The Rake's Progress by Opera Omaha

The Rake's Progress

WELCOME TO OPERA OMAHA

DEAR FRIENDS:

Welcome to the Opera Omaha premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, a masterpiece of music and poetry that is being performed for the first time in our 67-year history!

The Rake’s Progress is based on a series of moral paintings by the 18th-century artist William Hogarth, and it follows the story of a young man named Tom Rakewell who inherits a large sum of money only to squander it through a series of poor decisions.

A colleague described The Rake’s Progress as a “bucket list opera,” or an opera that everyone wants to see or produce at least once in their lifetime. It is beloved for its musical richness, witty libretto, and finely drawn characters.

It is also a spectacle, with grand sets and costumes and a large chorus. Our performances mark the 50th anniversary of David Hockney’s iconic production which premiered in 1975 at the Glyndebourne Festival in the United Kingdom. We are honored to welcome Shannan Kelly, the Director of David Hockney, Inc., and George Snyder, David Hockney’s longtime archivist, as our guests on opening night.

I have a personal connection to The Rake’s Progress It was produced in the Santa Fe Opera’s first season in 1957 (only six years after its world premiere in Venice!), and Stravinsky would go on to be an influential force at the company. As a gesture to the Santa Fe Opera, where many of my opera dreams came true, I wanted to bring The Rake’s Progress to Omaha, where my biggest opera dream came true.

It is a dreamy cast and creative team, too. You will enjoy the company debuts of Craig Colclough, Liv Redpath, Margaret Gawrysiak, Rehanna Thelwell, Donovan Singletary, Brian Jeffers and the return of Adrian Kramer, all under the baton of Principal Guest Conductor Steven White.

There is still much to enjoy this season, with The English Concert’s performance of Giulio Cesare on May 1 next on the schedule. We hope you will join us for this special one-night only performance with the world-renowned Baroque orchestra under the leadership of Harry Bicket. We have already sold tickets to guests from seven states who are making the trip to Omaha just to see Giulio Cesare!

June brings the inaugural production of the Family Opera Series: Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox performed outdoors at Lauritzen Gardens from June 5-8. Featuring larger-than-life puppets and performances by 20 local children alongside international artists, it is a must-see event.

And subscriptions are on sale now for our 25/26 Season! Next season features five operas: The Barber of Seville, Susannah, Hercules, Bluebeard’s Castle, and UnShakeable. We open our season with a traditional production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, which has delighted audiences since its premiere in 1816—and was made notorious by Bugs Bunny in The Rabbit of Seville

In February, we present Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, the quintessential American tragedy influenced by the music and culture of small-town life in the South. Following Susannah, Harry Bicket and The English Concert return to Omaha for a one-night performance of Handel’s spectacular Hercules

In April, Opera Omaha and the Omaha Symphony join forces for Bartok’s chilling masterpiece, Bluebeard’s Castle, performed at the Holland Center. In June, the Family Opera Series continues with UnShakeable, a one-act exploration of Shakespeare for audiences of all ages.

Thank you for being with us and sharing the experience of Omaha’s first production of The Rake’s Progress. We are very grateful that you chose to make Opera Omaha part of your cultural life.

Sincerely,

Allison Swenson GENERAL DIRECTOR

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Linda Burt Rebrovic CHAIR

Kiley Freeman VICE CHAIR

Carol E. Domina SECRETARY

H. Frederick Kuehl TREASURER

Dr. Jawed Bharwani ADVISORS CHAIR

Angie Williams COMMUNITY PANEL REPRESENTATIVE

Dr. Anne Bruckner

Dr. Ali Khan

Mihaela Kobjerowski

Dr. Joanne Li

Barbara Person

Terri Sanders

Joe Spitzenberger

Jara Sturdivant-Wilson

EMERITUS BOARD

Terrence J. Ferguson

Robert E. Owen

Mary Ann Strasheim

ADVISORS

Linda Andersen

Jo Bartikoski

Dr. Jawed Bharwani

Nicholas Bjornson

Roger Blauwet

Sandra Bruns

Dr. Karen Fannin

Betty Foster

Leslie Garth

Dr. Fred Hanna

Carter Jones

Mark Allen Maser

Sheila McNeil

April Nebel

Deb Peterson

Dr. Debra Reilly-Culver

Mary Ann Strasheim

Jerry Syslo

Dr. James Tracy

Jim Winner

Lora Kaup

OPERA OMAHA GUILD PRESIDENT

Chris Tombrello

CRAFTSMAN’S GUILD PRESIDENT

Allison Swenson

GENERAL DIRECTOR

ADMINISTRATION

Shannon Walenta

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Jenny Daggett

FINANCE CONSULTANT

April Hartman

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTANT

Cydnea Hoff

OFFICE MANAGER

Gwyn Williams

DEI, LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION CULTURE CONSULTANT

ARTISTIC

Katrina Thurman

DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION

Kai Song Chan

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS MANAGER

Josh Quinn

HEAD OF MUSIC & CHORUS DIRECTOR

Steven White

PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR

DEVELOPMENT

Joe Prickett

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Rebecca Ihnen

DONOR STEWARDSHIP & EVENTS MANAGER

Laura Jaros

DEVELOPMENT DATABASE & ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

ENGAGEMENT

Lauren Medici DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS & PROGRAMS

Wendy Kaiser COMMUNITY OPERA FELLOWSHIP MANAGER

Rosemary Joyce HOLLAND COMMUNITY OPERA FELLOW

Pat McEvoy

ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR

Aiden Poling HOLLAND COMMUNITY OPERA FELLOW

Alejandra Sandoval-Montañez HOLLAND COMMUNITY OPERA FELLOW

MARKETING

Kyle Thomas DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Rachel Austin ART DIRECTOR

Howard Coffin AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT & SALES MANAGER

PRODUCTION

Lara Marsh DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION

Grant Hilgenkamp TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Chad Curran ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

JUNE 27 - JULY 20

Experience world-class opera in a theatre that brings you within arm’s reach of the action onstage. Find out for yourself why audiences from around the world make Iowa their summer arts destination! For more information and to order tickets, visit dmmo.org/tickets or call (515) 209-3257

Featuring Ryan McKinny (pictured) as the Dutchman

We are committed to giving back to the community. Our charitable giving supports o r g a n i z a t i o n s w i t h h i g h - i m p a c t p r o g r a m s that focus on alleviating food insecurity. E v e r y o n e D e s e r v e s t h e R i g h t t o H e a l t h y a n d N u t r i t i o u s F o o d

Conagra Brands Foundation is proud to invest in Omaha and its future.

FOR OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Opera Omaha honors Richard D. Holland and the Holland Foundation for unyielding major support over the years and the entire Simon family and Omaha Steaks for their sustaining generosity.

With our sincere gratitude, we acknowledge the following foundations and businesses that make our programming a reality. Opera Omaha would also like to recognize the institutions and corporations that provide operating support or sponsor our community engagement programs, which are designed to educate, uplift and enrich our community.

SEASON SPONSORS

PRODUCTION SPONSOR

ARTIST SPONSORS

Mammel Family Foundation

Linda Burt Rebrovic and John Rebrovic

Catherine and Terry Ferguson

ADDITIONAL SEASON SUPPORT

The Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation

Jetton Charitable Fund

Adah and Leon Millard Foundation

Osaic Foundation

GENEROUS PUBLIC SUPPORT PROVIDED

Giger Foundation

Allan and Ann Mactier Charitable Foundation

Whitmore Charitable Trust

CONDUCTOR'S NOTE

The readily apparent aptness of the music for the text (and vice versa) in Igor Stravinsky and W. H. Auden’s

The Rake’s Progress is one of the great wonders of 20th-century operatic accomplishment. It is a creative collaboration that should be honored with the reverential tones with which we celebrate Mozart and Da Ponte, Verdi and Boito, Strauss and Hofmannsthal. Not only did they create the story together, but they united their respective languages of word and music in an uncommonly common purpose.

Auden’s craft and rhetorical demeanor is not far distant from that of the Enlightenment poet Alexander Pope—always clear, always beautifully stylized, and rife with proverbial wisdom. Which is exactly what must be said of Stravinsky’s music. It isn’t derivative merely as a trick. His use of 18thcentury style is the exactly appropriate musical vessel in which to infuse dramatic immediacy and symbolic efficacy to realize the details of the drama.

Composed in Los Angeles just five years or so after the end of World War II, The Rake’s Progress is the culmination of Stravinsky’s nearly thirty-year “neoclassical” experimentation, breathing life into widely discarded musical forms that had been deemed by many to have long since served their purpose.

“Neo-classical” implies an obvious duality—a conscious embrace of both the past and the present. Stravinsky very purposefully and openly appropriates the style of Mozart (Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni, most particularly), Händel, even Bach, and Monteverdi. But this warm luminescence of diatonic comfort is very often refracted through modern sonorities and angular melodic contours. The effect is both marvelous and disturbing. As Tom says at the top of Act II, “I walk an endless hall of chandeliers, in light that blinds, in light that seers, reflected in a million smiles...”

Stravinsky’s opera is a “numbers” opera, as he himself described it, incorporating the formal procedures of 18th-century operatic construction with set pieces—arias, duets, larger ensembles and choruses— mortared together by “secco recitativo” (recitative accompanied by harpsichord) and recitativo accompagnato (recitative accompanied by orchestra). The interplay of old and new style is on display from the opening notes of the prelude, a toccata for trumpets and horns that hearkens back in spirit to the introductory bars of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo of 1607, the first great opera in history.

Complete musical analysis of the opera is a nearly endless expedition into a mine of wonders great and small. The specificity of each note, the contour of every phrase, the color of every harmonic inuendo— everything has significance and purpose, even while the music seems to unfold with effortless rightness.

"...a conscious embrace of both the past and the present."

Tom Rakewell is one of the most wonderfully delicious roles available to any tenor. The sheer beauty with which Stravinsky and Auden clothe his utterances is luxurious in the extreme. His first recitative and aria, “Here I stand,” begins with the same half-step as Anne’s first words, unfolding at first with true classically maestoso string writing that undergirds his confidence. Yet when he starts the aria proper, he is accompanied only by two bassoons somewhat mockingly pointing out the folly of his text, “Since it is not by merit we rise or we fall, but the favour of Fortune that governs us all, why should I labour for what in the end she will give me for nothing if she be my friend?” And here we see the beginning of Tom’s demise.

It’s difficult for us to accuse Tom of being completely evil, particularly when he so readily expresses his remorse at every turn, and with such seeming sincerity. Tom opens the second act with one of the greatest English-language tenor arias of the 20th,

or any, century, “Vary the song, O London, change!” Here Stravinsky and Auden are equally profound in their treatment of symbolism. Auden writes “disband your notes and let them range,” indicating Tom’s weariness of the same old futile pursuits that fail to provide him happiness. Stravinsky sets the text to music that has plaintive oboe, clarinet, and bassoon twining and “ranging” up and down the scale with endearing suggestion. In the fast middle section of the aria, Tom says, “Up, Nature! The hunt is on, the pack is in full cry.” Here Stravinsky employs the same unique accompanimental figure that Mozart uses in Dorabella’s “Smanie implacabili,” when she says, “Implacable desires, which are torturing me, do not leave this soul of mine until my anguish makes me die.” Così fan tutte appears an obvious point of inspiration for Stravinsky.

find in J. S. Bach’s cantata 82, "Ich habe genug", a poetic setting from the New Testament in which Simeon prays, upon seeing the infant Christ, “Lord dismiss thy servant, for I have seen thy salvation.”

"The specificity of each note, the contour of every phrase, the color of every harmonic inuendo— everything has significance and purpose, even while the music seems to unfold with effortless rightness."

In the final scene, once Tom has been rendered insane, Stravinsky goes back even further into musical history to inform the music with perfect poignancy. As he makes his confession to Anne (who he thinks is Venus), Tom (thinking himself Adonis) sings, beginning with the same half-step interval noted from the beginning of the opera, “In a foolish dream, in a gloomy labyrinth I hunted shadows, disdaining thy true love; forgive thy servant, who repents his madness, forgive Adonis and he shall faithful prove.” Calling upon a solo oboe over murmuring strings, Stravinsky gives this profound moment the same sense of world-weariness and resignation as we

Ancient Simeon now awaits his eternal sleep. In like token, Adonis (Tom), having at last seen Venus (Anne), is ready for oblivion, and asks to sleep on her breast.

When he awakes, Tom realizes that Anne is gone forever and cries out, “My heart breaks. I feel the chill of death’s approaching wing. Orpheus, strike from thy lyre a swan-like music, and weep, ye nymphs and shepherds of these Stygian fields, weep for Adonis, the beautiful, the young: Weep for Adonis whom Venus loved.” Here Stravinsky pays homage to the iconic and profound "Possente spirto" of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with an outpouring of improvisational-sounding vocal writing that is both breathtaking and heartbreaking.

Of course, every character, not just Tom, gets the same “neo-classical” magical treatment and special care from librettist and composer. Anne Trulove, as her name makes clear, gets what must be one of the biggest show stopping moments in all of 20thcentury opera. Her great scena that brings act one to a close is a hallmark example of the recitativearia-cabaletta form that opera lovers associate with Contessa, Donna Anna, and Fiordiligi of Mozart. “I go, I go to him” is as virtuosic and technically difficult a piece of stage singing as has ever been written.

(Continued on next page)

INTRODUCING THE FAMILY OPERA SERIES

Opera Omaha is thrilled to create the Family Opera Series. Each year Opera Omaha will produce one opera intended for audiences of all ages. These imaginative productions will take place in unique locations across the city.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Edgar

Baba the Turk, while among the strangest and not clearly understood characters in all of opera, is allowed to express herself through a “rage aria,” an angular and outrageous outburst of anger and hurt feelings replete with frequent prop damage. It should be noted that Nick is the element that most brings out the “neo” in Stravinsky’s “neo-classical” approach. Take for example the introduction to the graveyard scene in Act III. Creeping ominously forward along the jagged path of an octatonic scale, the prelude, written for solo string quartet, is as far from anything that would be associated with classical form or harmony, save for the restrained number of its instrumental forces. As the scene develops, Stravinsky achieves a bizarre and macabre atmosphere with the use of harpsichord by itself to accompany the fateful card game happening on stage. This “classical” instrument used in a very “neo” and brittle way, charges the entire scene with profound discomfort and foreboding.

Finally, some mention should be given to the chorus, who, whether whores, roaring boys, or sad dwellers of Bedlam, are given some of the pithiest and proverb-like things to say.

Everywhere and always, Auden and Stravinsky unceasingly display their rhetorical and expressive genius.

— Steven White

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Having witnessed the overwhelming devastation caused by the Second World War, exiled Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, expat British poet W.H. Auden, along with the American poet Chester Kallmann constructed their 1951 opera The Rake’s Progress as a parable of humankind’s misguided struggle with the desire for happiness. When the curtain rises, we find Tom Rakewell in a sort of Eden with the ruler of his heart, Anne Trulove. Anne’s father, however, insists that his daughter cannot be had for free, but must be earned with hard work. Rejecting this idea, young Tom sets his hope on trusting his will and the grace of fortune to give him whatever his ego desires. When Tom speaks out loud the words “I wish I had money,” Nick Shadow appears and tells Tom he has inherited a fortune, but that to claim it he must enter the big city. In his flight from hard work and responsibility, Tom is tempted by the entertainments and inventions of the modern world offered to him by Shadow, who, having cleverly induced Tom to dig his own grave, eventually reveals he is the Devil himself.

This production is the first in what was to be a significant part of David Hockney’s artistic output; his designs for opera. Subsequent designs for The Magic Flute, Tristan und Isolde, a Stravinsky Triple Bill ( The Rite of Spring/Le rossignol/Oedipus Rex) and a French Triple Bill (Parade/Les mamelles de Tirésias/L'enfant et les sortilèges) for The Met, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Turandot followed, but none have been so regularly revived as The Rake’s Progress, now in its 50th year of revivals of John Cox’s staging.

Like Stravinsky himself, who was inspired by a series of Hogarth etchings, Hockney returned to these same drawings to create this now famous series of visual tableaux of his own, reflecting the various states of Tom’s descent from bucolic innocence to his end in Bedlam, all made vibrantly alive by John’s Cox’s concise and direct staging of the tale. How more apt than the present to contemplate the vision of artists like Stravinsky and Auden, who in some sense lived the tale of the opera themselves, and to be invited to reflect on how these themes continue play out in our own lives, and in our collective history.

— Roy Rallo

The Rake’s Progress

Music by Igor Stravinsky

Libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman

Performed in English with English supertitles

February 7 & 9, 2025

Orpheum Theater, Slosburg Hall | Omaha, Nebraska

First performance: Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy – September 11, 1951

Opera Omaha Premiere: February 7, 2025

CREATIVE

Steven White

CONDUCTOR

Roy Rallo DIRECTOR

David Hockney*

SCENIC & COSTUME DESIGNER

Pablo Santiago

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Ronell Oliveri

WIG & MAKEUP DESIGNER

CAST

Adrian Kramer TOM RAKEWELL

Liv Redpath* ANNE TRULOVE

Craig Colclough* NICK SHADOW

Margaret Gawrysiak* BABA THE TURK

Donovan Singletary* FATHER TRULOVE

Rehanna Thelwell* MOTHER GOOSE

Brian Jeffers* SELLEM

Jesse Wohlman KEEPER OF THE MADHOUSE

*Opera Omaha Debut

Steven White sponsored by Linda Burt Rebrovic and John Rebrovic

Liv Redpath sponsored by Mutual of Omaha

Rehanna Thelwell sponsored by Catherine and Terry Ferguson

The Omaha Symphony

Harpsichord | Lindsay Woodward*

Opera Omaha Chorus | Josh Quinn, director

Originally built by San Francisco Opera.

Scenery and Costumes provided by Pittsburgh Opera.

The performance runs approximately 3 hours with two 15-minute intermissions.

The use of flash equipped cameras, audio recorders, video cameras or any other recording device during the performance is strictly prohibited.

ACT I SCENE 1

Tom Rakewell, a young and penniless country gentleman, is in love with Anne Trulove, but her father, the squire, doubts Tom’s strength of character. His suspicions are confirmed when Tom refuses his offer of steady employment in the city. Tom is content to put his trust in Fortune.

A stranger, who announces himself as Nick Shadow, suddenly arrives with the news that an unknown uncle of Tom’s has died and left him a fortune. Tom must go at once to London to wrap up his uncle’s estate, and Nick offers himself as Tom’s servant and guide through the intricacies of London life. The question of his salary can be decided in due course – in one year and a day, Tom shall pay him what his services prove to have been worth. Tom takes leave of Anne and her father and sets off with Nick to London.

SCENE 2

Nick introduces Tom to some of the bawdier attractions of the big city, teaching him a new creed: to be guided by instinct rather than the rules, and to seek pleasure above all things. Tom is schooled in Nick’s lessons by Mother Goose, but when he struggles to banish his memories of Anne, the woman decides to take him in hand, and leads him off to introduce him to pleasure.

SCENE 3

Months have passed but Anne has heard no news of Tom. She senses that Tom needs her, and resolves to go in search of him in London.

ACT II SCENE 1

Tom has grown disillusioned by his life in London. Nick exhorts him to marry Baba the Turk, the new sensation of Giles’ Fair – only if he acts freely can he be happy. To be free he must defy the tyranny of appetite and conscience – the bearded Baba is the antithesis of appetite, and he owes her no duty. Therefore, she is the perfect agent for his happiness. Tom allows himself to be persuaded by Nick and sets off to woo and win her as his bride.

SCENE 2

Anne finds her way to Tom’s house and sees him arrive home escorting a closed sedan chair. She greets him, but he begs her to return home and forget him. London has no use for her virtue. Anne reaffirms her love for Tom but leaves him, shamed, when she learns that the impatient occupant of the sedan chair is Baba the Turk, now his wife. Tom leads the veiled Baba to the house, as the townspeople crowd around the door begging for a glimpse of her.

SCENE 3

Baba sits at breakfast with Tom among the presents given to her on a series of triumphant European tours by her countless admirers. Tom is bored and infuriates her with his indifference. She accuses him of retaining his love for Anne and rages until Tom silences her. He relapses into sleep – the last refuge of the bored. Nick now prepares to complete Tom’s downfall by adding financial disaster to his moral and domestic ruin. He wheels in a fantastic, bogus machine for converting stones to bread. Tom wakes and tells Nick that he has been dreaming of just such a machine, believing that it will cure poverty, and bring happiness to the wretched. Thus, with charitable deeds, he may again be worthy of Anne’s love. He leaves to devote all his energies to this noble and philanthropic scheme.

ACT III

SCENE 1

Tom’s financial bubble has burst, bringing ruin to himself and countless foolish investors. A crowd of inquisitive townsfolk flocks to attend the auction of his belongings. Anne arrives to ask news of Tom, but no one can tell her where to find him. The auctioneer, Sellem, begins to auction the contents of the house. In due course he offers a mysterious object. It is Baba, who springs to the defense of her belongings, unconscious of the intervening time since Tom silenced her. Tom and Nick are heard singing from the street, mocking Baba. Anne returns at the sound of the voices. Baba tells her that Tom still loves her and that her love may still save him. Anne rushes out to look for Tom, and Baba decides to go back to her true profession, the stage.

SCENE 2

A year and a day have passed since Nick entered Tom’s service. It is time to claim his wages, Tom’s soul. An open grave is waiting. He first offers Tom a choice of death by poison, steel, rope, or gun, and then proposes that they play cards to decide his fate. Nick attempts to cheat, but memories of Anne inspire Tom to win the game. Nick is enraged at being outwitted, but though cheated of Tom’s soul, he takes revenge by striking him with insanity.

SCENE 3

Tom is confined to Bedlam. He thinks himself to be Adonis, and when Anne comes to visit him, believes that she is Venus, whom he has long been seeking. He asks her forgiveness for so long disdaining her love. She comforts him, and sings him to sleep with a lullaby. Her love is unaltered, but realizing that she can no longer help him, she sadly agrees to return home with her father. Tom wakes to find that Venus has gone, and his heart breaks.

EPILOGUE

The moral of the fable: The Devil finds work for idle hands, and that includes us all.

Steven White Conductor

Principal Guest Conductor Steven White has lead numerous Opera Omaha productions, including Così fan tutte, Faust, Eugene Onegin, Le nozze di Figaro, and most recently, La traviata. This season Mr. White returns to Merola Opera Program to lead their Grand Finale concert, followed by a return to the Academy of Vocal Arts for Gounod’s Faust. He additionally returns to the Metropolitan Opera for their holiday production of The Magic Flute. Mr. White made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in 2010, conducting performances of La traviata starring Angela Gheorghiu. In the past several seasons he has returned to the Met to participate as Assistant Conductor in critically fêted productions of Der fliegende Holländer, Don Carlo, Billy Budd, The Rake’s Progress, Tosca, and Elektra. With a vibrant repertoire of over sixty-five titles, Maestro White’s extensive operatic engagements have included performances with New York City Opera, L’Opera de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, Opera Colorado, Pittsburgh Opera, Detroit Opera, Baltimore Opera, New Orleans Opera, and many others. He also serves as the Artistic Director of Opera Roanoke.

Roy Rallo Director

Roy Rallo returns to Opera Omaha after assistant directing Carmina Burana/Pagliacci. Mr. Rallo has staged John Cox’s production of David Hockney’s The Rake’s Progress for Portland Opera, Utah Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. He began his career as artistic administrator for Southern California’s Long Beach Opera, where he directed original productions of Mozart’s Lucio silla, Strauss’ Elektra, and Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle. In Europe he has directed new productions of Don Pasquale, an original music theater piece, Methusalem Project, for the National Theater Weimar, Ariadne auf Naxos for Opera National de Bordeaux, Der Rosenkavalier for Den Jyske Opera in Aarhus, Denmark, and co-directed Aida for the Deutsche Berlin, Carmen for the National Theater Mannheim, and Busoni’s Doktor Faustus for the Bavarian State Opera. As staff director at San Francisco Opera he has remounted revivals of The Barber Of Seville, Pique Dame, Il trovatore, Partenope and his own staging of David Hockney’s design for Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Pablo

Santiago Lighting Designer

Pablo Santiago returns to Opera Omaha after last designing lighting for Eugene Onegin. Mr. Santiago is a live performance and digital film lighting designer. He is the winner of the Kinetic Lighting Award for Distinguished Achievement in Theatrical Design, Henry Award, Richard Sherwood Award, Stage Raw Awards, and multiple Ovation Award nominations. Originally from Chiapas, Mexico, his designs aim to find evocative images that embody the emotional moment of the show and can spark the imagination of the audience to worlds beyond the stage. Mr. Santiago has worked at Opera Omaha, The Kennedy Center, Teatro Municipal São Paulo Brazil, Santa Fe Opera, LA Opera, Detroit Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, Long Beach Opera, Prototype Festival, The Industry, Opera Columbus, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Opera Santa Barbara, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theater, Arena Stage DC, BAM-Harvey Theater, Geffen Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Denver Center, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Broad Museum, Kirk Douglas Theater, and Hollywood Bowl.

Oliveri Wig & Makeup Designer

Ronell Oliveri has been designing wigs and makeup for opera, theater, ballet, and film for the past 20 years for such companies as MN Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, and The American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. Currently she is the resident wig and makeup designer for Opera Colorado and Opera Omaha. As a wig and makeup artist her professional credits include engagements with Chicago Lyric Opera, LA Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Boston Ballet. She was a Prime-Time Emmy nominee as key makeup artist for her work in television. Her work can also be seen in several Broadway shows including Wicked, All The Way, and Waitress. Recent engagements include Opera Columbus’ Eugene Onegin, Pacific Symphony‘s La bohème, and Central City Opera’s 2024 summer festival. Upcoming engagements include Opera Omaha’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Boston Lyric Opera’s Mitridate, and Opera Colorado’s Daughter of the Regiment

Ronell

Adrian Kramer

Tom Rakewell

Adrian Kramer returns to Opera Omaha after last performing in Opera Outdoors 2023. Last season Mr. Kramer made his role and company debut with Israeli Opera as the Prince in Rusalka. His recent credits include: Cavaradossi in Tosca at Opera San José; Hoffegut in Braunfel’s Die Vögel at Pacific Opera Victoria; Don José in Carmen at Hogfish Summer Festival; Toby Higgins in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny and the title role in Die Nase at Komische Oper Berlin; Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette at San Diego Opera; Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera Philadelphia; Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore at Edmonton Opera; Gérard in Les enfants terribles, Bill in Flight and Joe in La fanciulla del West at Opera Omaha; Don José in Carmen at San Diego Opera; and Borsa in Rigoletto, the Second Nazarene in Salome, Owen's Son in Cold Mountain, and the Second Bodyguard in Dr. Sun Yat-sen at Santa Fe Opera

Liv Redpath

Anne Trulove

Soprano leggero Liv Redpath makes her Opera Omaha debut in The Rake’s Progress. Highlights of the 24/25 Season include a debut with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia as Agnès in Written on Skin, a return to Bayerische Staatsoper as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, joining San Francisco and Seattle Symphonies for Faure’s Requiem, a return to Danish Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, her debut as Susanna in

Le nozze di Figaro with Santa Fe Opera, a debut at the Philharmonie with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue, singing Boulez’s Le Soleil des eaux at the Lucerne Festival with Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, and the US Premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Dream Requiem with the LA Master Chorale. Ms. Redpath has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Berliner Philharmoniker, Glyndebourne Festival, The Cleveland Symphony, La Monnaie/De Munt, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Los Angeles Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, and Edinburgh Festival, among others. Ms. Redpath is a graduate of Harvard University and The Juilliard School.

Craig Colclough Nick Shadow

Bass-baritone Craig Colclough makes his Opera Omaha debut in The Rake’s Progress. Mr. Colclough begins the 24/25 Season with LA Opera, singing Juliette’s father Capulet in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and later makes his debut with Seattle Opera as Scarpia in Tosca. Highlights of his 23/24 Season included his first career performances of the title role of Wagner’s Der fliegende Höllander in a new production at the Göteborg Opera in Sweden, as well as a return to LA Opera for Leporello in Don Giovanni, and his debut at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw singing Alberich in Siegfried. Recent engagements include his Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Bayerische Staatsoper debuts as the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth; Telramund in Lohengrin and Pistola in Falstaff with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Alberich in Das Rheingold with Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, Scarpia and Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West with English National Opera, and Scarpia for his debut with Canadian Opera Company.

Margaret Gawrysiak

Baba the Turk

Margaret Gawrysiak makes her Opera Omaha debut in The Rake’s Progress. Ms. Gawrysiak holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Western Illinois University, and is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Wolf Trap Opera, and Seattle Opera’s Young Artist Program. For the 24/25 Season, she makes her debut at LA Opera as Gertrude in their production of Roméo et Juliette, and returns to the Metropolitan Opera, to cover Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. Her 23/24 Season engagements included Verdi’s Requiem with the Madison Symphony, Marcellina with New Orleans Opera, and a concert with Opera Edwardsville. The previous season included her 11th hour debut at the Met, singing the role of Auntie in Peter Grimes, the Marquise de Berkenfield in Minnesota Opera’s production of La fille du régiment, and Madison Opera for Marcellina. Her notable engagements include Seattle Opera as Marcellina, Vera Boronel in The Consul, Madame Larina in Eugene Onegin, and Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

BIOGRAPHIES

Donovan Singletary Father Trulove

Bass-baritone Donovan Singletary makes his Opera Omaha debut in The Rake’s Progress. The GRAMMY Award-winning bass-baritone’s 23/24 Season included house debuts with Washington National Opera as Count Capulet in Roméo et Juliette and Pacific Opera Victoria as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, a return to Opera Carolina for Samson et Dalila, and symphonic engagements including Mozart's Requiem with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. His 22/23 engagements included a debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, a return to English National Opera for It's A Wonderful Life, debuts as Crown in Porgy and Bess with North Carolina Opera and Opera Carolina, a debut with Orchestra Iowa singing Verdi's Requiem, and concerts in tribute to Jules Bledsoe. After opening The Metropolitan Opera's 21/22 Season, performing two lead roles in Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones, Mr. Singletary enjoyed debuts with Glyndebourne and the BBC Proms. He also portrayed Antron McCray in Anthony Davis' The Central Park Five with Portland Opera.

Rehanna Thelwell Mother Goose

Mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell makes her Opera Omaha debut in The Rake’s Progress. Following her tenure at the Washington National Opera Cafritz Young Artist program, she made a standout debut in the title role of Carmen at The Kennedy Center. This season, Ms. Thelwell will return to Opera Philadelphia for the American premiere of The Listeners, make her Portland Opera debut as Quickly in Falstaff, and join Nashville Opera as Kendra in The Cook Off! Last season, she appeared at San Francisco Opera, Atlanta Opera, Detroit Opera, and Finger Lakes Opera. Notable recent engagements include her debuts at Dutch National Opera, Madison Opera, and the South Florida Symphony. She also performed in Fire Shut Up in My Bones at Lyric Opera of Chicago and made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Exigence Vocal Ensemble. Ms. Thelwell studied at Northern Arizona University and the University of Michigan.

Brian Jeffers Sellem

Brian Jeffers makes his Opera Omaha debut in The Rake’s Progress Mr. Jeffers’ 22/23 Season was marked by exciting engagements, including his mainstage role debut as Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd and Lillas Pastia in La Tragedie de Carmen with Chautauqua Opera. He also made his symphony debut with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He took the stage at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall in his Lincoln Center debut in Adolphus Hailstork's oratorio Done Made My Vow with the NY Philharmonic. His 2024 engagements include the role of the Valet in Viardot's Cendrillon at Knoxville Opera, and he will sing Burrowing Mole in Fantastic Mr. Fox with Opera Omaha this summer. Mr. Jeffers has sung with numerous opera companies including Opera Saratoga, On Site Opera, Mostly Mozart Festival, New Amsterdam Opera, Axelrod Performing Arts Center, and City Lyric Opera

Jesse Wohlman Keeper of

the Madhouse

Baritone Jesse Wohlman returns to Opera Omaha after last performing in La traviata. Mr. Wohlman is a singer, actor, songwriter, and university instructor based in Omaha, Nebraska. Locally, he has had the pleasure of working with a variety of performing arts organizations including the Omaha Symphony, BLUEBARN Theatre, Opera Omaha, Vesper Concerts, Salt Creek Song Festival, and is a core member of Résonance. Recent credits include Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Résonance, the Beast in Beauty and the Beast with The Rose Theater, and the bass soloist in Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” with the Omaha Symphonic Chorus. Mr. Wohlman received a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a faculty member of the Borland School of Music at Concordia University, Nebraska.

ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION STAFF

Kathleen Edwards*

Stephanie Smith ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Jack Meister-Lopez* ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Lindsay Woodward* REHEARSAL PIANIST

PROPERTIES SUPERVISOR

ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER

Gretchen Crane

Crystal M. Dunning

Carole Jeanpierre

Darien Myers-Krommenhoek

Amanda Jones

COSTUME SUPERVISOR

Gary Bosanek

WARDROBE COORDINATOR

Candace Leyland

WIG & MAKEUP ASSISTANT

Bryan Stanley

SUPERTITLE OPERATOR

Al Dusek+

HEAD PRODUCTION CARPENTER

Scott Wasson+

HEAD PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN

Stagehand Services are provided by IATSE Local 42. Wardrobe Services are provided by IATSE

Susan Pistillo Seamands

TENOR

Graham Brooks

Jon Gathje

Jackson Kissler*

Jason Pandelidis

Gavin Rasmussen

Daniel Schreiber

BASS

Jon Hickerson

William A. Miller

Bret Olsen

David Petry

Emmanuel Sáenz

Matt Weinrich

Jesse Wohlman

SUPERNUMERARIES

Clint Beaver

Malik Deshon Fortner*

John Ritland*

Jay Srygley*

*Opera Omaha Debut

+IATSE Local 42

Local 831.

Opera Omaha is a member of OPERA America.

SYMPHONY

VIOLIN 1

Susanna Perry Gilmore, Concertmaster

Ahra Cho, 1st Associate Concertmaster

Henry Jenkins, 2nd Associate Concertmaster

Christopher Hake, Assistant Concertmaster

Rebecca Kia-Mills

Phyllis Duncan

Scott Shoemaker

Tracy Dunn

Anne Nagosky

Ricardo Amador

Melissa Pruss

Juliet Yoshida

VIOLIN 2

Keith Plenert, Principal 2nd Violin

Frank Seligman, Associate Principal 2nd Violin

Kevin Tompkins, Assistant Principal 2nd Violin

Daniel Fletcher

Lucy Duke

Yi-Miao Huang

Mary Perkinson

Michael Keelan

VIOLA

Thomas Kluge, Principal

Tyler Sieh, Associate Principal

Margo Romig-Motycka

Judy Divis

Bozhidar Shopov

Alexa Brown

Sarah Curley

Rebecca Vieker

CELLO

Paul Ledwon, Principal

Gregory Clinton, Associate Principal

Zachariah Reff, Assistant Principal

Timothy Strang

Mark Motycka

Holly Gullen-Stout

Shannon Merciel

Trevor Peterson

BASS

Nate Olson, Principal

Bobby Scharmann, Associate Principal

James Giles

Michael Swartz

Danielle Meier

Jeremy Baguyos

FLUTE

Maria Harding, Principal

Nicholas Fitton, Assistant Principal

Lisa Meyerhofer, 3rd Flute and Piccolo

OBOE

Alexandra Rock, Principal

Heather Baxter, Assistant Principal

Christine Sallas, 3rd Oboe and English Horn

CLARINET

Carmelo Galante, Principal

Rosario Galante, Assistant Principal

Madison Freed, 3rd Clarinet and Bass Clarinet

BASSOON

James F. Compton, Principal

Nicholas Nelson, Assistant Principal

Karen Sandene, Third Bassoon and Contrabassoon

HORN

Brett Hodge, Principal

Steven Schultz, Associate Principal

Jake Rensink

Jordan Dinkins

TRUMPET

Scott Quackenbush, Principal

Federico Montes, Associate Principal

Christopher Haas

TROMBONE

Patrick Pfister, Principal

Jason Stromquist

Jay Wise

TUBA

Craig Fuller, Principal

TIMPANI

Jack Rago, Principal

PERCUSSION

Derek Dreier, Principal

Paul Matthews, Assistant Principal

HARP

Janna Young, Principal

KEYBOARD

Christi Zuniga, Principal

ORCHESTRA OPERATIONS

Jennifer Boomgaarden, President & CEO

Kyra Hansen, Director of Operations & Production

Jimmy Lewis, Operations & Production Manager

Emily E. Duffin, Orchestra Personnel Manager

Erica Ostermiller, Operations Coordinator

Tracy Bass, Head Librarian

Nicholas Buonanni, Librarian

John Coate, Stage Manager

Opera Omaha productions are made possible, in part, with significant support from the Craftsman’s Guild.

Cindy & Mike Baumer

Betty Beach

Tom Burton

Gina Carusi

Cody Cheshier

Kate & Chris Gannon–Tombrello

Bill Gaus

Nora Mae & John Gibson

Patti Jaynes

Mark Kalal

Nancy Klepper

Christine Lund

Julie Mead

Patty Pandzik

Christine & Patrick Peters

Valerie Proctor

Dick Serpan

Margret Sexton

Brendy Shishido

Saprina Thiesen

Joe Torchia

Leslie Vann

Annika Weber

The Opera Omaha Guild is a dedicated group of individuals who actively support Opera Omaha’s fundraising, community engagement, and education programs. Members plan and promote events such as Cotillion (etiquette classes for area sixth graders), social luncheons, educational activities, opera study groups, and pre-performance parties.

If you are interested in joining the Opera Omaha Guild, please call (402) 346-7372 or visit operaomaha.org/guild for additional information. We appreciate your interest and look forward to hearing from you soon!

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Lora Kaup

PRESIDENT

Connie Kinnear

PRESIDENT ELECT

Deb Peterson

PAST PRESIDENT

Mark Maser

VP EDUCATION

Kelly Sanford

VP FUNDRAISING

Betty Foster

VP MEMBERSHIP

Dana Carlton-Flint

VP SOCIAL

Lisa Hagstrom

COTILLION LIAISON

Vivian Davis

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

Connie Kinnear

RECORDING SECRETARY

April Nebel

TREASURER

AT LARGE BOARD MEMBERS

Lauren Garcia

Christina Miller

Mary Ellen Mulcahy

Sherry Taxman

Sara Young

Appropriate

FEBRUARY 6 – MARCH 2,

ART BY KRISTIN PLUHACEK

Sponsored by: Bruce Reneaud & Kerry Dobson

Sara Foxley Ruth H. Keene

BY BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE

October 24 and 26, 2025 | Orpheum Theater

Music by Gioachino Rossini | Libretto by Cesare Sterbini

Escape on a wild ride through the streets of Seville, where schemes unfurl, passions flare, and chaos occasionally reigns. Figaro, the mischievous barber, is at the center of it all, pulling strings and outwitting anyone who thwarts his plans to help Count Almaviva win Rosina’s heart.

SUSANNAH

January 30 and February 1, 2026 | Orpheum Theater

Music and Libretto by Carlisle Floyd

Set in a stark Tennessee town, the young Susannah is targeted by suspicion and gossip that mounts in intensity. Floyd’s score is undeniably American and inspired by familiar folk melodies that underscore the complexity of human nature through Susannah’s search for beauty and one man’s lust for power.

HERCULES

March 13, 2026 | Orpheum Theater

Music by George Frideric Handel | Libretto by Thomas Broughton

The English Concert returns to Opera Omaha, bringing Handel’s Hercules. Fresh from battle, Hercules returns home victorious, but his wife, Dejanira is consumed by fear that he has been unfaithful. With Handel’s soaring arias and powerful choruses, Hercules reminds us that the devastating consequences of mistrust can bring even the mightiest to their knees.

UNSHAKEABLE

BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE

April 24 and 25, 2026 | Holland Performing Arts Center

Music by Béla Bartók | Libretto by Béla Balázs

Opera Omaha and the Omaha Symphony join forces to produce Bluebeard’s Castle, where every shadow hides a secret, and every door unlocks a new terror. Bartók’s psychological thriller unfolds as Judith, newly wed to the enigmatic Bluebeard, dares to open his castle’s forbidden doors, drawing her closer to a horrifying secret.

June 5-7, 2026 | Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center

Music by Joseph Illick | Libretto by Andrea Fellows Fineberg

The Family Opera Series returns with the one-act opera, UnShakeable. Twenty years after a mysterious epidemic has left its survivors plagued by memory loss, Wyatt and Meridian reunite in a desolate theater using the only common language they can find: Shakespeare.

Explore the 25/26 Season at operaomaha.org/2526

Bluebeard’s Castle and UnShakeable not included in 25/26 Season subscription

ELEMENTS OF OPERA

Opera is often described as a “total art form,” made up of many moving parts and a collaboration across multiple unique art forms. To keep opera at the heart of all we do, HCOF identifies the elements of opera in our community workshops and programming. We define elements of opera as music, movement, drama, art, and words. This visual represents those elements and is included in various ways within our day-to-day work.

WORDS

• The Fellowship accepts teaching artists from any artistic discipline with a connection to opera!

From opera singers, to classical musicians and stage directors, to actors and poets, Fellows have represented all of the unique elements of opera.

• Elements of opera within a workshop are labeled in conversations, lesson plans, and feedback surveys with each of our community partners. Our hope is that over time, community partners will know more about opera.

• The elements are highlighted with participants in our workshops too, as they learn and grow while having fun and experiencing creative time together.

• Programming often includes multiple elements of opera, and Fellows and participants are able to make connections between what we’re doing in the community and the collaborative way opera happens on stage.

Above: Fellows Alejandra Sandoval-Montañez and Aiden Poling teach music workshops at The Joslyn with middle school students.

Right: Gotta Be Me participants perform three crowd favorite songs during Opera Outdoors at Turner Park in September 2024.

24/25 COMMUNITY PARTNERS

The Holland Community Opera Fellowship creates responsive programming that acknowledges the strengths of each participating individual and community partner.

Sarpy County Juvenile Justice Center

OPERA OMAHA EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Each year Opera Omaha Education Programs serve over 1,200 students from early childhood to graduate school level at more than 50 partner schools and universities.

STUDENT DRESS REHEARSALS

Student Dress Rehearsals are an immersive way for students to go beyond an ordinary field trip to get an intimate experience with the opera. This FREE program offers a rare opportunity for students to see the show before the public and without a large crowd for a more personal and meaningful experience.

ARTIST VISITS AND MASTERCLASSES

Each season Opera Omaha brings guest opera artists from our productions to classrooms and community partners across the city. Each artist visit is tailored to the needs of teachers and students to create a meaningful opera learning experience and may include short performances, a masterclass, workshop, or Q&A.

OPERA 360

This immersive program takes the Student Dress Rehearsal experience and expands it for groups that want to learn more about the artisans that operate behind the scenes. Students get a backstage tour and speak directly with opera professionals exploring areas such as costume design, hair and makeup, stage management, directing, and conducting. These

conversations give students extra insight into the jobs available within the opera, allowing them to ask questions and expand their aspirations for future involvement in opera production.

POETRY & MUSIC PROJECT

The Opera Omaha Poetry & Music Project is a statewide program run in partnership with the Nebraska Writers Collective to amplify the voices of youth poets, both urban and rural, across Nebraska and Iowa. The project connects student poets and their words with professional composers to create original music and explore connections between poetry and music.

STUDENT RUSH

All students, may take advantage of $10 rush tickets to Opera Omaha performances! One hour prior to performances, students can receive up to two tickets with a valid student ID.

If you are bringing 10 or more students to an Opera Omaha production, you can take advantage of Group Student Rush Tickets! Call Howard Coffin at (402) 346-7372 x2 for more details.

Now in its 8th year, the Poetry & Music Project connects student poets and their words with composers to create original music and explore the connections between poetry and music.

Opera Omaha and the Nebraska Writers Collective invited Nebraska and Iowa students in grades K-12 to submit works of poetry that explored how even though we all may be Nebraskans or Iowans, where we come from still has a profound effect on who we are. We asked for poems on the theme of “Neighborhood”, asking poets to think deeply about what community means to them and how it is formed.

Opera Omaha received 66 poem submission from students across Nebraska. Poets ranged from second graders to high school juniors, including first time poets and seasoned writers. All submitted poems will be available in the Poetry & Music Project Book, available online, and as part of the Omaha Public Library Collection.

While there were many outstanding poems submitted to the project, in the end, project composer Sidney Marquez Boquiren and hip-hop artist Lite Pole selected 14 poems that inspired them and created original music with the poems as the lyrics.

24/25 SELECTED POEMS

“Footsteps” by Nora Barth, Duchesne Academy Omaha

“Flying Home”, by Aalyn Friesz, Wheeler Elementary

“Fowler Street” by M Bonar, La Vista Middle School

“Omaha’s Embrace” by Jackson Ward, Papillion Middle School

“Invisible to Us” by Madelynn Torson, Swanson Elementary

“My Neighborhood” by Madison Dornbusch, La Vista Middle School

“Neighbor Behavior” by Addi Bryan, Woodbrook Elementary

“Seasons in North Omaha” by Adeline Olsen, Sunset Hills Elementary

“Our Beautiful Neighborhood” by Rishi Chundury, Brownell Talbot

“Untitled” by Michaela Brown, Papillion Middle School

“In the land of unknown” by Shevaani Rajith Varman Janani, Lewis & Clark Middle School

“The Original Denny's” by Maren Ferguson, Platteview High School

“De Donde Soy” by Gelen Ruiz, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands

Join us for the premiere of these original songs at the Poetry & Music Concert May 3, 2025

DONORS

It is our honor to recognize community members who, through their generosity to Opera Omaha’s Annual Fund, have enabled the company to triumphantly return to live, grand opera productions this season and deliver its groundbreaking, free community programming, including the nationally acclaimed Holland Community Opera Fellowship, that engage tens of thousands of people in meaningful, artistic experiences. This listing reflects gifts received between July 1, 2023- December 1, 2024

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

$100,000+

Richard Holland*

Constance B� Meunier Trust

Mary and Richard Parrish

Annette and Paul Smith

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE

$50,000- $99,999

Anonymous

Carol E� and David A � Domina

Steve Menzies

Jane and David Offutt

Joan Gibson* and Donald Wurster

PRODUCER

$25,000-$49,999

Anonymous

Cindy and Mogens Bay

Barbara Person and Scott Burger

Catherine and Terry Ferguson

Janet and H� Frederick Kuehl

Robert E� Owen

Linda Burt Rebrovic and John Rebrovic

Polina and Bob Schlott

Julie M� Schroeder

Meredith and Drew Weitz

Katie Weitz, PhD and Tim Wilson

Kate and Roger Weitz

BACKER

$10,000-$24,999

Anonymous

Jo Bartikoski and Don Westling

Dr Betty L Beach

Sara and Jawed Bharwani

Sharon and Randy Blackburn

Roger Blauwet

Devin J� Fox, MD and Rob Block

Dr Anne and Stephen Bruckner

Sandi and Bill Bruns

Anna-Karin and David Dillard

Carol L� Dworak Estate

Frances and David Ertel

Betty Foster

Kyoko and Jonathan Fuller

Jerry C Gose

Vivian and Allen Hager

Vicki and David Krecek

Pauline Quinn

Jean and Eugene Stark Jr

Janet and Jerry Syslo

Dr and Mrs James Tracy

Ellen and Robert Vladem

BENEFACTOR

$5,000-$9,999

Anonymous

Linda Matson Andersen

Dr Debra Reilly-Culver and Robert Culver, Jr

Linda and David Gardels

Anne Gardner

Belle and Ryan Hansen

Mary Jetton

Vernie and Carter Jones

Dr� Ali Khan

Joanne and David Kolenda

Paul Ledwon and Mark Allen

Maser

Sheila McNeill

Sharee and Murray Newman

Ann and Paul O’Hara

Connie Osborne

Silvia Greene Roffman

Howard B Silberg Revocable Trust

Donna and Coyner* Smith

Mary Ann Strasheim

Mary Beth and James Winner

GUARDIAN

$3,500-$4,999

Ruth Keene

Sharon McGill

SUSTAINER

$1,500-$3,499

Linda Daugherty

Joan Desens and Simon CarrEllison

Brian Eaton

Kiley and Mike Freeman

Kate and Chris GannonTombrello

Leslie Garth

Bill L Gaus

Janeanne and Joseph Heidenreich

Megan and Thomas Heidenreich

Deana Liddy

Matthew Messner and Neil Sechan

Stephen Novick

Rita and Donald Otis

Deb and Eric Peterson

Constance Ryan

Shirley and Michael* Sorrell

Jacqueline Sorrels and Alex Ritter

Jill Steinberg

Anne Stoddard

Ginger Talbot

Dr Terry Tomcsik

PATRON

$750-$1,499

Anonymous

Laura and Bryan Alexander

Sarah Baker Hansen and Matthew Hansen

Nicholas Bjornson

Kathleen Joan Bradley

Janet and Samuel Cohen

Kris Vikmanis and Denny Creighton

Gloria Dinsdale*

Marlene and Larry Domina

Rebecca and Brian Duncan

Andrea and Donald Fineberg

Christine and Mauro Fiore

Joan Flesch

Judy and George Haecker, Jr�

Lisa Hagstrom

Carol and James Healy

Susan Thomas and Steven Hutchinson

Jeffrey Johnston

Sylvia Jones

Constance Heiden Kammandel and Henry Kammandel

Sandra and Jon Kayne

Leslie Kuhnel

Dominique Laffont

John Yost and Wade Leak

Katie and Craig LeDoux

Lara Marcon

Karen and Paul Mullen

Karen and Larry Nelsen

Elizabeth and Jerry Powell

Lora Kaup and Michael Pray

John Reed

Barbara and Gordon Reisinger

Lisa Sock

Kara and Joe Spitzenberger

Peter and Marika Stone

Sherry and Jeff Taxman

Shelby VanNordstrand

Gail and Irving Veitzer

Paul Vladem

Toby Bright and Nancy Ward

Verne Weber

Cindy Weil

Kate Rahel and Dennis Whelan

Laura Wilwerding

ADVOCATE

$300-$749

Anonymous

Eileen and Timothy Arkebauer

Denise Arnold

Paula Ashen

Mayrene Bentley

Sarah Billinghurst Solomon

Ann and David Burkholder

Murray Joseph Casey

Bruce Chemel

Mallory Schulte and Ryan Cwach

Mary and Hal Daub

Carolyn and David Diamond

Sandy and Paul Epstein

Mary and Ronald Ferdig

Elizabeth and John Fullerton

Jeffrey Grinnell and Daniel Gallagher

Patrick Galvin

Barbara Glauber

John K Green

Joan Squires and Dan Hamann

Shari Hofschire

Stanton Hoppe

Dr� Linda Matson and Mr�

Michael Howland

Anne M� Hubbard

Susan and Craig Ihnen

Bonnie and David Jaros

Barbara Johnston

Marilyn and Mark Kirchhoff

Barbara and Marshall Kushner

Ronna and Joseph Kutlas

Helen and William Little

Christine and Jim Medici

Donald Moran

Kevin Murray

April and Jonathan Nebel

Ashley Olson

Mary Helms and Kenneth Olson

Polly and Frank Partsch

Judy Pfeifer

Samuel M Bierner and Joseph Pinson

Lisa and Dan Prickett

Silva Raker

Tom Richter

Greta Vaught and John Ritland

Jane and Carl* Rohman

Sissy Katelman Silber

Donald Slaughter

David Sontag

Kiley and James Thiele

Pia Ulrich

Ann Stephens and John Vasiliades

Patricia Victor

W� Bruce Warr

Kimberly Hastie and Timothy Welch

Ann and John Williamson

James Wink

Brad Woolbright

Timothy Held and Jay Worden

Melanie and John Wright

FRIEND

$1-$299

Anonymous

Gay and Steve Abraham

Rebecca J Noble and Keith Allerton

Deisy I Andrew

Barbara Antonides

Cheryl Arends

Marco Ballarin

Susan Baumert

Erna Beach

Kelli and Brian Bello

Angela Bennett

Laila Berre

Eric Bildt

Dawn Ann Boll

Lyn and Stephen Bouma

Shelia G� Brantley

Katie and Corey Broman

Shawntae Brown

Michelle C Bruckner

Rob Buckley

Janice and Mario Buda

Valerie Bullock

Janet* and Donald Bumgarner

Frank Burnham

Erin and Bob Busch

Karen and David Campbell

David Campbell

Thomas Carr

Elizabeth Case

Felicia Cervantes

Susan Chenoweth

Christine and Bob Chilcoat

Donna Christian

Grace Chu

Tiffiny Clifton

Mary Jo and Richard Coffey

Diane and Howard Coffin

Edward Cohn

Elizabeth A � Collins

Cora and Maurice Conner

Caitlin F� Copenhaver

Carmelita Cox

Eleanor Shirley and Daniel J Cox

Eileen M� Crinklaw

Rosemary J� Pauley and Timothy F� Daugherty

Dorothy Davis Morrow and Jim Morrow

Vivian and Spencer Davis

Clifford Davis

Carole DeBuse

Michael Del Core

Karla Ermel

Chelsey Erpelding

Karen and Richard Everett

Viv and John Ewing

Karen and Micah Fannin

Mary Fieber

Beverly Fleckten

Patrick Fortney

Terry and Mollie Foster

Sandra Franklin

Andrew Frost

Karen Gahl-Mills

Rose Glock

Ann and Donald Goldstein

Robert Griffin

Jan Grimes

Guy and Cathy Gronquist

Jacqueline and Douglas Grote

David Gunn

Cindy Hadsell

Erik Hanson

Allison Hardy

Ellen Hargus

Darrel Harris

Gretchen and William Harvey

Katrina Thurman and Robert

Hawkey

Jane and Edward Hawks

Cheryl and Joe Hazel

Linda Henslee

Marilyn Hoegemeyer

Don Horn

Ann and Don Hosford

Connor Howard

Rebecca Ihnen

Xavier Jackson

Gayle and Marlin Jeffers

Debra and Byron Jensen

Vibeke Jensen

Jerry Johnson

Vanessa Kalil

Donna and James Kalar

Ruth Ann Keene

Mary and Thomas Kerr

Barbara Kuhn

Piotr Andrzej Kissel

Mike Klug

Michele and Thomas Kluge

Geri Knight

Alexia Kniska and Bo Smith

Maria Knudtson

Mihaela and Brett Kobjerowski

Stacy Kozisek

Morgan Kreiser

Julie and Joseph Lecci

Sherryl and Hiram Lilley

Linda Moorman and Douglas Little

Billie D Logan

Gerald Lohman III

Kathleen and John Lohr

Jeffrey B� Loomis

Lorraine Beadell and Greg Love

Christine Lund

Meredith Fuller and James

Luyten

Charles MacKay

Maria C� Magana

Karla* and John Marburger

Marilyn and Robert Marion

Martin

Dr� Cliff Mason

Ali R� McBride

Jim McGough

Dorothy* and Daniel McKinney

Laura McLean

Ann Meschery

Ann Jansen Michelson and Brent Michelson

Cindy Miserez

Richard Morris

Fred Mytty

Ann and Kevin Naylor

Diana Nevins

Rodney Nordeng

Tirimba Obonyo

Neil F O'Donnell

Douglas D Olson

Chris Pantuso

Jessica and Dennis Pate

Jacob Pearson

Lois Pesek

Jean Ann Ballinger and Ward

Peters

Glen Peterson

Sabrina Potterpin

H� Margo Prentiss

Natalie Prescott

Abigail Kutlas-Prickett and Joseph Prickett

James Pyrzynski

Patricia and Robert Ranney

TaTanisha Ranney

Paula and William Rasmussen

Cynthia and David Rector

Toni Reese

Victoria and Edward Roche

Noyes W� Rogers

Debra J� Romberger

Kathleen Crawford-Rose and Robert Rose

Rev� David Rykwalder

Dawn B� Salsman

David Sampson

Tom Chandler and Bill Schaffer

Libby Murphy and Ray Schueneman

Rita and Dean Schechinger

Nancy Schultz

Margaret Sexton

Lori and Scott Shaddy

Joan and Charles Shapiro

Kay M Shilling, M D

Janelle Siffring

Jane Stieren

Kim Sosin

Dr� Sandra Squires

Glenda and George Steinsberger

Del Stites

Mike J Stodden

Lisa and Jeff Strohmyer

Anna and Rock Sumner

Greg Sutton

Katherine and Joe Thomas

Monte and Duane Thompson

Jerry Tyrrell

Deidre Vasquez

Caitlin Volz

Shannon and Michael Walenta

Kathleen A � Ward

Sarah Watson

Theresa and Edward Watson

Marilyn Watson

Carolyn B Weber

Kevin Wetzel

Mathew Whitlock

Wendi and Curtis Wilson

Shelli Wingett

Patricia Wise

Wendy Wiseman

Kimberly and Michael Wohlwend

Bruce McKeefry and Geoffrey Yeomans

Mary* and Anthony Yonkers

Sara and John Young

Edith and Robert Zahniser

Susan and John Zeilinger

Inna Zevakina

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Steelhouse Omaha

Steve Menzies, Chair

Honoring Gail & Mike Yanney

“A Celebration of the American Diva” Performed by two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning soprano

MEMORIALS & TRIBUTES

Donors who made gifts to the Annual Fund in honor or in memory of a loved one are recognized below. This listing reflects gifts received between July 1, 2023- December 1, 2024

IN MEMORY OF:

HARRIET BECKENHAUER

Opera Omaha Craftsman’s Guild

FRANK A. "SKIP" BLAZEK

Giger Foundation

MORRIS JAMES “JIM” BRUCKNER

Mary Beth and Jim Winner

ANN GANYARD

Mary Ann Strasheim

GLORIA DINSDALE

Linda Matson Andersen

ELSA GRIESBACH

Geri Knight

RHONDA HALL

Opera Omaha Craftsman’s Guild

JOHN HUTZLER

Christine and Jim Medici

JODY KERSSENBROCK

Sandra Kay Squires

MR. AND MRS. BILLIE F. LOGAN

Billie D� Logan

SANDY MATTHEWS

Heike and Adam Langdon

Mary Ellen Mulcahy

Kate and Roger Weitz

TOM ROGERS

Rebecca Noble and Keith Allerton

Debra Reilly-Culver and Robert Culver, Jr�

Gloria Dinsdale*

Paul and Sandy Epstein

Mr Mike Klug

Mark Maser and Paul Ledwon

Mrs Sharon L McGill

Jim Morrow and Dorothy Davis Morrow

Mary Ellen Mulcahy

Jean Ann Ballinger and Ward Peters

Pauline Quinn

Tom Chandler and William Schaffer

Mary Ann Strasheim

Greg Sutton

Shannon and Michael Walenta

CHERYL SANWICK

Betty L Beach

Clare and Thomas Burton

Opera Omaha Craftsman’s Guild

Annika and Allen Weber

DR. MICHAEL SORRELL

Mary Ellen Mulcahy

ELOUISE SQUIRES

Sandra Kay Squires

PAUL TRANISI

Gina Tranisi

BROTHER WILLIAM WOEGER

Bill Gaus

IN HONOR OF:

SANDI BRUNS

Joanne and David Kolenda

CALEB JOHN CLIFTON

Tiffiny Clifton

ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO

Jill Steinberg

CAROL DOMINA’S BIRTHDAY

Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison

CAROL DOMINA

Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison

Patrick Galvin

Connor Howard

Ann Meschery

Sabrina Potterpin

Caitlin Volz

MALLORY HAYS

Howard Coffin

HOLLAND COMMUNITY OPERA

FELLOWS

Tiffiny Clifton

RUTH AND JAMES* KEENE

Ruth Ann Keene

DR. ALI KHAN

Jessica and Dennis Pate

BILL AND MASAKO LOGAN

Billie D Logan

MARK MASER

Joanne and David Kolenda

Wendy Wiseman

MARK MASER AND PAUL LEDWON

Ray Schueneman and Elizebeth Murphy

MILES MYKKENAN

Stephen Novick

MARY AND RICHARD PARRISH

Betty L� Beach

SCOTT BURGER AND BARBARA PERSON

Samuel M� Bierner and Joseph Pinson

SUE PEARSON

Jacob Pearson

JOE PRICKETT

Allan and Karen Dennis

JAMES PYRZYNSKI

Bill Gaus

LINDA BURT REBROVIC AND JOHN REBROVIC

Carolyn and David Diamond

Mary and Tom Kerr

MARK AND KELLY SANFORD

Marissa and Mitchell Sanford

ALLISON SWENSON

Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison

Rebecca and Brian Duncan

Andrea and Don Finebergg

Connor Howard

Neil Sechan and Matthew Messner

Caitlin Volz

Brad Woolbright

ALLISON AND HUNTER SWENSON

Charles MacKay

Brad Woolbright

KATIE WEITZ

Ana Lopez Shalla and Hassan Shalla

MICHAEL AND GAIL YANNEY

Heider Family Foundation

Constance Ryan

The Walter Scott Family Foundation

photo

A tangible legacy – investment in the future of both Opera and Omaha

Members of Opera Omaha’s Fortissimo Society have made arrangements to support Opera Omaha and its innovative role in the cultural vibrancy of our region for generations to come. By establishing bequests, gifts of life insurance, IRAs, trusts, and other estate plans, Fortissimo Society members demonstrate their commitment to the transformative power of opera in our community. Their legacies are tangible investments in our cutting-edge, human-centered work that is leading and redefining the future of opera.

We proudly and gratefully acknowledge our Fortissimo Society members:

Peppy* and Norman* Bahr

Jo Bartikoski and Don Westling

Betty L Beach, PhD

Kathleen Joan Bradley

Sandra L E and William C Bruns

Dr Debra Reilly-Culver and Bob Culver

Carol L Dworak*

Ike and Roz Friedman Foundation

Linda and David Gardels

Geof* Heiden and Connie Heiden Kammandel

Mary* and Charles* Heider

Mary* and Richard* D� Holland

Aline Hosman*

Sally and Gary* Kaplan

Joanne and David Kolenda

Graham Lusk*

Ann* and Allan* Mactier

Constance B Meunier*

Sharee and Murray Newman

Ephraim L Marks* and David M Rice*

Mark Allen Maser

Joan F * and Richard* L O’Brien

Ann and Paul O'Hara

Mr and Mrs * Robert E Owen

Rev David Pace

Mary and Richard Parrish

Thompson H Rogers*

Ruth and William* Scott

Eve and Fred* Simon

Dr� and Mrs� Michael* and Shirley Sorrell

Dr� Judith Stoewe*

Mary Ann and Jerrold* Strasheim

Janet and Jerry Syslo

Bruni and Roy* Thylin

Mary Beth and James Winner

We are grateful to the following individuals who designated a portion of their estate to support Opera Omaha, upon their passing.

Rabbi Myer S * and Dorothy Kripke*

Pauline D� Nelson*

Howard Silberg*

Margaret Wiltse*

Annie F� Zinn*

SPECIAL FUNDS

We thank the donors who have established restricted funds to honor a family, friend, and loved one. These named funds provide important ongoing support through Opera Omaha’s endowment.

The Barbara Willson Fund

The Jane Hill Education Fund

The William Randolph Hearst Fund

For more information about ways to give, sample language for bequests, or to inform us of your inclusion of Opera Omaha in your estate plans, please reach Joe Prickett, Director of Development at (402) 346-7372 or jprickett@operaomaha.org.

*Deceased

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT DONORS

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

$100,000+

Anonymous

Applied Underwriters, Inc�

Douglas County Board of Commissioners

Holland Foundation

The Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation

Weitz Family Foundation

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE

$50,000-$99,000

Anonymous

Allan and Ann Mactier Charitable Foundation

Omaha Steaks

Peter Kiewit Foundation

PRODUCER

$25,000-$49,999

Anonymous

FNBO

Iowa West Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

Nebraska Arts Council

Nebraska Cultural Endowment

Omaha Magazine

Valmont Industries, Inc

BACKER

$10,000-$24,999

Anonymous

Adah and Leon Millard Foundation

Baxter

CL Werner Foundation

Conagra Brands Foundation

Jetton Charitable Fund

Kiewit Corporation

Mammel Family Foundation

Mutual of Omaha

Opera Omaha Craftsman's Guild

Opera Omaha Guild

University of Nebraska Medical Center

University of Nebraska- Omaha

BENEFACTOR

$5,000-$9,999

HDR, Inc

Husch Blackwell LLP

Rose Blumkin Foundation

Walter Scott Family Foundation

Union Pacific Corporation

Whitmore Charitable Trust

Wintrust Financial Corporation

ADVOCATE

$1-$4,999

Amphion Foundation

Backer Family Charitable Trust

Burlington Capital Foundation

Cobank

Edward and Lida Robinson Charitable Trust

Fraser Stryker

Humanities Nebraska

Koley Jessen P�C�, LLC

Lind Family Foundation Fund at The Dallas Foundation

Nebraska Tourism Commission

OPERA America

Osaic Foundation

Paypal Giving Fund

Pledgeling Foundation

Mark Sanford Group

Soener Foundation

Strauss Charitable Fund

Streck, Inc

The Pepsico Foundation

US Bank

REPERTOIRE HISTORY

1958-59

Madama Butterfly

Tosca

Oklahoma!

Hansel and Gretel

1959-60

Carousel

Pagliacci/Quivera

1960-61

Die Fledermaus

La traviata

1961-62

The Merry Widow

La bohème

1962-63

Carmen

La Périchole

1963-64

Aida

The Barber of Seville

1964-65

Lucia di Lammermoor

The Marriage of Figaro

1965-66

Rigoletto

Madama Butterfly

1966-67

Il trovatore

The Ballad of Baby Doe

1967-68

Tosca

La bohème

1968-69

La traviata

Carmen

1969-70

Faust

Cavalleria Rusticana/ Pagliacci

1970-71

Aida

Die Fledermaus

1971-72

Rigoletto

The Tales of Hoffmann

1972-73

Madama Butterfly

Romeo and Juliet

Un ballo in maschera

1973-74

Tosca

The Marriage of Figaro

The Elixir of Love

1974-75

La bohème

Lucia di Lammermoor

La Périchole

1975-76

La traviata

Manon

Bilby’s Doll

The Barber of Seville

1976-77

Aida

The Merry Widow

Don Pasquale

Don Giovanni

1977-78

Madama Butterfly

The Abduction from the Seraglio*

The Bartered Bride

1978-79

The Barber of Seville

Werther

La bohème

1979-80

Die Fledermaus*

La traviata*

The Pirates of Penzance

1980-81

Così fan tutte

Susannah Rigoletto

1981-82

The Daughter of the Regiment

Carmen

The Magic Flute

1982-83

Don Pasquale

Faust

Madama Butterfly

1983-84

Aida*

The Tales of Hoffmann

Don Giovanni

1984-85

Tosca

Falstaff

Gianni Schicchi/Pagliacci

1985-86

Turandot

Lucia di Lammermoor

The Marriage of Figaro

1986-87

La traviata

The Barber of Seville

Porgy and Bess

1987-88

The Turn of the Screw*

The Juniper Tree*

Where’s Dick?

Amahl & the Night Visitors*

Carmen

La bohème

1988-89

Oklahoma!

Partenope+

The Diary of One Who

Vanished

White Rose

A Celebration of Bel Canto

Rigoletto

Manon

1989-90

Plácido Domingo in Concert

Show Boat

Madama Butterfly

Romeo and Juliet*

1990-91

Carousel

Angelina Reaux in “Stranger Here Myself”

Maria Padilla+

The Golem+

Il trovatore*

The Magic Flute

1991-92

My Fair Lady

Tosca

Don Giovanni*

1992-93

Ermione+

The Gardens of Adonis***

Autumn Valentine***

Eugene Onegin*

The Flying Dutchman

1993-94

Vive Toulouse!

Requiem Variations***

Fidelio

The Pirates of Penzance

1994-95

The Merry Widow

La traviata

Carmen

1995-96

The Daughter of the Regiment*

Turandot

The Barber of Seville

1996-97

Così fan tutte*

La bohème

Faust

1997-98

Don Pasquale

Madama Butterfly

La Cenerentola

Opera Omaha 40

1998-99

Eric Hermannson’s Soul***†

Aida

The Marriage of Figaro

1999-00

Samuel Ramey in “A Date with the Devil”

Samson et Dalila

Tosca*

2000-01

Amahl & the Night Visitors*

Carmina Burana/Pagliacci

Falstaff

Man of La Mancha

2001-02

All-American! Concert

Amahl & the Night Visitors

Otello

Little Women

Don Giovanni

2002-03

Richard Rodgers’ America Concert

Carmen

The Turn of the Screw*

H.M.S. Pinafore

Bloodlines***†

2003-04

La bohème

Lucia di Lammermoor

Cold Sassy Tree*

2004-05

The Threepenny Opera*

The Tender Land*

Dream of the Pacific***†

Turandot

La traviata

2005-06

Paul Bunyan

Madama Butterfly*

The Abduction from theSeraglio*

2006-07

Tosca

Wakonda’s Dream***†

The Barber of Seville

2007-08

All The King’s Men*

The Tragedy of Carmen*

Aida*

2008-09

The Blizzard Voices***†

The Pirates of Penzance La bohème

2009-10

Night for American Song

Pagliacci

Brundibár

The Marriage of Figaro So in Love with Broadway*

2010-11

Opera for the Cure*

Don Giovanni

Madama Butterfly

2011-12

This is Opera!*

Hansel and Gretel*

The Marriage Contract* The Mikado

2012-13

La traviata

The Magic Flute*

Bluebeard’s Castle*

2013-14

Opera Outdoors*

Carmen Agrippina* La Cenerentola

2014-15

Opera Outdoors*

Rigoletto* A Flowering Tree*

Fidelio

2015-16

Opera Outdoors*

The Barber of Seville

La fanciulla del West

Semele*

2016-17

Opera Outdoors*

La bohème

Così fan tutte*

Flight*

Stranger from Paradise***†

2017-18

Opera Outdoors*

Tosca*

Falstaff*

Medea*

Proving Up*†

ONE Festival***

2018-19

Opera Outdoors*

Pagliacci

The Elixir of Love

Les Enfants terribles*

Faust*+

ONE Festival***

2019-20

Opera Outdoors*

Madama Butterfly

The Abduction from the Seraglio

2020-21

Opera Outdoors

Broadcast dwb++

Miranda++

MODULATION++

Concert with the Omaha Symphony: Bizet, Mahler and Chausson

Opera Under the Stars* La boheme ++

2021-22

Opera Outdoors*

The Capulets and the Montagues*

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street*

Eugene Onegin*

2022-23

Opera Outdoors*

X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X*

Suor Angelica

The Marriage of Figaro

2023-24

Opera Outdoors*

Don Pasquale

El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered

La traviata

El último sueño de Frida y Diego

2024-25

Opera Outdoors*

Don Giovanni

The Rake's Progress

Giulio Cesare

Fantastic Mr. Fox*

* New production

+ American Premiere

*** World Premiere

† Commissioned Work

++ Film/Digital Premiere

BOARD AND ADMINISTRATION

OMAHA PERFORMING ARTS

Omaha Performing Arts is the local non-profit arts organization that manages the Orpheum Theater and owns and operates the Holland Performing Arts Center and Steelhouse Omaha.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jack Koraleski, Chair

D. David Slosburg, Vice Chair

Michael S. Cassling, Vice Chair

H. Dele Davies, M.D.

Meg Lauritzen Dodge

Scott C. Heider

Todd L. Johnson

Rodrigo López

Sharlon Rodgers

Rachel Werner

John Gottschalk*, Chair Emeritus

John K. Boyer, Secretary

STAFF

Joan H. Squires, President

Arnold Reeves, Senior Vice President and CFO – Finance and Administration

Bianca Harley, Vice President of Human Capital & Inclusion

Sabrina Weiss, Vice President of Development

Andy Cassano, Vice President of Programming and Education

Erika Hansen, Vice President of Commercial Entertainment

Ryan Murray, Associate Vice President of Operations

Alyssa Stieren, Associate Vice President of Finance

Lee Turkovich, Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Ashley Voorhees, Vice President of Administrative Services

*Deceased

GENERAL INFORMATION

FOOD SERVICES

The Orpheum Theater, Holland Center, and Steelhouse Omaha are served exclusively by O-pa Food and Beverage Services, who deliver a range of offerings, including pre-performance and intermission service. Beverages with lids purchased in the lobbies may be brought into halls at both venues. Menus are available for private parties, special events and meetings that are tailored to individual needs and event budgets. For more information or to book an event in either venue, contact (402) 345-0202 or events@o-pa.org.

To have a consistent policy for all of our venues, the Orpheum Theater is now cashless.

What that means for you:

• Card will be the only accepted payment for food and drinks at the Orpheum.

• You can convert your cash to a Visa ReadyCARD for free at the house manager’s desk at the Orpheum.

• Your Visa ReadyCARD has no expiration and can be used anywhere that accepts prepaid debit cards.

• Cash can still be used to purchase tickets.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Doctors, parents or patrons expecting phone calls are advised to leave their seat location (shown on the ticket) with the appropriate parties and with the house manager or head usher. The emergency telephone number during performances is (402) 661-8555. The attendant will forward calls to the appropriate venue.

PARKING

Orpheum Theater – nearby and conveniently located garage parking is available at OPPD with entrances on Howard Street between 16th and 17th streets and on 17th Street. OPPD garage closes one hour after final curtain. Surface lot and street parking are also available.

Holland Performing Arts Center – easyaccess garage parking is available in Omaha

Park 8 directly north of the Holland Center with entrances on Dodge or Capitol streets. Park 8 closes one hour after final curtain. Street parking is also available.

Steelhouse Omaha - easy-access garage parking is available at the National Indemnity garage at 322 N. 12th street, other options include Omaha Park 8 and street parking.

FIRE OR TORNADO NOTICES

In the event of fire, tornado or other emergency, patrons will be given instructions regarding evacuation of the facility or relocation to areas of refuge. Please do not run; walk to the designated areas as directed.

LOST AND FOUND

Lost articles may be retrieved by speaking with an usher. If you have already left the venue, please call Omaha Performing Arts Security: (402) 661-8555.

ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES

Omaha Performing Arts is committed to ensuring every patron’s performance experience is convenient, safe and remarkable. Both the Orpheum and Holland offer a wide range of accessibility features. Unique requests may be accommodated by contacting Ticket Omaha in advance.

• Accessible seating throughout the hall.

• Accessible parking adjacent to the theater.

• Accessible restrooms.

• Accessible backstage accommodations for performers and technicians, including accessible entries, dressing rooms and restrooms.

• American Sign Language interpretation is scheduled on select Saturday Broadway matinee performances at the Orpheum but may be arranged in advance of other performances by calling Ticket Omaha.

• The Orpheum is equipped with hearing loop technology. Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are also available for all performances in both venues. Ask the house manager or usher for assistance.

• GalaPro for closed captioning for select Broadway performances and other performances can be requested in advance via box office.

• Guide and service dogs are welcome.

If you have any special requests or concerns, please contact Ticket Omaha, toll free at 866.434.8587 or locally at 402.345.0606. Or email ticketomaha@opa.org. We are pleased to assist you with your needs.

TICKET OMAHA

Tickets for all performances at the Orpheum Theater and Holland Performing Arts Center are purchased through Ticket Omaha online at TicketOmaha.com; by mail at 1200 Douglas Street, Omaha, NE 68102; by phone toll free at (866) 434-TKTS (8587) or (402) 345-0606, Monday through Friday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.; or in person at the Ticket Omaha box office, 13th and Douglas streets, Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets for shows at Steelhouse Omaha are sold through Ticketmaster unless otherwise noted.

ENTRY INSPECTION

All guests attending events at our venues are subject to visual and bag inspections conducted by Omaha Performing Arts security. Visit TicketOmaha.com/faqs for a list of items not permitted in the Holland Center and Orpheum Theater and Steelhouseomaha.com/visit for Steelhouse Omaha policies.

GET INVOLVED

Without the dedication and perseverance of outstanding volunteers and support groups, our productions would not be as beautiful, our bottom line would not be as sound, and our sense of community would not be as strong. For these, and many other reasons, we extend a heartfelt thank you to the following organizations. We invite you to get involved and become a volunteer or member of one of our support groups. For more information about the following opportunities, please visit: operaomaha.org/get-involved or email opera@operaomaha.org.

OPERA OMAHA GUILD

The Opera Omaha Guild is a dedicated group of individuals who actively support Opera Omaha’s fundraising and community engagement and education activities. Members plan and promote events such as Cotillion (etiquette classes for area sixth graders), social luncheons, educational activities, opera study groups and preperformance parties. If you are interested in joining the Opera Omaha Guild please call us at (402) 346-7372 or visit our website for additional information.

CRAFTSMAN’S GUILD

Integral to Opera Omaha’s success since 1962, the Craftsman’s Guild members donate stagecraft skills in the areas of wardrobe, makeup/wigs, concessions, and parties. Focused on meeting the backstage needs of guest artists and the production, members enjoy the camaraderie and reward of helping to create top notch performances for the Omaha community.

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers help Opera Omaha complete essential tasks like assisting with community events, ushering at concerts, or providing additional office support. It is clear without their help, Opera Omaha would not be able to bring world class opera to Omaha stages or the community. Students can also fulfill required community service hours for groups like National Honor Society by volunteering with Opera Omaha. For more information, please fill out the inquiry form at shareomaha.org/nonprofit/opera-omaha.

SUPERNUMERARIES

Supernumeraries appear on stage in non-speaking, non-singing roles, much like being an extra in a movie. Being a “super” takes some time and patience, but is a lot of fun and a great learning experience. Super roles are varied but might include servants, soldiers, peasants, priests and priestesses, dancers, bartenders, waiters, ragamuffins, pickpockets, and sometimes even animals! All ages, including children, are needed.

OPERA OMAHA CHORUS

The Opera Omaha Chorus is comprised of professional singers from Omaha, Lincoln and surrounding communities. Please contact the company for the next audition date. Prospective candidates will be assigned a time slot and asked to present two selections; one in a foreign language, one in English, and neither selection can exceed five minutes in total. Arias, art songs, or church solos are all acceptable as audition pieces. Please provide printed music for the accompanist, who will be available at no cost.