OKCU Opera and Music Theater 2018-19 Season Brochure

World’s Oldest Collegiate Opera & Music Theater Company

Winner of Six National Opera Awards in the Past Five Years!

O K L A H O M A C I TY U N I V E R S I TY

Opera & Music Theater WANDA L. BASS SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Thoroughly Modern Millie, 2010

OUR 67th SEASON | | 2018–19

Welcome TO THE 2018-19 SEASON! Be swept away with the search for love and belonging with this year's Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company lineup. Our season offers something for every opera and music theater lover, from showstopping numbers and the thrill of the stage to beloved stories and irresistible music. Don't miss out on these professionalquality productions from Oklahoma City University's Bass School of Music.

Don Pasquale, 2015

SEPTEMBER 28-30

SIDE SHOW Mainstage musical NOVEMBER 2-4

LITTLE WOMEN Spotlight musical

NOVEMBER 16-18

SUSANNAH Mainstage opera

FEBRUARY 22-24

CENDRILLON Mainstage opera MARCH 1-3

L’AMICO FRITZ Spotlight opera APRIL 12-14

CRAZY FOR YOU Mainstage musical

Into the Woods, 2013

Thoroughly Modern Millie, 2010

The Marriage of Figaro, 2017

Side Show (1997) | | September 28–30

Mainstage Musical | | Kirkpatrick Auditorium | | MUSIC: Henry Krieger | conjoined twins and their search for love and fame | | OF NOTE: This bit

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY The show invites us to do much more than come look at the freaks, as the electrifying opening beckons. This beautiful and wrenching musical … asks us to step inside their skins and feel what it’s like to be celebrated one moment, rejected the next, and to have the strange consolation of a companion who shares it all: the pain, the joy, the hope, the frustration.

—Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

| | BOOK AND LYRICS: Bill Russell | | INSPIRED BY: Real-life ttersweet show about the ultimate sister act returned to Broadway in 2014.

Side Show

PERFORMANCES Tickets: $14–28 Kirkpatrick Auditorium 8 p.m. Friday, September 28 8 p.m. Saturday, September 29 3 p.m. Sunday, September 30

OPENING NIGHT DINNER Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, September 28

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, September 28 7:15 p.m. Saturday, September 29 2:15 p.m. Sunday, September 30 DAVID HERENDEEN Director MATTHEW MAILMAN Music Director

TICKETS 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

SYNOPSIS The Hilton twins, conjoined at the hip since birth and displayed as curiosities ever since, grow to adulthood with separate hearts and dreams: Daisy longs for fame and fortune, while Violet hopes for a husband and home. The show’s powerful duets include Who Will Love Me As I Am and I Will Never Leave You. Based on a true story, the musical features lyrical, soulful music and theatrical showstoppers as we follow the sisters’ journey through the vaudeville and burlesque shows of the Roaring Twenties.

Little Women (2005) | | November 2–4

Spotlight Musical | | Burg Theatre | | MUSIC: Jason Howland | | LYRI May Alcott’s semi-autobiographical 1869 novel | | OF NOTE: Timeless t

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY It’s hard not to love the March girls of Concord, Massachusetts, so deeply etched are Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy on the cultural and emotional landscape that they resurface from generation to generation like cherished friends. —David Rooney, Variety

ICS: Mindi Dickstein | | BOOK: Allan Knee | | INSPIRED BY: Louisa

tale has inspired several movies and a Broadway musical

PERFORMANCES Tickets: $12 Burg Theatre 8 p.m. Friday, November 2 8 p.m. Saturday, November 3 3 p.m. Sunday, November 4 KAREN COE MILLER Director CHARLES KOSLOWSKE Music Director

TICKETS 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

Little Women SYNOPSIS Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age story about the adventures of the four March sisters celebrates life, love and family against the background of the American Civil War. Interwoven with the 21st-century musical score are timeless themes including forgiveness, honesty, hard work and home.

Susannah (1955) | | November 16–18

Mainstage Opera | | Kirkpatrick Auditorium | | MUSIC AND LIBRETTO Elders | | OF NOTE: Susannah is one of America’s most performed ope

Susann WHAT THE CRITICS SAY The orchestration is lush and romantic, shot through with veins of American folk song recalling the works of Copeland and Thomson, yet idiom remains firmly entrenched in Puccini-esque style.

—Gramophone U.K.

O: Carlisle Floyd | | INSPIRED BY: Biblical tale of Susanna and the

eras, second only to Porgy and Bess.

nah

PERFORMANCES Tickets: $14–28 Kirkpatrick Auditorium 8 p.m. Friday, November 16 8 p.m. Saturday, November 17 3 p.m. Sunday, November 18

OPENING NIGHT DINNER Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, November 16

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, November 16 7:15 p.m. Saturday, November 17 2:15 p.m. Sunday, November 18 DAVID HERENDEEN Director JAN McDANIEL Music Director

TICKETS 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

SYNOPSIS An innocent teenager faces accusations of promiscuity and is shamed and shunned by a community caught up in a frenzy of religious zeal, innuendo and intimidation. Set in rural Tennessee, the story of Susannah is driven by the ballads, dances and hymns of Appalachian folk music.

Cendrillon (1899) | | February 22–24

Mainstage Opera | | Kirkpatrick Auditorium | | Performed in English, w Caïn | | INSPIRED BY: The Cinderella fairy tale | | OF NOTE: The 119-

Cen

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY The work includes many moments in which Massenet is at his best and most widely accessible, from the pageantry and glowing musical nostalgia for the French baroque in the court scenes to the otherworldliness of the love music to the wit and humor that permeate the work as a whole.

—Broadway World’s Opera News Desk

with supertitles | | MUSIC: Jules Massenet | | LIBRETTO: Henri -year-old work made its Metropolitan Opera debut in 2018.

PERFORMANCES

ndrillon

Tickets: $14–28 Kirkpatrick Auditorium 8 p.m. Friday, February 22 8 p.m. Saturday, February 23 3 p.m. Sunday, February 24

OPENING NIGHT DINNER Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, February 22

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, February 22 7:15 p.m. Saturday, February 23 2:15 p.m. Sunday, February 24 KAREN COE MILLER Director MATTHEW MAILMAN Music Director

TICKETS 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

SYNOPSIS A young woman of unmatched grace and goodness overcomes the abuse of her stepfamily and with the help of a fairy godmother, wins the heart of a prince and lives happily ever after. In his rendition of one of the world’s most beloved fairy tales, Jules Massenet infuses his opera with comedy, romance and wistfulness in a royal palace and an enchanted forest.

L’amico Fritz (1891) | | March 1–3

Spotlight Opera | | Burg Theatre | | Performed in English | | MUSIC: P French novel L’ami Fritz by Émile Erckmann and Pierre-Alexandre Chatr after the success of his Cavalleria rusticana

L’am F WHAT THE CRITICS SAY The “cherry duet” between Fritz and Suzel in Act 2 is the opera’s pièce de résistance; if the plot is a sort of “vengeance-free” Romeo and Juliet, this duet is suggestive of the mystery and enchantment of A Midsummer Night’s Dream …. The happy ending may never be in doubt, but what it lacks in dramatic tension is more than compensated for by the opera’s glorious, irresistible music. —Claire Seymour, Opera Today

Pietro Mascagni | | LIBRETTO: P. Suardon | | INSPIRED BY: The rian | | OF NOTE: The composer’s second opera, premiered a year

mico Fritz

PERFORMANCES Tickets: $12 Burg Theatre 8 p.m. Friday, March 1 8 p.m. Saturday, March 2 3 p.m. Sunday, March 3 DAVID HERENDEEN Director CHARLES KOSLOWSKE Music Director

TICKETS 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

SYNOPSIS Fritz is a wealthy and generous landowner who insists he will never marry. His friend Rabbi David, the local matchmaker, sets out to prove him wrong!

Crazy for You (1992) | | April 12–14

Mainstage Musical | | Kirkpatrick Auditorium | | MUSIC: George Gersh BY: The 1930 Gershwin musical Girl Crazy | | OF NOTE: Winner of the T best West End musical

Crazy for WHAT THE CRITICS SAY A riotously entertaining show called Crazy for You uncorked the American musical’s classic blend of music, laughter, dancing, sentiment and showmanship with a freshness and confidence rarely seen during the Cats decade. … Crazy for You scrapes away decades of cabaret and jazz and variety-show interpretations to reclaim the Gershwins’ standards, in all their glorious youth, for the dynamism of the stage. —Frank Rich, The New York Times

hwin | | LYRICS: Ira Gershwin | | LYRICS: Ken Ludwig | | INSPIRED Tony Award for Best Musical on Broadway and the Olivier Award for

You

PERFORMANCES Tickets: $14–28 Kirkpatrick Theatre 8 p.m. Friday, April 12 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14

OPENING NIGHT DINNER Tickets: $25 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, April 12

PRE-SHOW DIRECTOR’S TALK Free Petree Recital Hall 7:15 p.m. Friday, April 12 7:15 p.m. Saturday, April 13 2:15 p.m. Sunday, April 14 DAN FISHBACH Director JAN MCDANIEL Music Director

TICKETS 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

SYNOPSIS A romantic comedic salute to the optimistic musicals of the 1930s, featuring a time of showgirls and cowboys and a city boy and a country girl who reconcile their differences, fall in love, and save a theater, all while singing beloved Gershwin classics, including Can’t Be Bothered Now, Slap That Bass, and Someone To Watch Over Me.

OUR 67th SEASON | | 2018–19 MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS Each season, Oklahoma City University’s award-winning Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company presents two opera and two music theater productions featuring lush orchestrations, dazzling costumes and professional lighting and sets. Mainstage performances are in historic Kirkpatrick Auditorium at 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave.

OPENING NIGHT GALAS Join us in the Atrium of the Bass Music Center for our opening night dinners: September 28 November 16 February 22 April 12

SIDE SHOW SUSANNAH CENDRILLON CRAZY FOR YOU

6:15 p.m. Friday dinners ($25) hosted by President Martha Burger, Dean Mark Parker and David Herendeen, director of Oklahoma City University’s Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company.

These galas feature a buffet dinner themed to the evening’s production and musical entertainment by Bass School musicians.

SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS Presented with piano accompaniment and intimate staging, this year’s Spotlight Series presents the musical “Little Women” and the chamber opera “L’amico Fritz” in Burg Theatre.

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

TICKETS Mainstage tickets: $14–28 Spotlight tickets: $12 405.208.5227 okcu.edu/tickets

SPONSORSHIPS For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Christi Jeffreys at 405.208.5436 or cdjeffreys@okcu.edu.

The Vaudevillian, 2018

The Vaudevillian, 2018

“I AM IN AWE OF THE MAGIC” Jessica Venke, Broadway World

“BRILLIANT” “MAGNETIC AND ENGAGING”

“VOCALLY FLAWLESS”

“IMPRESSIVE RANGE” “INCREDIBLE VOICES”

“GREAT SENSITIVITY AND SKILL” “SUBTLE,

“QUITE MARVELOUS”

CINEMATIC

PERFORMANCE”

“VELVETY

CONTRALTO”

“POWERFUL ORCHESTRA” “ON POINT” “FANTASTIC”

“INDISPUTABLY “BEAUTIFUL”

EXCELLENT”

“CRYSTALLINE SOPRANO”

“MUSCULAR BASS-BARITONE”

Excerpts from recent reviews from Bass School opera and musical productions, published by Broadway World and The Oklahoman

TICKET PRICES VIP TICKET PACKAGES VIP PACKAGE A Friday opening nights Concierge service

VIP PACKAGE B Saturday nights or Sunday matinees Concierge service

4 Mainstage productions 2 Spotlight productions 4 Mainstage opening night dinners 4 Pre-show director’s talks 4 Guest tickets to a production of your choice $350/person | | $600/couple

.

4 Mainstage productions 2 Spotlight productions 4 Pre-show director’s talks 2 Guest tickets to a production of your choice

$200/person | | $350/couple

SEASON 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 Rear orchestra/ Front balcony Rear balcony

$28 $20 $14

SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS Burg Theatre

$12

OPENING NIGHT DINNERS Preceding Friday’s mainstage shows

$25

Sister Act, 2017

.

TICKETS | |

Call 405.208.5227 to purchase. Individual tickets available at okcu.edu/tickets.

I would like to renew my subscription with no changes.

# TICKETS

SERIES A

PRICE

Four Mainstage Productions

Circle choice: Friday Saturday Sunday Circle choice: Front orchestra—$84 Rear orchestra/front balcony—$60 Rear balcony—$42

Package A—Friday Opening Nights—$350 per person/$600 per couple

Package B—Saturday or Sunday—$200 per person/$350 per couple

OPENING NIGHT DINNER: $25 each (Circle desired Friday night dinners.)

SERIES B

Two Mainstage Musicals

Circle choice: Friday Saturday Sunday Circle choice: Front orchestra—$46 Rear orchestra/front balcony—$32 Rear balcony—$22 SERIES C

Two Mainstage Operas

Circle choice: Friday Saturday Sunday Circle choice: Front orchestra—$46 Rear orchestra/front balcony—$32 Rear balcony—$22 SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS—$12 Little Women Circle choice: Friday Saturday Sunday L'amico Fritz Circle choice: Friday Saturday Sunday VIP PACKAGES (See Ticket Prices page.)

Sept. 28 Side Show

Feb. 22 Cendrillon

Nov. 16

April 12 Crazy for You

Susannah

TOTAL: Dinners and shows

To pay by personal check, made out to Oklahoma City University, please enclose and return with order form to: Oklahoma City University Wanda L. Bass School of Music Attn: Susanna Brieschke 2501 N Blackwelder Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73106

$

Name Address Phone Email

To make a tax-deductible donation securely online, visit okcu.edu/givetobass. (No ticket purchases, please.)

Hairspray, 2016

2501 N. Blackwelder Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73107

APRIL 12-14

Mainstage opera

Mainstage musical

FEBRUARY 22-24

NOVEMBER 2-4

Spotlight opera

L’AMICO FRITZ

CRAZY FOR YOU

Mainstage opera

Mainstage musical

MARCH 1-3

Spotlight musical

SUSANNAH

SIDE SHOW

LITTLE WOMEN CENDRILLON

NOVEMBER 16-18

SEPTEMBER 28-30

—John Williams, Past President, Brightmusic Chamber Society

for many years, and I can honestly say I never heard a Broadway musical that sounded better.”

“I lived in New York City