caird

PERFOR MANCES

Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1

8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK

TICKETS $14–28 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3

O F N OT E Although this musical is one of composer Stephen Schwartz’s most-produced shows, the work has never played Broadway.

I N S P I R E D BY The Book of Genesis

W H AT T H E C R I T I C S S AY Children of Eden is more than anything, a celebration of humanity – the ‘spark of creation’ inside us that makes us question authority, seek what’s beyond the next hill and, yes, sometimes sneak a bite of the forbidden fruit.

—Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel

SYNOPSIS Adam, Eve, Noah and their creator deal with the headstrong actions of a younger generation, expanding on the bittersweet theme that the hardest part of love is letting go.

1998 Revision

Cabaret

NOVEMBER 5–7

Karen Coe Miller

Spotlight Musical Burg Theatre

Charles Koslowske

MUSIC John Kander

LYRICS Fred Ebb

BOOK Joe Masteroff

Director

Music Director

PERFOR MANCES 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7

TICKETS $15 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

W H AT T H E C R I T I C S S AY One of the great Broadway musicals of all time— an exhilarating, harrowing masterpiece.

— Adam Feldman, Time Out NY

I N S P I R E D BY Based on John Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera, adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s semi-autobiographical 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin.

O F N OT E The original Broadway production won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

In the half-century since, eight revivals have played Broadway and London.

SYNOPSIS Set in Berlin as the Nazis are ascending to power, the musical focuses on the hedonistic nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, which serves as a metaphor for ominous political developments in late Weimar Germany.

THE

1928

THREEPENNY OPERA

NOVEMBER 19–21

W. Jerome Stevenson

Mainstage Opera Kirkpatrick Auditorium

Jan McDaniel

Director

Music Director

OPENING NIGHT DINNER

BOOK & LYRICS Bertolt Brecht

BOOK Kurt Weill

PERFOR MANCES

Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19

8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK

TICKETS $14–28 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21

O F N OT E In 1933, Weill and Brecht were forced to leave Germany as the Nazis seized power.

I N S P I R E D BY Elisabeth Hauptmann’s translation of John Gay’s satirical 1728 The Beggar’s Opera.

W H AT T H E C R I T I C S S AY The Threepenny Opera speaks to social problems of abuse and poverty, offering a compelling performance that is both unsettling and wonderfully entertaining.

—Faye Heron, Cherwell

SYNOPSIS A satire on the bourgeoisie, The Threepenny Opera mocks manners and morals, politics, and theatrical conventions. Thief Mack the Knife marries Polly without the knowledge of her father, the “King of the Beggars.”

D I R E C TO R W. Jerome Stevenson was the longest-serving producing artistic director of Guthrie’s Pollard Theatre Company, spending 30 years there.

Little Women

1998

FEBRUARY 18–20

Karen Coe Miller

Mainstage Opera Kirkpatrick Auditorium

Alexander Mickelthwate

Director

Music Director

OPENING NIGHT DINNER

MUSIC & LYRICS Mark Adamo

PERFOR MANCES

Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18

8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK

TICKETS $14–28 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20

I N S P I R E D BY Louisa May Alcott’s semi-autobiographical 1868–69 novel

W H AT T H E C R I T I C S S AY A masterpiece.

—John Rockwell, The New York Times

O F N OT E The classic story has inspired seven films, several plays and TV shows, a Broadway musical, anime adaptations, and this debut opera by Mark Adamo.

SYNOPSIS Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, the opera follows Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood.

MUSICAL D I R E C TO R Conductor Alexander Mickelthwate was appointed Music Director of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic in 2018.

Legally

2007

Blonde

FEBRUARY 25–27

David Herendeen

Spotlight Musical Burg Theatre

Charles Koslowske

MUSIC & LYRICS Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin

BOOK Heather Hach

Director

Music Director

PERFOR MANCES 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27

TICKETS $15 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

I N S P I R E D BY The 2001 film of the same name.

O F N OT E Winner of London’s Best New Musical, 2010 Lawrence Olivier Awards

W H AT T H E C R I T I C S S AY Legally Blonde the Musical is a show that stays true to what makes this cult-classic film so beloved—and in doing so, is just as relevant and timely in 2020 as the movie was in 2001.

—Isabella Perrone, BroadwayWorld

SYNOPSIS Sorority queen Elle Woods sets her sights on Harvard Law School, determined to defy expectations and win back the man who dumped her for being too blonde.

2005

In the Heights

APRIL 22–24

To Be Announced

Mainstage Musical Kirkpatrick Auditorium

Matthew Mailman

Director

Music Director

OPENING NIGHT DINNER

MUSIC & LYRICS Lin-Manuel Miranda

BOOK Quiara Alegria Hudes

PERFOR MANCES

Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, April 22

8 p.m. Friday, April 22 8 p.m. Saturday, April 23 3 p.m. Sunday, April 24

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK

TICKETS $14–28 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, April 22 7:15 p.m. Saturday, April 23 2:15 p.m. Sunday, April 24

I N S P I R E D BY People and events from the childhood of Lin-Manuel Miranda

O F N OT E Winner of four Tony Awards and a Grammy.

W H AT T H E C R I T I C S S AY When this musical erupts in one of its expressions of collective joy, the energy it gives off could light up the George Washington Bridge for a year or two.

—Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

SYNOPSIS Lin-Manuel Miranda weaves a tale of three days in NYC’s Washington Heights neighborhood as bodega owner Usnavi and college student Nina seek epiphanies against a multilingual backdrop of rap, hip-hop, soul, salsa, samba and merengue.

G E T R E A DY

For a bold and e “You’re a rosebud in the night, You’re a blossom in the morn,

You’re unmade by that light, yet reborn …”

—Things Change, Jo, from Little Women

“Maybe she’s what you prefer / But hey last year I was her Maybe you will change your mind / But you might look up to find

I’ VE GONE ON TO BETTER THINGS Better jobs or bigger rings …”

— So Much Better, from Legally Blonde

“The spark of creation is flickering within me

The spark of creation is blazing in my blood A bit of the fire that lit up the moon …”

—Spark of Creation, from Children of Eden

exciting season!

“What good is sitting alone In your room?

Come hear the music play.

Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret.”

—Cabaret, from Cabaret

“When the shark bites with his teeth, dear

Scarlet billows start to spread.

Fancy gloves, though, wears Macheath, dear So there’s not a trace of red.”

—Mack the Knife, from The Threepenny Opera

“Yeah, I’m a streetlight, chokin’ on the heat The world spins around while I’m frozen to my seat The people that I know all keep on rollin’ down the street But every day is different so

I’M SWITCHIN’ UP THE BEAT …”

— In the Heights, from In the Heights

2021–22 MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS Each season, OCU’s award-winning Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company presents opera and music theater productions featuring lush orchestrations, dazzling costumes, and professional lighting and sets. Mainstage performances are in historic Kirkpatrick Auditorium, 2501 N. Blackwelder.

SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS One opera and one musical theater production are presented with piano accompaniment and intimate staging, in Burg Theater. Our 2021-22 Spotlight Series presents Cabaret and Legally Blonde.

PRE-SHOW TALKS Director’s talks are presented in the Petree Recital Hall 45 minutes prior to mainstage productions. Admission is free and open to the public.

OPENING NIGHT GAL AS Join us in the Atrium of the Bass Music Center for our 2021–22 opening night dinners: Oct. 1 Nov. 19 Feb. 18 April 22

Children of Eden The Threepenny Opera Little Women In the Heights

6:15 p.m. Friday dinners ($25) hosted by Dean Mark Parker and Dr. David Herendeen, director of OCU’s Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company. These galas feature a dinner themed to the evening’s production and musical entertainment by Bass School musicians.

TICKETS

okcu.edu/tickets

405.208.5227

Mainstage Tickets: $14-28 Spotlight Tickets: $15 The OCU Ticket Office opens in early September.

SE ASON TICKETS Series A: 4 MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS Front orchestra . . . . $84 Rear orchestra/ Front balcony . . . . $60 Rear balcony . . . . $42 Series B: 2 MAINSTAGE MUSICALS Front orchestra . . . . $46 Rear orchestra/ Front balcony . . . . $32 Rear balcony . . . . $22 Series C: 2 MAINSTAGE OPERAS Front orchestra . . . . $46 Rear orchestra/ Front balcony . . . . $32 Rear balcony . . . . $22

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS Front orchestra . . . . $28 Rear orchestra/ Front balcony . . . . $20 Rear balcony . . . . . $14 SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS Burg Theatre . . . . . $15 OPENING NIGHT DINNERS Preceding Friday’s mainstage shows . . . $25

2501 N. Blackwelder Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73107

CABARET

LITTLE WOMEN

Feb. 18–20 Mainstage Opera

THE THREEPENNY OPERA

Nov. 5–7 Spotlight Musical

CHILDREN OF EDEN

Nov. 19–21 Mainstage Opera

Oct. 1–3 Mainstage Musical

IN THE HEIGHTS

April 22–24 Mainstage Musical

LEGALLY BLONDE

Feb. 25–27 Spotlight Musical