White Snake Projects 2019-20 | I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams Program

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS AN IMMIGRANT STORY

COMPOSER JORGE SOSA CREATOR + LIBRETTIST CERISE LIM JACOBS COMMISSIONED BY WHITE SNAKE PROJECTS

SEPTEMBER 20–22, 2019

WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG

EMERSON PARAMOUNT CENTER, ROBERT J. ORCHARD STAGE

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REV. 23 New York Premiere Commissioned by White Snake Projects

Lauded as an "an endlessly unfolding chain of highly controlled polystylism” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) Julian Wachner’s REV. 23 is an exploration of an “unpublished” new chapter of the Book of Revelation.

With an audacious libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs, this new striking production by director James Darrah takes us on a fantastical journey through the myths of our collective unconscious.

World Premiere Production by White Snake Projects, September 2017, Boston MA

January 17-18, 2020 Gerald W. Lynch Theater

John Jay College of Criminal Justice 524 W 59th St, New York, NY Tickets on sale October 1 (VIP Members) / October 15 (general public) prototypefestival.org

WELCOME Dear Audience Members: What does it mean to be an “activist opera company”? At White Snake Projects, it means that we explore important social issues using the powerful tools opera has at its disposal music, storytelling, the power of the human voice, the ability to stop or crisscross time, and to hold contradictory thoughts simultaneously - to create a heightened experience through the lens of art, illuminating issues without crossing the line into polemics or didactics. And that’s the key, isn’t it? To walk that fine line of marrying art and activism without didactics. Taking on current political issues risks alienating our audience unless we put artistry first and focus on the humanity in the story. That’s our focus in I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams.

We’re proud to use our art to be part of the national discourse on the most pressing issue facing Americans today—immigration, racism, and the separation of families. In September 2017, President Trump revoked the protections of the Dream Act, throwing 800,000 young lives enrolled in DACA into chaos, and cutting off the chances of another 3.6 million eligible young migrants from enrolling in the program. At that time, composer Jorge Sosa and I were working on another White Snake Projects opera. But we knew it imperative that we put everything aside to craft a response. This response has taken on more urgency after the mass shooting in El Paso, motivated by hate, anti-immigrant anger, and racism. We need more shows like I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, shows which portray the essential humanity in a now vilified group—immigrants—and which educate and heal.

We’re also proud to have launched our inaugural SING OUT STRONG (SOS), a multiyear community initiative pairing composers and writers to make songs on themes which flow organically from our mainstage operas. This year, drawing from I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, it’s SOS: Immigrant Voices. Almost 100 immigrant composers and writers submitted for SOS; we chose ten from each group. The songs they made together toured this summer to the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, Pao Arts Center in Chinatown, and WBUR’s CitySpace. The last stop on this tour is right here, on our mainstage, as a Prologue to I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams. This is the most revolutionary part of SOS— showcasing community activism and creativity to a mainstage audience. Not many mainstage audience members attend community events, missing out on the flowering of passion and innovation at the grassroots level. White Snake Projects is rectifying this: We’re bringing this community flowering in all its glory to you, dear audience members.

This year’s SOS concerts are dedicated to the victims and survivors of El Paso.

Cerise Jacobs Founder and President White Snake Projects, An Activist Opera Company September 2019

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COMPOSER’S NOTE I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams is a story of immigrants, written and conceived by immigrants for all. It is a deeply personal story: in the end, it is about my son and my family.

Those who know us will find many personal touches, including the lullaby I sing to my baby every night. I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams is about imagining how we would feel if we were one of the thousands of families who are currently detained in humiliating conditions, facing deportation and separation from their loved ones. It is a story about empathy and humanity, about heroic acts performed by ordinary people, who selflessly transform the lives of others through their acts of kindness to strangers. As Cerise Jacobs and I developed the piece, we were able to explore what it means for us to be immigrants—both musically and dramatically. How do we think of ourselves as “in-between people,” caught between worlds, between cultures? Will we ever fully belong in our adoptive country? Do we have to give up our own language and culture to blend in? Does it make a difference in the end?

What do we need to change in our own cultures in order to be more tolerant, and inclusive?

Rosa is a Dreamer. Like so many immigrants she was brought to the United States as a child to escape violence. This is the country that she has lived in for most of her life, and yet she must live in hiding, always looking over her shoulder, always living with the stigma of being undocumented. In many ways Rosa and her lawyer Singa lead parallel lives, but the single most defining difference is their migration status. For Singa it has opened the door to success, while for Rosa it is a heavy load that dictates many of her decisions. Although these are fictional characters, they are based on the stories of friends, relatives, friends of friends.

Every migrant has a story, each one as unique and diverse as the next. It is important that we keep talking about these stories, writing about them, giving them voice, in an effort to bring humanity back into the discussion.

I would like to dedicate this work to my family, my parents, my brother, my New Zealand family, and to my beloved Sarah and Carlo Amado. Con toda mi admiración también dedico este trabajo a todos los migrantes que dejan atrás todo por perseguir un sueño, que en ocaciones es un mero espejismo. I am a Mexican migrant, my wife is a migrant, our boy is the son of migrants, and this is our home.

Jorge Sosa Composer

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I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

DIRECTOR’S NOTE This opera about immigrants is deeply and entirely American.

In some ways, I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams seems to leap directly onto the stage from today’s headlines. Our design for this premiere production evokes the inhospitable institutions that immigrants face as they are rounded up, detained and arrested. The cold aesthetic reminds us that this crisis is happening in our homes, on our streets, and to our neighbors – that for every parent and child reunited after detention, there are thousands of gut-wrenching cases that continue to be worthy of our regret and mourning.

Yet as Jorge Sosa’s powerful music envelops us, the opera also reinvigorates our capacity to hope, to connect, and to cherish our neighbors. The vibrant ambition and potential of our two immigrant characters courses through the score, and as we listen, we feel their desire for peace of mind and longing for a home. I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams is the story of activists, leaders, mothers and dreamers—immigrants who, separated from their families, become the caretakers of our society. It asks us to shake off whatever has dulled our sense of collective responsibility and ask, “Who is taking care of them?”

Among the many contemporary works of art centering on immigrant stories, this opera poses uniquely complicated questions about the experiences of varied immigrant communities.

How different, it asks, are a woman from Mexico and a woman from Indonesia? Both fled violence and oppression as children emigrating to the United States. How can two women with such similar stories encounter such divergent access to opportunities in this country?

Who or what leads these immigrants to distrust one another and—an even more difficult question that this opera poses—what systems are in place to make them work at odds?

I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams allows us to delve into these questions, channeling our grief and joy into a complex reflection on community. Through this exploration, the opera highlights the strength and sacrifice of our immigrant neighbors and renews our courage to reach out to one another.

We hope you enjoy the show.

Elena Araoz Stage Director

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LIBRETTIST’S NOTE I am a new American of Chinese origin, from Singapore. I grew up when my country was still a British colony. My ancestors came to South East Asia as part of the great Chinese diaspora, in search of a better life. Then it was my family’s turn to leave to find a better life, a life without racial turmoil, or race riots and fear of Chinese communism as the British got rid of all their colonial possessions. My family settled in Australia, but I continued on—to Oxford, England, then to Canada and America. Immigration is in my DNA, it seeps through every pore in my body. In September 2017, when President Trump revoked Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), upending the lives of DACA recipients—Dreamers—in the country that had become their home, I had to act. I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams is my response to this revocation.

The opera explores the relationship of Rosa, who is a Dreamer from Mexico, and Singa, an ethnic Chinese from Indonesia. The women have taken parallel paths to America: Rosa’s family fled the drug cartels in Mexico and Singa’s family, racial persecution in South East Asia. Both families seek a better life. Yet their futures in America are predetermined by their economic status in their home country. Rosa comes from a poor farming family; Singa, from a wealthy business family. Wealth is able to buy lawyers, education, and legality—the much-prized green card.

As we developed Dreamer together, composer Jorge Sosa and I realized that we have different viewpoints which are shaped by our different heritages and it is these differences that contribute to making Dreamer so richly nuanced and complex. Jorge is passionate about exposing the negative myths about Mexicans—that everyone is a drug dealer, rapist, or other form of low-life. I’m passionate about exploring the myth of the “model minority,” to try to understand my life’s journey of breaking free of the passivity, obedience, and dependence that have been inculcated in all Asian women (and men) through our culture’s stories. I’m beginning to understand that my immigrant journey is also my psychic journey of shedding the negative parts of my heritage. Every immigrant has to remake themselves as they discover that there is no way back, no matter how uncomfortable it is to move forward in a strange land. In the course of remaking ourselves, we take the best values that our new homeland has to offer and offer back the best of our heritage.

Cerise Jacobs Creator + Librettist

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SING OUT STRONG IMMIGRANT VOICES

Access complete texts on your mobile device at www.whitesnakeprojects.org/sos-lyrics

The Big Deception Text by Irene Da Silva and Ivete Souza, Adapted by Cerise Lim Jacobs Music by Oliver Caplan

A Spoonful of Hate Text by Jorge Sosa, Adapted by Marina Lopez Music By Marina Lopez

Ellis II Text by Ewa Chrusciel, adapted by Katherine Pukinskis Music by Katherine Pukinskis

Three English Songs Texts by Daniela Sanchez, Fiorella Valle, and Huiqing Shao Music by George Tsz-Kwan Lam

I Can’t Understand a Word You’re Saying Text by Helen Zhibing Huang, Adapted by Cerise Lim Jacobs Music by Michele Cheng

Three Steps Forward Text by Chun Yan Lin Music by Sheela Ramesh

Life Changes Text by Joel Louis Music by Jorge Sosa A Life of Honor Text by Rute Pires Music by Shuying Li Now That Love is Extinguished/Abuelita Text by Jonathan Figueroa / Melody Maduro Music by Avik Sarkar

Tracing Connections Text by Heloiza Barbosa Music by Anaís Azul Performed by: Melissa Joseph, soprano Brianna Robinson, soprano Vera Savage, mezzo-soprano Julia Scott Carey, piano Minjin Chung, cello

COMPOSERS AND WRITERS SING OUT STRONG: Immigrant Voices composers and writers come from all over the world, reflecting the diversity of America, and Boston in particular. They bring with them the music and stories of Peru, Latvia, India, China, Taiwan, Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic. They come from diverse socio-economic, age, gender and racial backgrounds. Some have day jobs as teachers, professors, counselors; some are musicians, others are high school students, retirees, cooks, waiters, homemakers and parents. But all are activists who believe that music and story-telling have the power to change lives.

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I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

FEATURING

IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Helen Zhibing Huang

Singa

Sponsored by Sue McQuay and Michael Ruberto

Carla López-Speziale

Rosa

Sponsored by XDD/Evidox

Kirsten Chambers

Mother/Gangster/Prosecutor

Sponsored by Insurance Marketing Agencies, Inc.

Iris Contreras Perez

Child Rosa

Sponsored by Margaret Eagle

Ami Li

Child Singa

Sponsored by Margaret Eagle

Boston Children’s Chorus (Emily Howe, Conductor) Sponsored by Alexander and Rosemarie Levine

CREDITS COMPOSER

SOUND DESIGNER

Jorge Sosa

Nathan Leigh

CREATOR AND LIBRETTIST

Cerise Lim Jacobs DIRECTOR

Juventas New Music Ensemble Oliver Caplan, Artistic Director

Elena Araoz Sponsored by Darcey and Chris Bartel CONDUCTOR

Maria Sensi Sellner Sponsored by Janet and Ron Zwanziger COSTUME AND SET DESIGNER

Zane Pihlström LIGHTING DESIGNER

Jeff Adelberg

ORCHESTRA

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

White Snake Projects PRODUCER

Wanda Strukus PRODUCTION MANAGER

Joseph Levendusky PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

Rachel Sturm ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Kate Johnson Sponsored by Ad Meloria & Jan Steenbrugge This Production of I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams is sponsored by Paul L. King in memory of Charles Jacobs Commissioned by White Snake Projects Dreamer is funded in part by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Boston Cultural Council WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG

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SYNOPSIS AN OPERA IN ONE ACT Scene 1: At the Jail Singa, Rosa’s attorney, visits Rosa in jail after her arrest at the March for Dreams she organized. Singa explains that Rosa has been charged with felony-murder: A firefighter died fighting the fire started during the demonstration. The law provides that a death occurring during the commission of a felony (arson) is felony-murder. If convicted, Rosa faces life imprisonment.

Rosa protests that the fire was started by the Alt-Right and that she’s innocent.

The women realize that they both came to America when they were 10 years old – Rosa from Mexico and Singa, from Indonesia. But Rosa is a Dreamer, an undocumented immigrant, and Singa has a green card, something that makes a world of difference in the trajectory of each of their lives.

Scene 2: Childhood [The scene fades to the memories of Rosa and Singa as they recall the events precipitating their migration.]

Young Rosa and her family are threatened by drug gangs who demand “protection” money. If they didn’t pay up, they would be forced to work in the cartels’ poppy fields.

Similarly, Singa and her family, part of the minority Chinese community, are threatened by gangs who demand “protection” money to keep their shop open.

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Left alone at home one day, the children are confronted by a gang member who brandishes a gun at them and puts a bullet through the wall of their home. Their parents know then, that they have to leave.

Scene 3: At the Jail [The scene transitions back to the jail.]

Rosa tells Singa that she has to stay in America, the country she now calls home.

Singa’s cell phone rings, interrupting their conversation. It’s Singa’s mother telling her that her father wants her home to change his bandages. Singa protests that she’s at work.

Rosa desperately snatches Singa’s phone.

She calls her daughter, Sol, and tells her that she won’t be coming home any time soon. She reminds Sol of the drill they practiced for this eventuality.

Scene 4: Leaving Home [The scene transitions back to the girls’ childhood memories. They recall the day they left their old homes.]

Neither Rosa, nor Singa want to leave their homes. Rosa’s mother comforts her by singing a childhood song about Carandai, a Mayan princess, who refused to sing for the tyrant king.

Singa’s mother comforts her by singing one of her favorite songs – the Seventh Fairy, who is allowed to meet her beloved once a year in the middle of the Milky Way.

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

Scene 5: At the Jail [The scene transitions back to the jail.]

Rosa recounts the many incidents when ICE seized her friends going to work, to supermarkets, and laundromats. On the day she doesn’t come home, she’s instructed Sol to retrieve a list of names hidden in their apartment and call one of the names on the list to come to get her.

The only problem is: All the people on the list have been deported—there is no one left for Sol to call.

Singa is appalled at the way Rosa lives in fear every day. She feels guilty, as a fellow immigrant, for being so blind to her fellow immigrants’ plight. She realizes that “there but for the grace of God, go I.” The “grace of God” is her socio-economic class which enabled her family to purchase education, lawyers and a green card.

Scene 6: First Days in America [The scene transitions to Rosa and Singa’s memories of their first days in their new country, America.]

The girls sob as homesickness overcomes them. They sing of the warm sun, the red desert roses, the Flame of the Forest, their church choir, their own beds . . . They are in despair, believing America will never be home.

Scene 7: At the Jail [The scene transitions back to the jail.]

Singa and Rosa remember their first days in school in America where they learned the Pledge of Allegiance. They note, not without irony, that they believed every word in the Pledge, giving themselves

wholeheartedly to their new country as children can, without realizing that they were not citizens and that the country they grew to love did not love them in return.

Their reveries are interrupted when the Prosecutor arrives. She offers Rosa the deal of a lifetime—give up the names of her fellow activists and walk out of jail a free woman. As an added bonus, the Prosecutor will not inform ICE that she has Rosa in custody.

Rosa is torn between her desire to save herself and Sol and stay in America; and, her desire to save the 29 other families whom the Prosecutor is asking her to give up. When Singa tries to comfort her, she rejects Singa’s overtures, believing them to be mere platitudes: Singa can’t possibly know what it’s like to give up a child.

Singa confesses to Rosa that she gave up her daughter, Yong Yuan, a baby she had with her Caucasian boyfriend when she was in college. Her family would not tolerate an illegitimate “half-breed” child. Not a day passes that she does not think of her child.

Rosa is overcome by shame. She encourages Singa to reach out to her daughter. She tells Singa that she cannot justify destroying 29 families to save her own and asks Singa to take Sol, to care for her as her own.

Scene 8: At Rosa’s Home Singa enters Rosa’s apartment. She sees Sol standing in the fading light from the small basement window. She tells Singa that her mother sent her. As Singa moves to embrace Sol, other children slowly emerge from the darkness into her embrace.

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ARTISTS CARLA LÓPEZ-SPEZIALE (Rosa) Recognized for her “beautiful, warm voice with a secure and soft top and a powerful low register” (Basler Landschaftszeitung), Carla López-Speziale has appeared with the Bellas Artes Opera in L’amour de loin, L’italiana in Algeri, Carmen, Candide and Orfeo ed Euridice, among others. Other operatic performances include Samson et Dalila, Suor Angelica, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Little Women. She has performed with La Serenissima, the Shanghai Philharmonic, and major orchestras in Mexico, at the Fine Arts Palace in her native Mexico, the Algiers Opera House, the Shanghai Concert Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall, the Stern and Weill Halls at Carnegie Hall and the National Opera Center in New York among other venues.

A prize winner of competitions such as the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, the “Vincenzo Bellini” in Italy, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the Carlo Morelli Competition, she holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Manhattan School of Music.

HELEN ZHIBING HUANG (Singa) In the 2019-2020 season, Chinese-born soprano Helen Zhibing Huang will create the role of Singa Loh in Jorge Sosa’s I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, as well as making concert and operatic debuts in Europe and Australia. A strong advocate for new music, she has participated in workshops for operas including Prestini’s Gilgamesh, Wachner’s REV. 23, and Kirchoff’s Friday After Friday. Miss Huang’s other operatic credits include Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Clorinda in Rossini’s La cenerentola, Amor in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, la fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina, Carolina in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, and Flora in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Her concert credits include Messiah, Creation, Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Symphony No. 4, and Earl Kim’s Where Grief Slumbers.

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I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

KIRSTEN CHAMBERS (Mother/Gangster/Prosecutor) Kirsten Chambers is most known for her portrayal of the title role of Salome, which she sang at the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Hong Kong, and with Florida Grand Opera. She first joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in 2016 as a cover of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde and rejoined the Metropolitan Opera roster last season for Die Walküre.

Her European debut was in 2013 with the Savonlinna Opera Festival as Elsa in Lohengrin, a role she has since performed with Opéra de Rennes and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. Favorite Strauss memories are her Carnegie Hall debut on two days’ notice in the fiendishly difficult role of Maria in Friedenstag and Helena in Die Ägyptische Helena with Odyssey Opera in Boston. Upcoming highlights for 2019-20 include returning to the Metropolitan Opera as cover for Marie in Wozzeck and her debut with Indianapolis Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

IRIS CONTRERAS PEREZ (Child Rosa) Soprano AMI LI (Child Singa) Soprano BOSTON CHILDREN’S CHORUS Robbie Jacobs, Director of Artistic Programming Emily Howe, Conductor Sam deSoto, Teaching Fellow Jean-Caleb Belizaire Gabriella Bijjani Magdalena Dolorico-Francoeur Chineze Egbunike Alyssa Feinberg Jackson Gamache Tristan Goodell Camilla Isabel Herrera Jordan Herring

Ridley Hoyte Klara Anna Jamro Alissa Khan Becca Lapham Sarah Lawrence Herin Lee Rory Li Fiona Manson Julianna Marchese

Kathryn McFeeters Saurahya Milien Sarina Miller Diya Misra Kayleen Paquette Julia Robbins Graciela Rodriguez Jillian Ryan Julia Sax Bella Shee

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JORGE SOSA (Composer) Jorge Sosa is a Mexican-born composer and sound artist residing in New York. Jorge is currently collaborating with creator + librettist Cerise Jacobs and White Snake Projects on the opera Monkey, A Kung Fu Puppet Parable scheduled to premiere in 2021. Jorge was commissioned by Albany Symphony to write his work I Dissent, based on three iconic dissenting opinions by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Jorge was a featured artist in the New Music Detroit Strange Beautiful Music Festival in September 2019 showcasing several of his works. His piece Punto y Línea for solo flute was featured in the 2019 London Festival of American Music, and his work Cells for ensemble and electronics was performed at the Diffrazioni Festival in Italy. Jorge is an Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Music Department at Molloy College. You can learn more about Jorge through the website www. jorgesosa.com.

CERISE LIM JACOBS (Creator + Librettist) Cerise Lim Jacobs is an opera creator + librettist, telling original stories born of her sojourns through the world, myths burned into her heart, and daily events that touch her. She is the founder of White Snake Projects, an activist opera company, and one of the few opera companies led by an immigrant woman of color. Her first opera, Madame White Snake, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Music for composer, Zhou Long, and has toured to Beijing, Taiwan and Hong Kong. REV. 23 (2017) with Julian Wachner will have its New York premiere at the Prototype Festival in 2020. Upcoming productions include Cosmic Cowboy (with Elena Ruehr) and Monkey, A Kung Fu Puppet Parable (with Jorge Sosa). Cerise was named a 2017 Mover & Shaper by Musical America, an award given to music professionals for driving the performing arts towards a future shaped by their vision, and one of Boston’s 100 Most Influential People of Color in 2018.

ELENA ARAOZ (Stage Director) Elena Araoz is a stage director of theater and opera, working internationally, Off-Broadway and across the country. Upcoming productions include Fur (New York Theatre Workshop Next Door/ Boundless Theatre), Sugar Skull! (national tour), and developmental workshops of Richard Kagan’s commercial new musical Havana Music Hall. Recent theatre productions: Original Sound (Cherry Lane), Small Worlds (New York Theatre Workshop Next Door), The Migration Plays 14

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

(McCarter Theatre Center), Sweat (People’s Light), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis), Azaan (Oregon Symphony), Union Square Incident (24 Hour Plays on Broadway, American Airlines Theatre). Opera: La traviata (New York City Opera/Gilman Opera House at BAM), Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera North), Falstaff and Così fan tutte (Brooklyn Philharmonic/Gilman Opera House at BAM), Latin Lovers (Glimmerglass). The New York Times has praised Araoz’s productions as “striking,” “primal,” “wild,” “stirring” and “refreshingly natural,” and The Boston Globe as “riveting,” “dreamy” and “vivid.”

Faculty: Princeton University. www.elenaaraoz.com

MARIA SENSI SELLNER (Conductor) Conductor Maria Sensi Sellner’s artistry, versatility, and fresh approach to programming are making her an increasingly coveted collaborator for orchestras, choruses, and opera companies. Praised as “mightily impressive”, she was the first three-time winner of the American Prize for Opera Conducting and recently made her debut with the Dallas Opera Orchestra as one of six international conductors selected for the Hart Institute for Women Conductors. Ms. Sellner is Artistic & General Director of Resonance Works Pittsburgh, the company she founded in 2013, which has been recognized as having “demonstrated an innovative streak in its musical programming, earning its own niche in the city’s concert landscape.” With Resonance Works, Ms. Sellner conducted the American premiere of James MacMillan’s Gloria and a number of Pittsburgh premieres including Lang’s “little match girl passion” and Dvorák’s Rusalka. Ms. Sellner holds masters degrees in conducting, composition, and mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

ZANE PIHLSTRÖM (Costume and Set Designer) Zane lives and works in New York City where he primarily designs with the Baroque burlesque dance company, Company XIV. Zane frequently designs with Beth Morrison Projects and White Snake Projects, and has worked with director Yana Ross on her productions for close to ten years. Recently Zane designed the costumes and scenery for the American Premier of Philip Glass’s The Perfect American at The Chicago Opera Theater. Favorite productions include Uncle Vanya with Uppsala Stadsteater Sweden; Our Class with The National Theater of Lithuania; Eurydice with The Finish National Theater (Helsinki); Macbeth with the Volksbühne Am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Berlin); Bambiland at National Theater of Lithuania and Oskaras Korsunovas Theater; WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG

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Sleeping Beauty with the Seoul Performing Arts Festival (South Korea).

Zane’s honors include winner of the DORA Award for Outstanding Costume Design for Orphée (2018), Drama Desk Nomination for Nutcracker Rouge (2014), and Winner of the Opera America Director/ Designer Competition (2012). Zane received his MFA from Yale School of Drama.

JEFF ADELBERG (Lighting Designer) Jeff Adelberg joins White Snake Projects for the first time. Other recent work: Trouble in Tahiti and Arias and Barcarolles (Boston Lyric Opera); La Cenerentola (Boston Midsummer Opera); La Boheme (Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra); True West, Gloria, The Night of the Iguana, As You Like It (The Gamm Theatre, RI); Frankenstein, Constellations (Underground Railway Theatre); Beckett Women: Ceremonies of Departure (Poets’ Theatre at the MAC Belfast, Northern Ireland); Birdy, Macbeth, Death and the Maiden (Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.); The Curious Incident..., Hand to God (SpeakEasy Stage Company); Man of La Mancha (New Repertory Theatre); Edward II, God’s Ear (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Million Dollar Quartet, Onegin, Being Earnest, The Legend of Georgia McBride (Greater Boston Stage Co.); and Boston’s Christmas Revels since 2010. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Jeff teaches at Boston College and Brandeis University.

Member of United Scenic Artists 829. www.jeffadelberg.com

NATHAN LEIGH (Sound Designer) Nathan Leigh has designed and scored over 300 plays for theatres including American Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Stoneham Theatre (IRNE Best Sound Design 2009 for Strangers On A Train), Central Square Theatre (IRNE Best Sound Design 2010 for The Hound of the Baskervilles), and many more. With Kyle Jarrow, Nathan co-created the musicals Big Money (WTF Boris Segall Fellowship 2008) and The Consequences (World Premiere 2012 at WHAT). With Liars and Believers, Nathan Leigh composed scores for Song of Songs, Icarus, and A Story Beyond. Nathan created the serialized musicals Sealand! and William Henry Harrison: Time Detective.

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I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

WANDA STRUKUS (Producer) Wanda Strukus is a producer, curator, artist, and teacher whose practice emphasizes ensemble-building, collaboratively-created physical theater, and inter-disciplinary exploration. She has collaborated with Artists for World Peace, Another Country, Salem Theater Company, Babes with Blades, Daniel McCusker Dance Projects, Theatre Kapow, and others. As co-founder of Two Roads Performance Projects, she produces public art projects and community-engaged works across a wide range of media. She holds degrees from Tufts University (drama/ puppetry/masked performance), University of Arizona (theater/ playwriting), and Wesleyan University (film). She was the founding director of the BFA in Contemporary Theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and has taught, directed/choreographed, and produced at universities throughout New England. She is an alumna of the Jacob’s Pillow Choreographer/Director Lab, a recipient of a Green Street Studios Emerging Artist Award, and has served on the Medford Arts Council. She performs and collaborates with Brian Crabtree, Penny Benson, and Two Roads Performance Projects.

ORCHESTRA

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

BASS

Oliver Caplan

Pete Walsh

VIOLIN

PIANO

Olga Patramanska-Bell Ryan Shannon

Julia Scott Carey

VIOLA

Thomas Schmidt

Lu Yu CELLO

Minjin Chung

PERCUSSION REHEARSAL PIANISTS

Timothy Steele Julia Scott Carey

PHOTO: JAMES JONES

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WHITE SNAKE PROJECTS’

FREE TICKET PROGRAM Anyone who wants to go to the opera should be able to.

White Snake Projects’ Ticket Access Program (TAP) is central to our vision of social activism and inclusion. For every opera we produce, we will hold one third of the ticket inventory to be given away through TAP. There is no more effective tool for cross-cultural understanding than cultural immersion through music, drama and dance. Art can be transformative, especially socially relevant art which, through its clarifying lens, transmutes the potent, painful issues that plague us today. In a world where ugliness seems to predominate, we have an obligation to create beauty and to share this beauty with those who cannot otherwise access it. As we create opera of the 21st century for all audiences, TAP is an imperative for us.

Learn more at whitesnakeprojects.org

PRODUCTION STAFF PRODUCTION MANAGER

AUDIO ASSISTANT

Joseph Levendusky

Dillon Zahner

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

WARDROBE SUPERVISOR

Rachel Sturm

Jill Costello

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

HAIR + MAKE UP

Kate Johnson

Caroline Clancy

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

DRESSER

Taylor Hansen

Niko Cohen

STAGE SUPERVISOR

SURTITLE CREATOR + OPERATOR

Doug Hallenbrook

Maria Whitcomb

MASTER ELECTRICIAN

FOLLOWSPOT OPERATORS

Becky Marsh

Gabriel Karr Madelyn Wernig

ASSISTANT MASTER ELECTRICIAN

Ali Witten

AUDIO ENGINEER

PROPERTIES MASTER

Mariya Sudarska

Daniel Abugattas 18

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

PRODUCTION STAFF (cont.)

ELECTRICIANS

CARPENTERS

Andrew Andrews Slava Tchoul Michael Clark Wonson Phillip T. Smith

Amanda Holt Bernadette Benoit Justin Lahue Dave Adriance

ADDITIONAL CREATIVE STAFF DREAMER CONCEPT ART

COSMIC COWBOY CONCEPT ART

Mary Jane Begin Professor in Illustration, Rhode Island School of Design

Glynis Anderson, Lesley Art + Design VIDEOGRAPHY

DREAMER CONCEPT ART ANIMATION

Kathy Wittman

Catriona Baker, Chair of Animation, Lesley Art + Design Tea Cuggino and Adam Gravett

YOUTH ACTING COACH

Ingrid Oslund

SPECIAL THANKS TO...

OUR WORKSHOP PARTNERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF OUR WORK

New England Conservatory Joshua Major, Chair of Opera Studies Timothy Steele

Boston Children’s Chorus Anthony Trecek-King, President and Artistic Director Robbie Jacobs, Director of Artistic Programming

OUR HOST FAMILY Pauline Ho Bynum For opening her heart and home to our company’s artists

OUR VOLUNTEERS Roseanne Stein WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG

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PHOTOS: KENDALL BARTEL

OUR PATRONS AND FRIENDS Herb and Maura Alexander Anonymous Joel and Pam Aronson Catriona Baker and Curvin Huber Donald Barker and Rosanne Stein Darcey and Chris Bartel Mary Jane Begin Jim Berriman Carol Bramson Oliver Caplan David Chavolla Dana Conneally and Kelly Luethje Mark Correia Daniel Dain

Sharon Daniels Katie DeBonville Laurent De Greef Margaret Eagle Pirate and Jennifer Epstein Waleed Ezzat Angela B. and Gary Fischer Kathryn Giblin Lauren and Jim Hanley Peter Herman and Laura Strohecker Pauline Ho Bynum Jason Alexander Holmes David Howse Robbie Jacobs Afarin Ketabi

Paul L. King Alexander and Rosemarie Levine Dora Lewin Belinda Lim Bill Nigreen and Kathleen McDermott Sue McQuay and Michael Ruberto Charlotte and Gordon Moore Nancy Nitikman Julia Noulin-Merat Karen Oakley Jim Peters Miguel Rodriguez Joanne Sattley Varda Shaked Dawn Meredith

Simmons Ivete and Max Souza Jan Steenbrugge Anthony Trecek-King Kelvin Tse Scott and Kristen Utzinger John and Barbara Van Scoyoc Sharon Weinstein Kim Whitener Janet and Ron Zwanziger

OUR MARKETING PARTNERS Arts Emerson Boston Lyric Opera Mass Opera Boston Midsummer Opera Odyssey Opera Boston Baroque 20

Emmanuel Music Opera On Tap New England Conservatory The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, New England Region I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS Becker College Boston Children’s Chorus Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center Boston International High School Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center Compassionate Care ALS The Immigrant Learning Center Lesley University

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement Pao Arts Center Rhode Island School of Design WBUR CitySpace AND OTHER ARTS AND CULTURE ORGANIZATIONS IN GREATER BOSTON

CORPORATE SPONSORS AD Meliora, LLC Alexander Aronson Finning Evidox Corporation

The Four Seasons, Boston MA Insurance Marketing Agencies, Inc Side by Side

VENDOR CREDITS SCENIC CONSTRUCTION BY

BeNT Productions SPECIAL THANKS TO

Cindy Lee, ART Props Kris Holmes, Huntington Theatre Company Props

WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG

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MUSIC. GAMES. FOOD. MURDER.

SEP 27- OCT 6

DCR STERITI MEMORIAL RINK #PAGBLO | BLO.ORG/PAGLIACCI

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I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

Open Communication, Closed Case Recently acquired by Xact Data Discovery (XDD), Evidox continues to be a proud sponsor of White Snake Projects Forensics | Processing | Data Hosting | Managed Review | Litigation Management To learn more about XDD / Evidox services, engage with Dana Conneally at dconneally@xactdatadiscovery.com, 617.251.7132 or www.evidox.com

The CONCORD ORCHESTRA Richard Pittman, Music Director

A GOTHIC TALE

October 18 and 19, 2019 8:00 p.m.

HAYDN Symphony No. 82, "The Bear" BARTOK Bluebeard’s Castle – Sarah Pelletier, Soprano – David Kravitz, Baritone For tickets and information visit www.concordorchestra.com or call (978) 369-4967

WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG

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Side by Side ÂŽ is a proud supporter of Cerise and

I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams Side by Side recognizes the struggle that immigrants of the world face today, and celebrates the dedication and support of Cerise and White Snake Productions, in raising awareness and support for a better life for all.

At Side by Side we believe that each day with our pet is amazing and that whole food nutrition helps support a happier, healthier, longer life.

Come visit us at www.sidebysidepet.com and we'll help you select the right nutrition plan for your pet.

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Carol Bramson CEO Side by Side

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

The Tudors 2019/20 Season PACINI

MARIA, REGINA D’INGHILTERRA

NOVEMBER 1+3, 2019 HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATRE ROSNER

THE CHRONICLE OF NINE

BRIT TEN

GLORIANA

APRIL 11, 2020 NEC’S JORDAN HALL GERMAN

MERRIE ENGLAND

JUNE 5 + 7, 2020 HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATRE

FEBRUARY 1, 2020 NEC’S JORDAN HALL ROSSINI

ELISABETTA, REGINA D’INGHILTERRA

MARCH 13+15, 2020 HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATRE

S TICK INGLE ET ON S NOW SAL E!

JOIN THE JOURNEY BY CALLING 617.826.1626 OR VISIT

ODYSSEYOPERA.ORG

WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG

#ODYSSEYOPER A

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ABOUT WHITE SNAKE PROJECTS White Snake Projects is an activist opera company founded and led by an immigrant woman of color. We integrate social activism with original opera of the highest production values, partnering with other activists to cross-promote important social issues and opera, and redefining how opera is made by involving young people from our community. Inspired by the legendary White Snake demon who becomes human to experience the intense and transformational power of human life, we’re investing in American composers adept at telling the myth-based stories that live in our collective imaginations through music. We believe in making art accessible to all and commit one-third of all seats to underserved communities.

OUR PROGRAMMING 2016 | OUROBOROS TRILOGY, a multicultural trio of grand operas described as “binge-worthy” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer), premiered to great acclaim in September 2016. It comprised the world premieres of Naga (Scott Wheeler) and Gilgamesh (Paola Prestini), and a remount of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Madame White Snake (Zhou Long). As WBUR raved, “Boston opera hasn’t seen an event like this in a long while— if ever.”

2017 | REV. 23 is biting satire composed by Julian Wachner set in Heaven, Hell, and everywhere in between. As the Archangel Michael and Lucifer face off in the battle for our souls, the opera asks whether the existence of evil is necessary for human beings to fully realize their humanity.

2018 | PERMADEATH is a videogame opera by Dan Visconti centered on a female video game champion who has ALS and now uses a wheelchair. Through the metaphor of digital avatars in an epic fight to the death, it confronts the ultimate mystery facing us all—our own deaths.

2019 | I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS is an immigrant opera by composer Jorge Sosa. It explores the different, yet starkly similar, journeys two women take to get to America, their attempts to remake themselves in the American mold, and their realization of solidarity in their fight against the separation of children from their parents.

2020 | COSMIC COWBOY, a space opera by Elena Ruehr, explores the origins of the universe, traversing the mystery of time and space through wormholes, black holes and alternate universes until it comes full circle to the ultimate mystery—the darkness of the human heart.

2021 | MONKEY is a Kung Fu Puppet Parable by Jorge Sosa, based on the ancient quest saga “Journey to the West.” The unlikely trio of a magical monkey, a pig, and a sandwoman join forces on a western pilgrimage with a Buddhist monk seeking the Sutras, in a metaphorical tale of our lifelong journey to discover our humanity.

OUR STAFF EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Cerise Jacobs

ARTS ADMINISTRATOR Samantha Dotterweich

PUBLIC RELATIONS Glenn Petry (21c Media Group)

PRODUCER Wanda Strukus

INTERN Kendall Bartel

DESIGN AND DIGITAL SERVICES Graham Wright, Hailey Fuqua, Arlene Elkins, Molly Dee; Opus Affair

OUR BOARD Charles M. Jacobs, Founder + First President

Cerise Lim Jacobs, Co-Founder Pauline Ho Bynum, Chair

Pirate Epstein, Clerk

OUR ADVISORY BOARD Carol Bramson Dan Dain David Howse Dawn Simmons

Dora Lewin Graham Wright Jan Steenbrugge Kim Whitener

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Miguel Rodriguez Pauline Ho Bynum Scott Utzinger

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS

PHOTO: JAMES MATTHEW DANIEL

PHOTO: KATHY WITTMAN

PHOTO: JAMES MATTHEW DANIEL

A LOOK BACK AT OUR OPERAS

PHOTO: KATHY WITTMAN

MADAME WHITE SNAKE

PHOTO: JAMES MATTHEW DANIEL

NAGA

PERMADEATH

GILGAMESH

REV. 23

LEARN MORE AT

WHITESNAKEPROJECTS.ORG 28

COMING FALL 2020

I AM A DREAMER WHO NO LONGER DREAMS