r LEON WILSON CLARK r.' OPERA SERIES
SHEPHERD SCHOOL OPERA
and the
SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
present
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
An opera in three acts Music by Benjamin Britten Text after William Shakespeare • by the composer and Peter Pears f
Debra Dickinson, stage director and choreographer Thomas Jaber, conductor and musical director Kirk Markley, set designer Manning Mpinduzi Mott, lighting designer Freddy Reymundo, costume designer .. March 22, 24, 26 and 28, 2001 7:30 p.m. Wortham Opera Theatre
> CAST
Oberon, King of the Fairies . . Joan Allouache Tytania , Queen of the Fairies . Nicole Fraley l Jonathan Morales Puck . ~ in love with Hermia . Karim Sulayman Lysander, .... Demetrius, in love with Hermia . .Levi Beck Hermia, in love with Lysander Zanna Fred/and/ Soon Cho* ~ ... Palmer* Helena, in love with Demetrius . Tracy Rhodus/Nacole ,i. .. Theseus, Duke of Athens . . Joseph Rawley/Kade Smith* Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, • betrothed to Theseus . . Jessica Lloyd ~ Bottom, a weaver, Pyramus . . Orival Bento-Gon9alves Flute, a bellows-mender, Thisby . . Jamin Flabiano -,..., Snug, a joiner, Lion . . Craig Verm Westbrook Snout, a tinker, Wall . . Benjamin ~ Starveling, a tailor, Moon . . Ryan Dohoney ~ Quince, a carpenter . . Andrew Sudduth Fairies: Cobweb . Katherine Moscato l Peaseblossom . . Lucy Sheils Mustardseed . Erin Robinson • Moth. . Amy Cowan • Chorus offairies . Sara Crain, Elizabeth Good, Clara Rottsolk Cover for Tytania: Tracy Rhodus • * Performs Saturday, March 24, and Wednesday, March 28. • I
SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Larry Rachleff, Music Director
Violin I Double Bass Trumpet Liza Zurlinden, David Molina, Zebediah Upton concertmaster principal Trombone Brinna Brinkerhoff Hunter Capoccioni Paul Fleischman Christine Hauptly Sofia Gentile Flute Harp Allison Jewett Catherine Barrett Violin II Kathleen Schott Heather Kellgreen Eun Park, principal Harpsichord and Celeste Susy Yim Oboe Kimi Kawashima Stephan Ellner Carla Parodi Timpani and Percussion Viola Clarinet Tzu-Chun Chen Robert Meyer, Patrick Hanudel Cory Cousins principal Meghan McCurdy Matthew McClung Robin Streb Shaun Ti/burg David Fallo Bassoon Larissa Michalski Orchestra Manager Cello Martin Merritt Mara Kronick, Horn principal Gregory Davis Orchestra Librarian Laura Love Benjamin Jaber Kaaren Fleisher A Midsummer Night's Dream
Music by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). Text after William Shakespeare by the composer and Peter Pears. - - ,.. performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, June 11, 1960. -- .. First ACT! The Wood near Athens, deepening twilight.
INTERMISSION (15 minutes)
ACT II The Wood, the same evening.
INTERMISSION (15 minutes)
ACT III
Scene 1 - The Wood, early the next morning. Scene 2 - The Palace of Theseus, Duke ofAthens, the same evening.
This production is made possible by a generous endowment from the late Dr. Leon Wilson Clark.
ARTISTIC AND PRODUCTION STAFF
Stage Director and Choreographer . . Debra Dickinson Conductor and Musical Director . Thomas Jaber Set Designer . . Kirk Markley Lighting Designer . Manning Mpinduzi Mott Costume and Makeup Designer of Fairies, Puck, and Rustics; Costume Coordinator . Freddy Reymundo Technical Director . Tim Dickson Production Stage Manager, Props Master . . Alex Stutler Vocal Coach . . Michael Franciosi Rehearsal Pianists . . Carol Anderson, Michael Franciosi Assistant to the Director . . SherylJouvenat Assistant Stage Manager . . Suzanne Hatcher Follow Spot Operator. . Cara Spinks Running Crew . . Suzanne Hatcher, Cara Spinks Wig Maintenance . . Holli Harrison SYNOPSIS AND DIRECTORS' NOTES
When Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears adapted Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for their opera, they omitted most of Shakespeare's exposition, as suming perhaps that their English audience in the 1960s would be familiar enough with the play to fill in the blanks for themselves. Modern American audiences, how ever, may need a refresher course on the play in order to understand why the Lovers find themselves in the woods and who Theseus and Hippolyta are when they finally appear in the second scene of Act 111. Shakespeare's play informs us that Hermia's father wants her to marry Deme trius, but she wants nothing to do with him, being in love instead with Lysander. Hermia's father, who doesn't appear at all in the opera, goes to Theseus, the Duke ofAthens, asking him to enforce the Athenian law which states that children must marry according to the wishes of their parents. Theseus gives Hermia a choice: get married to Demetrius as per her father's command, go to a convent, or be executed. Faced with these unpleasant choices, Hermia and Lysander decide to run away together, and the opera picks them up as they meet in the woods outside Athens. The exposition of the play also tells us that Helena was thrown over by Demet rius in favor of her childhood friend Hermia. When Helena learns of the escape plans of Lysander and Hermia, she decides to tell Demetrius, hoping to curry favor with him and win him back. Demetrius sets offfor the woods to apprehend the flee ing lovers, and Helena follows him. ACT I Unlike the play, in which the opening scenes are set in Athens, Britten opens his opera in the woods, emphasizing the fairy kingdom. The fairies enter and are sur prised by the mischievous hobgoblin Robin Goodfellow, also called Puck. His mas ter, Oberon, King of the Fairies and the Queen of the Fairies, Tytania, have been upsetting the natural order of the human world by altering seasons and causing floods (the year in which the play was probably written, 1594, was remarkable for its appalling weather). The reason for this catastrophic weather is because the Fairy King and Queen are quarreling about a changeling boy in Tytania's entour age whom Oberon wants as a page. Tytania refuses to give up the boy, and Oberon sends Puck to find an herb which, when placed on someone's eyes, causes them to fall in love with the next creature that they see. Lysander and Hermia enter and briefly explain their predicament, that they were forced to flee Athens because of the "sha,p Athenian law" compelling Hermia to marry Demetrius. Oberon returns, plotting his revenge on Tytania, and, overhear ing the quarrel of Helena and Demetrius, decides to put right the destinies of the two lovers. Puck returns with the magic herb, and Oberon tells of his plan to drop some of it in Tytania's eyes as she sleeps in her bower. He commands Puck to take some of the magic herb and put it in Demetrius' eyes, so that he wakes up in love with Helena, and Puck runs off to find the mortal. Six Rustics enter the woods, looking for a place to rehearse an amateur theat rical. In celebration of the wedding of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, a com petition is being held. The winners will be allowed to present their play after din ner during the nuptial celebration, and they will also win a lifetime pension. The Rustics are workingmen of Athens and are led by Peter Quince, a carpenter, who has written the script for their play, which is based on the legend of Pyramus and Thisby. As Quince assigns the roles,Bottom, a weaver, offers to play not only the role of Pyramus, but also of his love, Thisby and even of the lion who chases Thisby. But Flute, a bellows-mender, declares that Bottom's Lion would be too convincing and would frighten the ladies in the audience, which would get them all hanged. Roles finally assigned, they arrange to meet in the woods again later for a rehearsal. Hermia and Lysander re-enter, lost and exhausted, and lie down to sleep. Puck, mistaking Lysander for Demetrius,puts the magic herb into his eyes. When Deme trius and Helena enter, resuming their chase, Lysander awakes to fall magically in love with Helena. Dismayed at his unexpected ardor, she runs off, and he follows, leaving Hermia to wonder why her faithful beau has disappeared. Tytania enters with her retinue offairies, who sing her to sleep in her bower. Oberon sneaks on and casts his magic spell on her, bidding her to "wake when some vile thing is near." ACT II Later the same evening, Fairy Queen Tytania is still asleep in her bower. The Rustics enter to rehearse their play. Bottom has several suggestions concerning the difficulties inherent in Peter Quince's script-a Prologue must be written so that the ladies are not too dismayed when Bottom as Pyramus kills himself, or when Snug, the joiner, roars as the lion. They also face the difficulties of how to put moonlight in the chamber and how to present the wall through which Pyramus and Thisby speak. As they begin to rehearse, Puck appears and magically puts an ass' head on Bottom. The Rustics run off, deeply frightened by this strange apparition. Bottom, having no idea how he has been transformed,finds himselfalone in the woods and sings to keep his courage up. His song awakens Tytania who, under Oberon's spell, immediately falls in love with the braying ass. She introduces her attendants to him one by one, and they entertain him with music. Tytania dismisses her fairies and she and Bottom ecstatically settle down in the bower together. Puck and Oberon enter to delightedly savor Tytania's predicament, but Puck's mistake over the Athenians is discovered when Demetrius and Helena enter at cross purposes. After dispatching Puck to bring Helena back, Oberon puts the magic herb juice on Demetrius. Puck returns with Helena and Lysander. Demetrius wakes up and immediately falls in love with Helena. Frantically pursued by both men, where as only a few hours ago she was neglected by both, Helena comes to the conclusion that they are mocking her by pretending to be in love with her. Hermia enters, look ing for Lysander, who deserted her, and finds, to her amazement, that he no longer cares for her, having eyes only for Helena. Helena believes that even her old friend Hermia is part of the plot to play a cruel joke on her. A terrific argument between the four lovers ensues. They depart- the men to fight a duel - and Oberon scolds Puck for causing all of this dissension. He tells Puck to lead the lovers astray so that they don't hurt each other, and to arrange for them to fall asleep so that when they wake, they will be reconciled. The Fairies enter and sing a benediction. As the act ends, Puck drops the antidote to the magic herb into Lysander's eyes.
ACT III Early the next morning, Oberon, having been successful at gaining custody of the changeling boy, appears to remove the "hateful imperfection"from Tytania's eyes. After being released from the spell, Tytania dances with her husband, who, to celebrate their reconciliation, proposes to unite the pairs of lovers to coincide with the marriage of Duke Theseus to Hippolyta. The sound of Theseus' hunting horns awakens the four lovers, who, though per plexed at the strange events of the previous night, are happy to be reconciled. They head for Athens, planning to recount the evening's adventures along the way. Bot tom awakes, having been restored to his normal appearance, and wonders at the strange dream he has had. He hopes that Peter Quince can put his dream into the evening's entertainment. He exits to find his fellow thespians. The Rustics enter, worried about what could have become of their lead actor. Just then, Bottom ap pears to inform them that their play has been chosen to be presented that evening, and they excitedly rush off to prepare their costumes. The second scene in Act III takes place at the palace of Theseus, Duke of Athens. He and Hippolyta, in an abbreviated scene, express their impatience that the day's nuptial celebration has not yet given way to the consummation of their wedding vows. The Lovers appear to ask the Duke to pardon them. He does, going one step further, telling Hermia that he will supercede her father's will and that the couples will be wed this very evening. (Britten's condensation of the time in the piece from four days in the play to two days in the opera doesn't allow the Lovers to get mar ried before they go off to bed together!) Peter Quince enters with a playbill and the Rustics present the Prologue to their play. Pyramus and Thisby is the story of star-crossed lovers who end up committing suicide, much like the sto,y of Romeo and Juliet, which Shakespeare was writing contemporaneously with A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Rustics are rewarded for their entertainment as the clock sounds midnight. The Lovers all go off to bed as the Fairies enter the palace. Oberon blesses the unions of the three couples, and Puck ends the evening with the epilogue. BIOGRAPHIES
DEBRA DICKINSON has petformed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in national tours, at Theatre an der Wien in Austria, and at various regional opera and theatre companies throughout the US., including the Chautauqua Opera and the Central City Opera. She has starred opposite both Richard Burton and Richard Harris in Camelot. Her affiliation with the New York City Opera under Beverly Sills includes • serving as the Associate Director of The Pajama Game. She holds a Bachelor's .. --. degree from Northwestern University and a Master's degree from Hunter College in New York City. Forfour summers, Ms. Dickinson was the Acting Instructor at the Chautauqua Opera in New York. This past fall, she was the recipient of an Emi nent Scholar Chair at Florida State University, where she directed Die Fledermaus. In Houston, Ms. Dickinson directed the highly acclaimed productions at Stages of The World Goes Round, A Grand Night for Singing, and She Loves Me. Other di recting credits include A Grand Night for Singing at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Tender Land at the Monteux Opera Festival, and Albert Herring, The Pirates ofPenzance, and Amahl and The Night Visitors here at the Shepherd School. In addition to her position as Artist Teacher of Opera Studies for Ac ting and Move ment at the Shepherd School, she also teaches at Rice University's School of Con tinuing Studies.
THOMAS JABER is the Director of the Choral Ensembles at the Shepherd School of Music, coaches singers, and is often heard as piano accompanist in many concerts annually at the Shepherd School and elsewhere. Mr. Jaber often prepares and conducts operatic productions of the Shepherd School. Mr. Jaber has degrees in piano from Arkansas State University and Indiana University and holds a Per formers Certificate from the Curtis Institute of Music. He was a principal vocal coach at the Curtis Institute for twelve seasons and also coached and conducted many productions at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. In addition, he was the music director of the opera department of Temple University and was the Brown Visiting Professor at Baylor University. Long recognized for his musical versatility, Thomas Jaber is also an accomplished organist and harpsichordist. Mr. Jaber has collaborated in hundreds of concerts with many outstanding singers and instrumen talists. He was the Organist-Choirmaster of First Presbyterian Church in Philadel phia and was heard regularly in recital. He is currently the Director of Music at Chapel wood United Methodist Church in Houston, where he oversees one of the country's largest parish music programs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to Performing Arts Supply for the costumes ofLovers, Royal Fairies, Hippolyta, and Theseus; and special thanks to Angela Cervantez, Angie J. Trevino, Maria Rojas, the Murphy family, Stages Repertory Theatre, Bonnie Ambrose, Jane Weiner, Liz Yeates, the Shepherd Society, I.A.T.S.E. Local 51, and students of the Opera Workshop Class.
SHEPHERD SCHOOL VOICE DEPARTMENT AND OPERA STUDIES FACULTY
Kathleen Kaun, Professor of Voice and Chair of the Voice Department Janet de Chambrier, Vocal Coach Debra Dickinson, Artist Teacher of Opera Studies for Acting and Movement Joyce Farwell, Professor of Voice Michael Franciosi, Vocal Coach Thomas Jaber, Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Vocal Coach William Murray, Associate Professor of Voice