OPERAVolume 55 Number 03 | Holiday Issue 2014 CUES World Premiere Iain Bell and Simon Callow A CHRISTMAS CAROL DECEMBER 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 PATRICK SUMMERS PERRYN LEECH ARTISTIC & MUSIC DIRECTOR MANAGING DIRECTOR Margaret Alkek Williams Chair ADVERTISE IN OPERA CUES Opera Cues is published by Houston Grand Opera Association; all rights reserved. Opera Cues is produced by Houston Grand Opera’s Communications Department, Judith Kurnick, director. Director of Publications Laura Chandler Art Direction / Production Pattima Singhalaka Contributors Iain Bell Simon Callow Perryn Leech Myles Mellor For information on all Houston Grand Opera productions and events, or for a complimentary season brochure, please call the Customer Care Center at 713-228-OPERA (6737). Houston Grand Opera is a member of OPERA America, Inc., and the Theater District Association, Inc. Find HGO online: HGO.org facebook.com / houstongrandopera twitter.com / hougrandopera Readers of Houston Grand Opera’s Mobile: HGO.org Opera Cues magazine are the most desirable prospects for an advertiser’s message. LOYAL: 51 percent of readers have been reading Opera Cues for more than three years. DEDICATED: 42 percent of readers read the magazine from cover to cover. EDUCATED: More than 90 percent are college-educated, and 57 percent hold graduate degrees. SOCIAL: 44 percent patronize downtown restaurants when they go to a performance at Houston Grand Opera. For more information on advertising in Opera Cues, call Matt Ross at 713-956-0908. 2 | Opera Cues Holiday Issue 2014 www.HGO.org B:8.625” T:8.375” S:7.875” KEEPING ELITE PERFORMERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRACTICING MEDICINE AND LEADING IT. At Houston Methodist, we’re proud partners in helping artists achieve peak performance, week in and week out. We have decades of experience supporting the total health needs of performers from around the world — which is why the best artists rely on us not just to get them healthy, but to keep them that way. That’s the difference between practicing medicine and leading it. houstonmethodist.org B:11.125” S:10.375” T:10.875” Photograph of Laura Claycomb by Felix Sanchez courtesy of Houston Grand Opera. Sanchez Photograph of Laura Claycomb by Felix Job # 13MET0040D Description The Methodist Hospital Brand Print - Generic Arts Ad Last Modified 9-4-2013 1:47 PM User/Prev. User Noel Espiritu / Noel Espiritu Fonts Location Client Houston Methodist Hospital ECD Court Crandall Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk (Light; Type 1), Apex New WDCW | Noel Espiritu Bleed 8.625” x 11.125” CD N/A (Book; OpenType) Xerox Color 550 Trim 8.375” x 10.875” Art Director B. Salas Placed Graphics Inks Live 7.875” x 10.375” L Copy Writer J. Choe L1_Methodist_Leading_Medicine.ai (172KB; 76.79%), L1_ Cyan, Magenta, Opera3.tif (CMYK; 243 ppi; 20.3MB; 123.14%), L1_Opera1. Yellow, Black Gutter None ONNE Account Mgr B. Flaherty tif(CMYK; 225 ppi, 226 ppi; 20.3MB; 132.89%, 132.44%), S SETUP L1_Opera2.tif (CMYK; 265 ppi; 20.3MB; 112.88%) ER N. Espiritu CONTENT Print Scale None P Studio Artist Publication Opera Cues - Fall Traffic V. Palm Production V. Palm Round 5 / FINAL CONTENTS THE PROGRAM DEPARTMENTS 28 IAIN BELL AND 6 Welcome from HGO’s SIMON CALLOW: Patrick Summers and A CHRISTMAS CAROL Perryn Leech 25 Crossword 34 WHo’s WHo: A CHRISTMAS CAROL 38 HGO Studio 39 HGOco FEATURES 40 Impresarios Circle 16 UNSUNG HEROES 47 HGO Donors HGO’s props department Calendar nails the details. 57 22 HOW A CHRISTMAS 59 Your HGO CAROL CHANGED Out of Character: CHRISTMAS 60 Jay Hunter Morris What would Christmas be like today if Charles Dickens had never Cover designed by Pattima Singhalaka. penned his Christmas This page: a model of the set design for Carol? A Christmas Carol by Laura Hopkins. 26 THE MUSIC MAKERS See where the musicians of the HGO Orchestra are located—and come say hello! A Message from the Artistic & Music Director and the Managing Director Welcome to the Wortham Theater Center and to HGO’s 55th world premiere. HGO was eager to have an artistic presence in our community during the holidays, so we did what was only natural: we commissioned our own. Thanks to the generosity of our wonderful donors, A Christmas Carol is the first of what will be a series of holiday operas that we will rotate from season to season. We couldn’t be more excited about what this commission of A Christmas Carol has in store for you. The creators, Iain Bell and Simon Callow, are extremely well suited to this project. Iain has written an incredibly eerie and haunting score, and Simon, who is a Dickens scholar Patrick Summers and is both librettist and director, has given his one-man portrayals of Dickens all over the world and is author of the book Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World. Jay Hunter Morris, well known for the roles he has created in new works and an engaging storyteller, was a natural choice for The Narrator. We are delighted to have him back at Houston Grand Opera, along with HGO Studio alumnus Kevin Ray, who will sing two performances. We welcome Warren Jones in his HGO conducting debut. And finally, we love the authenticity of this piece. Simon based the libretto on a little-known one-man stage adaptation approved by Dickens himself not long after A Christmas Carol was published in 1843. Our version is darker than the Victorian settings the work is often given on stage and screen, but is totally faithful to the spirit of the original. Just as in Dickens’s tale, the opera underscores the message of Perryn Leech compassion—and ends in great joy. We hope it adds to your holiday enjoyment, and we thank you for coming. Patrick Summers Perryn Leech Artistic and Music Director Managing Director Margaret Alkek Williams Chair 6 | Opera Cues Holiday Issue 2014 www.HGO.org Houston Trust Company’s founding families have roots that trace back to the origins of Texas. This history of multi-generational investment in Texas typifies our company culture. It is our nature to look at the big picture and to make clear-eyed, mature decisions influenced not by trends, but by our responsibility to sustain future generations. Trust. Earned. For more information, call 713-651-9400 or visit houstontrust.com Board of Directors 2014–15 John Mendelsohn Mrs. Robert J. Bruni Janet Langford Kelly Gloria M. Portela Chairman of the Board Chair, Special Events Committee Chairman, Houston Grand Opera David Powell Endowment, Inc. Lynn Wyatt Martha Carnes Vice Chair, Finance Committee Doug Lawler Vice Chairman of the Board Albert Chao Jack A. Roth Alfred W. Lasher III Beth Madison Neil Chapman Mark R. Spradling Senior Chairman of the Board Chair, Finance Committee Perryn Leech General Counsel and Secretary; Vice Chair, Audit Committee Glen A. Rosenbaum Donna Josey Chapman Richard A. Lydecker Jr. Chairman Emeritus Harlan C. Stai Mrs. Bobbie-Vee Cooney Frances Marzio Richard Agee Vice Chair, Studio and Training Patrick Summers Albert O. Cornelison Jr. Robin Angly Committee Ignacio Torras Vice Chair, Development Franci Crane Brucie Moore John G. Turner Committee James W. Crownover Sara Morgan Chair, Studio and Training John S. Arnoldy Dan Domeracki Committee Chair, Governance Committee Terrylin G. Neale David Duthu Senior Chairman, Houston Grand Margaret Alkek Williams Marcia Backus Larry Faulkner Opera Endowment, Inc. Philip Bahr Chair, Development Committee Ward Pennebaker HONORARY DIRECTORS Shahzad Bashir Chair, Marketing & Steve Fulgham Samuel Ramey Astley Blair Communications Committee Ellen R. Gritz Frederica von Stade Chair, Audit Committee Cynthia Petrello Robert C. Hunter Pat Breen Chair, HGOco Committee Houston Grand Opera Association Chairs 1955 – 58 1977 – 79 1997 – 99 Elva Lobit Searcy Bracewell Dennis R. Carlyle, M.D. Susan H. Carlyle, M.D. 1958 – 60 1979 – 81 Stanley W. Shipnes Robert Cizik 1999 – 2001 Archie W. Dunham 1960 – 62 1981 – 83 William W. Bland Terrylin G. Neale 2001 – 03 Harry C. Pinson 1962 – 64 1983 – 84 Thomas D. Anderson Barry Munitz 2003 – 04 James T. Hackett 1964 – 66 1984 – 85 Marshall F. Wells Jenard M. Gross 2004 – 07 John S. Arnoldy 1966 – 68 1985 – 87 John H. Heinzerling Dr. Thomas D. Barrow 2007 – 09 Robert L. Cavnar 1968 – 70 1987 – 89 Lloyd P. Fadrique John M. Seidl 2009 Gloria M. Portela 1970 – 71 1989 – 91 Ben F. Love James L. Ketelsen 2009 – 2011 Glen A. Rosenbaum 1971 – 73 1991 – 93 Joe H. Foy Constantine S. Nicandros 2011 – 2013 Beth Madison 1973 – 74 1993 – 95 Gray C. Wakefield J. Landis Martin 2013 – present John Mendelsohn 1974 – 75 1995 – 97 Charles T. Bauer Robert C. McNair 1975 – 77 Maurice J. Aresty 8 | Opera Cues Holiday Issue 2014 www.HGO.org Trustees Samuel Abraham Mary D’Andrea Lee M. Huber Girija Patel Sharon M. Adams Mary Davenport Richard Husseini Marion Roose Pullin ‡ Mrs. Anthony G. Aiuvalasit ‡ Danny David Joan B. Johnson T. Ray Purser Thomas Ajamie Joshua Davidson Marianne Kah Gary Reese Edward H. Andrews III Darrin Davis Stephen M. Kaufman Todd Reppert Denise Bush Bahr Sasha Davis John Keville Jill Risley C. Mark Baker June Deadrick Carolyn Landen Jean B. Rowley ‡ Dr. Saúl Balagura Gislar R. Donnenberg Michele LaNoue Thomas Rushing Dr. Barbara Lee Bass Timothy Donovan Jerry Lasco Jill A. Schaar Michelle Beale David Dorenfeld The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee Andrew C. Schirrmeister III Martin D. Beirne Connie Dyer Marcheta Leighton-Beasley Nan Schissler ‡ Katherine Berry Brad Eastman Mike Lemanski Shamay Scimèca Linda Bertman Warren A. Ellsworth IV David LePori Helen Shaffer Dr. Joan Hacken Bitar Mark Evans Jose Alberto Lima Jennifer Sickler Dr. Michael Bloome Richard E. Evans Claire Liu Denmon Sigler Nana Booker Dr.