Union Avenue Opera's "Trouble in Tahiti" Opens Friday

Union Avenue Opera opens its 19th Festival Season with Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti this weekend, running April 19, 20 (8pm) and 21 (3pm). Audiences will see the candid portrait of a young suburban couple, Sam and Dinah, and their struggle to save their marriage as they long for the American dream. Experience the roller coaster of emotion as they try to reconcile their love.

Though the opera was originally set in the 1950s, Allyson Ditchey's production at UAO updates the action to the modern day. Mezzo Soprano Kara Cornell, Dinah in UAO's production, recently spoke on St. Louis Public Radio's Cityscape about the piece and its update: "There are marital issues in the 50s that are still pertinent today even though divorce is now respectable, even if it wasn't then." In a recent interview with The St. Louis Beacon, Baritone Ian Greenlaw, Sam in the production, explains a theme of distractions running through the piece:

"Bernstein mentions the radio jingles. Television was limited and new at the time of the 1951 opera. Instead of just the radio bombarding a couple with ads and other distractions, today couples have much more distractions," Greenlaw says. He constantly notices couples in restaurants and coffee shops reading text messages, using cell phones and checking email even when they are out as a couple. Some employers and friends expect responses to messages 24/7. You see it all the time," he says. "Distractions all the time."

Ditchey, in the same article, encourages audiences to attend because "it's a wonderful introduction to opera. It's in English with supertitles. And the story is very smart, as relevant today as it was when [Bernstein] wrote it."

After the one-act opera, the evening continues as the cast of Trouble in Tahiti treats audiences to a special cabaret on the UAO stage featuring clever and tuneful music from Bernstein's songbook including "Tonight" from West Side Story, "New York, New York" from On the Town, "Simple Song" from Mass, "Pennycandystore Beyond the El" from Songfest, and many more.

THE CAST and CREW

Kara Cornell & Ian Greenlaw

Union Avenue Opera presents a cast of veteran artists. Baritone Ian Greenlaw, who most recently sang the role of Danilo in Die lustige Witwe (2009), sings the role of Sam. Having last appeared as the wicked stepsister Tisbe in La Cenerentola (2011), Mezzo Soprano Kara Cornell sings the role of Dinah, Sam's wife. Three artists form a jazz trio commenting on the action: Soprano Elise LaBarge (seen last season in Acis and Galatea), Tenor Clark Sturdevant (Froh in last season's Das Rheingold) and Tenor Anthony Heinemann (Amelia's Servant in last season's Un Ballo in Maschera). Musical Director Henry Palkes leads a three-piece jazz combo onstage. Stage Director Allyson Ditchey, who last staged UAO’s Acis and Galatea, returns to stage the production.

L to R: Elise LaBarge, Clark Sturdevant & Anthony Heinemann

MEDIA

Local print and broadcast media are buzzing about UAO's season opening production! Sarah Bryan Miller interviews the cast, director and Scott Schoonover in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Patricia Rice speaks with cast and director for the St. Louis Beacon. You can also hear archived audio of Kara Cornell and Ian Greenlaw's interview with Steve Potter for Cityscape on 90.7 KWMU.

Trouble in Tahiti runs April 19, 20 (8pm) and April 21 (3pm) at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd. Production sung in English with projected English supertitles. Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org or by calling 314-361-2881.

STL Public Radio's "Cityscape" to Feature "Trouble in Tahiti" Artists

St. Louis Public Radio's broadcast of Cityscape for tomorrow--Friday, April 12th at 11am--features the leads of Union Avenue Opera's upcoming production of Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti. Host Steve Potter welcomes onto the program Mezzo-Soprano Kara Cornell (singing the role of Dinah) and Baritone Ian Greenlaw (singing the role of Sam) to discuss the production opening next weekend.

Cityscape airs on KWMU 90.7 FM at 11:00 a.m. to Noon on Friday, June 22nd and will be repeated at 10:00 p.m. that evening. You may also listen to archived audio of the program on http://www.stlpublicradio.org/

Tickets for Trouble in Tahiti and upcoming UAO productions start at $30 and are available online at http://www.unionavenueopera.org/ or by calling the box office Monday through Friday between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. at 314-361-2881.

Union Avenue Opera: 19th Season Overview

Union Avenue Opera prepares to raise the curtain on its 19th Festival Season this month. Audiences will peer into the private struggles and discord of a 1950s suburban married couple in Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, witness the romance and utter betrayal of a young Japanese geisha in Giacomo Puccini's classic Madama Butterfly, and take a wild ride into Die Walküre, the action-packed second part of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.

THE REPERTOIRE

Opening this month, Trouble in Tahiti is a candid portrait of the troubled marriage of a young suburban couple, Sam and Dinah, as they long for the American dream. Experience the roller coaster of emotion as they try to reconcile their love.

The evening continues as the cast of Trouble in Tahiti treats audiences to a special cabaret on the UAO stage featuring clever and tuneful music from Bernstein's songbook including "Tonight" from West Side Story, "New York, New York" from On the Town, "Simple Song" from Mass, "Pennycandystore Beyond the El" from Songfest, and many more.

Trouble in Tahiti will be performed in English with English supertitles on April 19 and 20 at 8:00pm and April 21 at 3:00pm.

One of the world's most beloved operas, Madama Butterfly, Puccini's tragic tale of love and heartbreak, returns to the Union Avenue Opera stage after its last production in 2003. In the harbor village of Nagasaki at the turn of the 20th Century, love blossoms between Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly), a young Japanese geisha, and Lieutenant Pinkerton, an American naval officer. Their marital expectations clash in Madama Butterfly as passion and honor reverberate with the explosive force of Puccini's powerful score, featuring Butterfly's famous aria "Un bel dì" and the exquisite "Flower Duet." A mother, alone and banished from her people, Butterfly pines for her husband. He returns only to humiliate and betray her beyond what she can endure.

Madama Butterfly will be performed in Italian with English supertitles on July 12, 13, 19 and 20 at 8:00pm.

Union Avenue Opera's four-year journey through Wagner's Ring Cycle continues on the heels of 2012's successful mounting of Das Rheingold. The second installment, Die Walküre, showcases some of Wagner's most renowned music, including his famous "Ride of the Valkyries." Wotan, ruler of the gods, wishes to protect his children, but is forced to forsake them when his twin offspring, Siegmund and Sieglinde, find themselves entangled in forbidden love. In an attempt to protect Siegmund, Brünnhilde, Wotan's Valkyrie daughter, disobeys her father's command and is duly punished: Wotan strips her of her immortality and puts her to sleep surrounded by a wall of flames that only the greatest hero can conquer.

Die Walküre is reduced and adapted by English composer Jonathan Dove. His masterful cuts condense the opera in length to under three hours and will be enhanced by video projections befitting the magnificent grandeur of the Ring Cycle.

Die Walküre will be performed in German with English supertitles on August 16, 17, 23 and 24 at 8:00pm.

IN THE PIT AND BEHIND THE SCENES

UAO Artistic Director and Conductor Scott Schoonover is set to conduct Madama Butterfly and Die Walküre this season. Pianist and musical director Henry Palkes leads a jazz combo for Trouble in Tahiti. Stage Director Allyson Ditchey, who last staged UAO’s Acis and Galatea, returns to stage Trouble in Tahiti. Stage director Jon Truitt of Asheville Lyric Opera and Director of Opera at the University of Evansville makes his UAO debut staging Madama Butterfly. Stage Director Karen Coe Miller, director of last season's Das Rheingold, returns to stage Die Walküre. Scenic Designer Patrick Huber and Costume Designer Teresa Doggett will collaborate on designs for Madama Butterfly and Die Walküre. Michael B. Perkins, building upon his video projections from Das Rheingold, will evoke the fantasy world of Die Walküre.

BEFORE THE FOOTLIGHTS

Union Avenue Opera welcomes back several veteran artists:

Trouble in Tahiti: Ian Greenlaw (Sam), Kara Cornell (Dinah), Elise LaBarge, Clark Sturdevant and Anthony Heinemann.

Madama Butterfly: Ann Hoyt Wazelle (Cio-Cio-San), Mathew Edwardsen (Pinkerton), Robert Garner (Sharpless), Debra Hillabrand (Suzuki), Emma Sorenson (Kate Pinkerton), Marc Schapman (Goro), David Dillard (The Bonze), Anthony Heinemann (Yamadori), Nathan Ruggles (The Imperial Commissioner), Debby Lennon (Cio-Cio-San's Mother) Tamara Miller Campbell (Cio-Cio-San's Aunt) and Melissa Payton (Cio-Cio-San's Cousin).

Die Walküre: Alexandra LoBianco (Brünnhilde), Elise Quagliata (Fricka) and Cecelia Stearman (Waltraute).

Several artists make their UAO debut:

• Bass-baritone Paul Robinson (Uncle Yakuside)
• Baritone Jay Chacon (The Registrar)
• Bass Timothy Bruno (Wotan)
• Tenor James Taylor (Siegmund)
• Mezzo-soprano Amber Smoke (Sieglinde)
• Bass Nathan Whitson (Hunding)
• Soprano Melissa Sumner (Helmwige)
• Mezzo-soprano Lindsey Anderson (Rossweisse)

TICKETS & INFORMATION

Trouble in Tahiti runs April 19 and 20 at 8:00pm and April 21 at 3:00pm. Madama Butterfly runs July 12, 13, 19 and 20 at 8:00pm. Die Walküre runs August 16, 17, 23 and 24 at 8:00pm. All performances take place in the sanctuary of Union Avenue Christian Church at 733 Union Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63108. Single tickets and Season tickets (at discounted prices) are available by calling the UAO Box Office at 314-361-2881 or visiting unionavenueopera.org