Donizetti Opera to be Mill City Summer Opera’s Fourth Season Production

Via a March 10 Mill City Summer Opera News Release:

Donizetti Opera to be Mill City Summer Opera’s Fourth Season Production

Metropolitan Opera star Leah Partridge to perform in The Daughter of the Regiment

MINNEAPOLIS (March 10, 2015) – With the success of three previous sold-out seasons, Mill City Summer Opera (MCSO) today unveiled the opera and cast for its fourth season. The company will produce Gaetano Donizetti’s brilliant comedy The Daughter of the Regiment, directed by David Lefkowich, July 11-21, 2015.

The Daughter of the Regiment will be presented at 8 p.m. on opening night July 11, and on July 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21. Mill City Museum’s dramatic Ruin Courtyard will again be the venue for all performances.

Karen Brooks, Mill City Summer Opera founder and executive director, said, “Mill City Summer Opera is excited to present this marvelous French comedy to our patrons this summer. We are thrilled to have such a strong cast to delight our audiences with a fun story and vocal pyrotechnics!”

This two act opera centers on Marie, the “daughter” of a regiment of soldiers who adopted her when she was a young girl and raised her as one of their own. Marie meets a local boy, Tonio, who joins the regiment in order to marry her. They soon fall in love. But the Marquise de Birkenfeld declares she is Marie’s aunt, and that Marie must leave the regiment to become a proper lady. Ultimately true love wins and Marie and Tonio are allowed to marry. The first act is set in the mountains of Tyrol, and the second takes place within the chateau of the Marquise de Birkenfeld.

Set to a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard, this opera is known for its lighthearted, catchy music that captures the story’s humor with its playful yet challenging vocals. The opera’s dialogue will be in English and all music and arias are in French. Supertitles will translate the French into English.

ARTISTIC DIRECTION

MCSO’s Artistic Director David Lefkowich, known for his lively stage direction and fresh take on well-known operas, will again lead the artistic vision for this production along with Music Director Brian DeMaris, a 2013 winner of The American Prize in Opera Conducting. The limestone mill ruins will serve as a striking backdrop to Jo Winiarski’s set design in both acts. Winiarski designed the gorgeous set for MSCO’s 2012 production of The Barber of Seville. Jessica Jahn will design the late 18th Century-era costumes.

CAST

As in previous years, artistic director David Lefkowich has assembled a stellar cast drawn from outstanding singers of national reputation. Soprano Leah Partridge is cast as Marie, a role she has sung to critical acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera. The role of Marie has been sung by such famous coloratura sopranos as Lily Pons, Jenny Lind and Beverly Sills. Chad Johnson, tenor, will sing the famous and challenging aria “Ah, mes amis” for which he must deliver nine consecutive high Cs – a spectacular feat often called the Mount Everest of tenor arias.

Acclaimed Minnesota actor and singer Bradley Greenwald plays the role of Hortensius, the butler, and will be performing with MCSO for the first time. Greenwald most recently played the role of Fagin in the Twin Cities product of “Oliver” by Theater Latté Da. Rounding out the cast are Cindy Sadler as the Marquise de Birkenfeld who will play the piano while singing in Act II and Nathan Stark as the Sergeant Sulpice.

TICKETS

●      In the opera company’s first three seasons, tickets sold out in a matter of hours in May, months before the July performance dates. Patrons are encouraged to buy tickets early.

●      Opening Night tickets are available NOW through the Mill City Summer Opera website at www.millcitysummeropera.com or by calling the Opera at 612-875-5544. The Opening Night ticket purchase includes a pre-opera reception at Sea Change restaurant, the 8 p.m. performance, and a tax-deductible donation to MCSO. Available now for $195.

●      Mill City Summer Opera donors of $250 or more will be invited to participate in a pre-sale starting May 11 at 10 a.m., for performances on July 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21. Up to four tickets may be purchased with each $250 donation. Tickets will be available through the Mill City Summer Opera website at www.millcitysummeropera.org.

●      Regular ticket sales to the general public commence May 18 at 10 a.m. through the MCSO website at www.millcitysummeropera.org. Tickets are $35-100.

Excerpts from previous reviews of Mill City Summer Opera performances:

“A temperate evening on Saturday added to allure of the opening of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, staged by Mill City Summer Opera in the Ruin Courtyard of the Mill City Museum. It made a pleasant setting for a smart production, with singing of a consistently high order...” –William Randall Beard, Star Tribune

“Crackles with energy and imagination … manages to outshine a very impressive debut.” –Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press

OPERA REDEFINED: ABOUT MILL CITY SUMMER OPERA

Mill City Summer Opera is a 501(c) (3) performing arts organization founded in 2011 to bring the Twin Cities exceptional opera performances set in a nontraditional venue. The Minneapolis riverfront, bordered by Mill City Museum’s Ruin Courtyard, offers an intimate and unusual setting ideal for experiencing opera outdoors.

Adding to the rich cultural life of the redeveloped Minneapolis milling district, Mill City Summer Opera features a multi-level stage built within the remnants of the mill’s waterpower system. Musicians performing the music for the opera play behind the staging, at a height of the second row of windows on the north wall, distanced from the production so as to not overpower the singers and audience with sound. This allows audiences to sit as close as possible to performers and staging, creating an intimate setting in which to fully absorb the opera’s musical and theatrical impact.

Previous productions by MCSO include Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci in 2012; The Barber of Seville by Rossini in 2013; and Tosca by Puccini as well as Guns & Rosenkavalier in 2014.

ABOUT MILL CITY MUSEUM’S CHARLES H. BELL RUIN COURTYARD

MCSO is proud to once again work with the Mill City Museum, a lead sponsor for our 2015 season. Built within the ruins of the Washburn A Mill, Mill City Museum chronicles the people and industries that built Minneapolis, transformed a region and influenced our world. The story comes to life through the eight-story Flour Tower, Water Lab, Baking Lab and other hands-on exhibits. The open-air Ruin Courtyard showcases the ruins of the historic mill and serves as a programming space. 

Mill City Museum is part of the Minnesota Historical Society’s statewide network of museums and historic sites.

The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. The Society collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, the Society preserves our past, shares our state’s stories and connects people with history.