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Cast and Production A Midsummer Night’s Dream — opera a cappella Original Cast Recording Music by Michael Ching | Libretto by William Shakespeare Conducted by Curtis Tucker | Stephen Carey ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Additional vocal percussion lines composed by Paul Koziel A Midsummer Night’s Dream Original Production, January 2011 | Playhouse on the Square, Memphis, Tennessee Track Listing Jackie Nichols EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | Gary John La Rosa DIRECTOR Amie Eoff COSTUME DESIGNER | John Horan LIGHTING DESIGNER | Nick Mozak SCENIC DESIGNER Disc 1 Act 1, Scene 3 Act 1, Scene 1 Corresponds to Shakespeare’s Act 2, Scene 2 Corresponds to Shakespeare’s Act 1, Scene 1 13 Come, Now a Roundel (Titania) [1:01] Original Cast (in order of appearance) 1 Prologue (Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus) [1:46] 14 Fairies’ Song (Fairy/Fairies) [1:53] Jeremiah Johnson THESEUS/OBERON Charles Ponder BOTTOM/PYRAMUS 2 Full of Vexation (Egeus) [1:45] 15 What Thou Seest When Thou Dost Wake Jennifer Goode Cooper HIPPOLYTA/TITANIA Thomas “TeKay” King FLUTE/THISBE 3 What Say You, Hermia? (Theseus, Lysander) [2:31] (Oberon) [0:56] Kent Fleshman EGEUS Abby Walsh SNOUT/WALL 4 I Have a Widow Aunt (Lysander, Hermia) [3:44] 16 O, Take the Sense, Sweet, of My Innocence John Dooley LYSANDER James Riddick SNUG/LION 5 Call You Me Fair? (Hermia, Helena, Lysander) [3:46] (Lysander, Hermia) [4:48] Laura Stracko Franks HERMIA Tom Watkins STARVELING/MOONSHINE 17 Through the Forest Have I Gone (Puck) [1:12] Emily Bodkin HELENA Nicole Hale MOTE Act 1, Scene 2 18 Happy is Hermia (Helena, Demetrius) [2:19] Kristin Vienneau A FAIRY/PEASEBLOSSOM Kip Long COBWEB Corresponds to Shakespeare’s Act 2, Scene 1 19 Do Not Say So (Lysander, Helena) [0:45] Kyle Huey ROBIN GOODFELLOW/PUCK Ebone Amos MUSTARDSEED 6 Over Hill, Over Dale (Peasblossom) [1:16] 20 Helena I Love (Lysander, Helena, Hermia) [3:33] Robert Legge DEMETRIUS Heather Jenkins A FAIRY 7 The King Doth Keep His Revels Here Tonight Toney Walsh III QUINCE Jay Mednikow PHILOSTRATE (Puck, Peaseblossom) [1:35] Act 1, Scene 4 8 Robin Goodfellow (Peaseblossom, Puck) [1:13] Corresponds to Shakespeare’s Act 3, Scene 1 The Voicestra 9 Ill Met by Moonlight (Oberon, Titania) [2:38] 21 A Marvels Convenient Place DeltaCappella 10 Fetch Me That Flower (Oberon, Puck) [1:48] (Quince, Bottom, Snout, Puck) [2;20] 11 I Love Thee Not / You Draw Me 22 The Flowers of Odious Savors Sweet Dan Beard BASS Jay Mednikow TENOR James Riddick BARITONE (Oberon, Demetrius, Helena) [3:51] (Bottom, Quince, Flute, Puck) [1:01] Thomas “TeKay” King TENOR Sri Naidu TENOR Toney Walsh III BARITONE 12 There Sleeps Titania (Oberon, Puck) [2:10] 23 Most Radiant Pyramus Paul Koziel VOCAL PERCUSSION Chris Nuthak BARITONE Tom Watkins BASS (Flute, Quince, Bottom, Puck) [2:02] Kip Long TENOR Charles Ponder TENOR Tony Huerta ADDITIONAL VOCALS 24 The Ouzel Cock (Bottom, Titania) [2:37] Riva 25 Out of this Wood (Titania) [1:13] 26 Be Kind and Courteous (Peaseblossom, Candice Goff ALTO Amanda McGee ALTO Katie Walsh SOPRANO Cobweb, Mote, Mustardseed, Titania) [1:25] Heather Jenkins SOPRANO Teneice Stegall ALTO Tiffany Williams SOPRANO Nura Myers Joplin SOPRANO Abby Walsh ALTO Total Time CD 1 = 55:08 L TO R: ROBERT LEGGE (DEMETRIUS), EMILY BODKIN (HELENA), JOHN DOOLEY (LYSANDER) Disc 2 Act 2, Scene 3 Act 2, Scene 1 Corresponds to Shakespeare’s Act 5, Scene 1 Corresponds to Shakespeare’s Act 3, Scene 2 20 Lovers and Madmen (Hippolyta, Theseus) [3:10] 1 Fetch Me That Flower (reprise) (Oberon) [0:52] 21 The Prologue is Addressed 2 My Mistress With a Monster is in Love (Theseus, Lysander, Philostrate) [1:09] (Oberon, Puck) [1:53] 22 The Actors are at Hand 3 Out, Dog! Out, Cur! (Quince (as Prologue), Theseus) [1;00] (Oberon, Puck, Hermia, Demetrius) [1:57] 23 The Wall (Snout (as The Wall), 4 Thou Hast Mistaken Quite (Oberon, Puck) [1:16] Theseus, Demetrius) [0:59] 5 Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be 24 O Grim-looked Night (Bottom (as Pyramus), (Puck, Oberon, Lysander, Helena) [2:06] Theseus, Flute (as Thisbe)) [1:32] 6 Goddess, Nymph, Perfect, Divine (Demetrius) [1:03] 25 Kiss Me, Thisbe (Bottom (as Pyramus), 7 O Spite! O Hell! (Helena, Lysander, Demetrius) [2:28] Flute (as Thisbe)) [1:29] 8 Injurious Hermia (Hermia, Lysander, Helena) [2:13] 26 The Wall (reprise) (Snout (as The Wall), 9 Thief of Love (Hermia, Lysander, Helena) [2:24] Theseus, Demetrius, Hippolyta) [0:55] 10 And Though She Be But Little, She is Fierce (Helena, 27 The Lion (Snug (as The Lion), Theseus) [1:22] Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, Oberon, Puck) [2:56] 28 The Moonshine (Starveling (as Moonshine), 11 Goblin, Lead Them Up and Down Demetrius, Flute (as Thisbe), Lysander) [0:51] (Puck, Lysander, Demetrius) [3:06] 29 Sweet Moon, I Thank Thee 12 O Weary Night (Helena, Puck, Hermia) [2:43] (Bottom (as Pyramus)) [1:22] Is it possible to write an opera without an orchestra? 30 The Death of Pyramus Composer Michael Ching’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”…has a “voicestra,” an Act 2, Scene 2 (Bottom (as Pyramus), Hippolyta, Theseus) [1:37] Corresponds to Shakespeare’s Act 4, Scene 1 31 Come, Blade (The Death of Thisbe) ensemble of a cappella singers, instead of instruments in the pit. 13 Come, Sit Thee Down (Titania, Bottom, (Lysander, Flute (as Thisbe)) [2:27] Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mustardseed, Oberon) [4:47] 32 The Iron Tongue of Midnight (Theseus) [1:09] Mr. Ching’s remarkably inventive opera is a celebration of what voices can do 14 Fairies’ Song (reprise) (Titania, Puck) [0:30] 33 Now the Hungry Lion Roars (Puck) [1:11] and still, with the exception of a few startling vocal percussion effects, sound like 15 Sound, Music! (Wedding Dance) 34 We Will Sing and Bless this Place (Oberon, Titania, Puck) [2:27] (Oberon, Titania) [2:11] voices. The voicestra…supports the singers on the stage, its overlapping lines and 16 Up to the Mountain’s Top (Theseus, Hippolyta) [1:25] 35 If We Shadows Have Offended (Puck) [0:51] 17 This is My Daughter Here 36 Finale (Puck, Company) [1:33] syllables weaving around them, amplifying their characters and conflicts, sometimes (Theseus, Egeus, Lysander, Demetrius) [2:21] echoing their words (or even their thoughts), or supplying atmosphere. 18 My Lord, Fair Helen Told Me of Their Stealth Total Time CD 2 = 64:31 (Demetrius, Theseus) [1:55] The voicestra gives the opera an added human dimension… 19 By the Way Let Us Recount Our Dreams (Demetrius, Hermia, Helena, Lysander, Bottom) [1:23] —Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal, January 25, 2011 Beginnings Of A Dream Considering Britten’s and Mendelssohn’s powerful compositions, adapting Midsummer might be considered a little daunting. Ching’s response: “Respectfully, I chose to ignore their efforts, and Situated on the bluffs overlooking the muddy Mississippi River, Memphis was destined to become instead forged ahead using Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess as my model, with its blend of classical and a fertile musical delta. With a diverse population, traditions like the blues, jazz, and country music popular styles.” flowed together like tributaries, merging to form rock and roll in the 50s and Memphis soul in the 60s To produce the stylistic blend of Ching’s new Midsummer, Opera Memphis joined forces with and 70s. Like the ever-changing course of the mighty river, new styles and sounds evolve there natu- Playhouse on the Square and DeltaCappella. Because DeltaCappella was an all-male vocal band, rally, etching new grooves into a rich sonic landscape. It was in this fertile basin that A Midsummer female singers were auditioned over a year in advance of the stage production in order to form Riva, Night’s Dream — opera a cappella came to fruition. The passion and finesse of classical opera, the an all women’s a cappella group. The long gestation of vocal melding allowed the women to create vernacular phrasing of musical theater, and the organic voicing of contemporary a cappella conjoin the blend that is so critical to contemporary a cappella. Most of the singers who portrayed characters and produce a unique and powerful fusion of traditions. onstage had opera or musical theater backgrounds. In contrast, the “Voicestra” (a term coined by Jean Michael Ching had been writing and producing opera for fifteen years in Memphis when Jay Mednikow Mathews, DeltaCappella’s executive director) and the mechanicals were composed of contemporary a approached him about becoming a coach for DeltaCappella, the contemporary a cappella group he cappella singers more accustomed to a repertoire of popular music. founded in 2007. “Their devotion to detail and their joy of singing was palpable and infectious. There Conductor Curt Tucker admitted “My initial reaction to Michael’s ambitious and frankly, unheard was something jaw-droppingly giddy about the whole enterprise. With no reeds, no mouthpieces, no of mix of voicing for the opera was, ‘Can we really bring all of this together?’” It was a triple-sized chal- strings, no sticks, the variety of sounds they were capable of making was virtually unlimited. By the lenge to take three different vocal orientations and meld them into one unified performance.” Eighteen end of my first rehearsal with them I was hooked and eager to apply this new sonic palette to opera.” performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream over a four-weekend span in the 300-seat Playhouse on Shortly before working with DeltaCappella, Mr.