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Opera in Conversation

Feb 5, 2020
Opera in Conversation: 'Romantic Comedies' Takeaways
Mozart’s hilarious sit-com The Abduction from the Seraglio lights up the Orpheum Theater for two performances only, February 7 & 9! Tickets start at $19: operaomaha.org/abduction Thank you to everyone who came out on this cold winter’s evening for our final Opera in Conversation event before The Abduction from the Seraglio! Director Alison Moritz and Dr. Diana Martinez PhD of Film Streams had a fascinating conversation about the film influences in Moritz’s production of this opera, and about the parallels between film and opera. While it would be impossible to summarize everything that was discussed during the expansive conversation on Tuesday evening, this summary hopes to provide an overvi...
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Jan 29, 2020
Opera in Conversation: 'The Costumes of The Abduction from the Seraglio' Takeaways
Mozart’s hilarious sit-com The Abduction from the Seraglio lights up the Orpheum Theater for two performances only, February 7 & 9! Tickets start at $19: operaomaha.org/abduction Thank you to all who attended our second Opera in Conversation for Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. We had an enlightening conversation with costume designer Neil Fortin about his incredible work on this production. The conversation was moderated by Kurt Howard, Opera Omaha Producing Director. If you were not able to attend, this summary will help get you up to speed! We started the evening by becoming acquainted with the setting and time period of this production of Abduction, which takes place in W...
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Jan 21, 2020
Opera in Conversation: 'Mozart and Comic Opera' Takeaways
Mozart’s hilarious sit-com The Abduction from the Seraglio lights up the Orpheum Theater for two performances only, February 7 & 9! Tickets start at $19: operaomaha.org/abduction Thank you to all who attended our first Opera in Conversation for Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio on January 21 and thank you too to Maestro Gary Thor Wedow, conductor of Abduction for his wonderful insights, and Kurt Howard, Opera Omaha’s Producing Director for leading the conversation. If you were not able to attend on Tuesday evening, this blog will bring you up to speed! The conversation covered three main topics; an overview of Mozart’s music, a deeper look at the music of...
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Oct 30, 2019
Opera in Conversation: 'Artistic Choices & Obligations' Takeaways
Jun Kaneko’s renowned production of Madama Butterfly returns to the Orpheum Theater for two performances only, November 1 and 3! Tickets start at $19: operaomaha.org/butterfly Thank you to all who attended our final Opera in Conversation for Madama Butterfly on October 29. We discussed how directors and designers can work to address the problematic elements in many of our favorite operas. Thank you also to Leslie Swackhamer, Madama Butterfly director, Yuki Izumihara, set designer for Opera Omaha’s upcoming production of The Capulets and the Montagues, and Katherine MacHolmes of Inclusive Communities for a thoughtful discussion of these topics. Here are some important takeaways from the conversation: While the evening covered a nu...
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Oct 24, 2019
Opera in Conversation: 'Madama Butterfly and the Politics of Exoticism' Takeaways
Jun Kaneko’s renowned production of Madama Butterfly returns to the Orpheum Theater for two performances only, November 1 and 3! Tickets start at $19: operaomaha.org/butterfly Thank you to everyone who attended our second Opera in Conversation for Madama Butterfly on October 22. Thank you also to Ikuho Amano Ph.D., Associate Professor of Japanese and Japanese Program Coordinator at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, who led our conversation. In case you were not able to attend, here are some important takeaways from the conversation: Professor Amano began the conversation by laying out three frames through which one can seek to understand the cultural landscape in which Madama Butterfly was created. The firs...
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Oct 17, 2019
Opera in Conversation: 'Exploring Jun Kaneko's Set Design' Takeaways
Jun Kaneko’s renowned production of Madama Butterfly returns to the Orpheum Theater for two performances only, November 1 and 3! Tickets start at $19: operaomaha.org/butterfly Thank you to all who attended our first Opera in Conversation for Madama Butterfly on October 15, and thank you to Stephan Grot, Executive Director at KANEKO, and Kurt Howard, Producing Director at Opera Omaha, for guiding the conversation. In case you were not able to attend, here are some important takeaways and discussion points: Jun Kaneko’s production of Madama Butterfly, which has toured nationally and internationally, returns to Opera Omaha for its third staging in the city. It debuted at Opera Omaha in early 2006, but ...
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Mar 21, 2019
Opera in Conversation: The Costumes of the ONE Festival
Tickets are still available for the ONE Festival! https://www.onefestivalomaha.org/performances-events Our second Opera in Conversation of the 2019 ONE Festival featured the costume designer of Les Enfants Terribles, Camille Assaf, and of Faust, Kaye Voyce. Producing Director Kurt Howard moderated the conversation. Both Camille and Kaye are artists in residence during the ONE Festival, so the numerous costumes will be made in Omaha. In a way, the costumes take on a sort of site specificity that is exciting to explore. Camille Assaf is based in Paris and worked in New York before that. She met James Darrah, the Artistic Director of the Festival, through Opera America, where they ...
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Oct 17, 2018
Opera in Conversation: "Art for Community Connection and Resiliency" Takeaway
Don't miss this iconic production at Opera Omaha, Oct 19th and 21st! Tickets start at $19: https://ticketomaha.com/Productions/pagliacci A big thank you to all who attended or spoke at the third Opera In Conversation of Pagliacci! In case you missed it, here are some takeaways from “Art for Community Connection and Resiliency": Our third Opera in Conversation for the production of Pagliacci brought together three local artists, Courtney Cairncross, Rita Paskowitz, and Paula Wallace, to speak on how communities use art and shared experiences to build connection, community resiliency, and overcome trauma. While the relationship with Pagliacci might not at first be obvious, the production actually served as...
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Oct 10, 2018
Opera in Conversation: "Verismo Opera" Takeaway
Don't miss this iconic production at Opera Omaha, Oct 19th and 21st! Tickets start at $19: https://ticketomaha.com/Productions/pagliacci A big thank you to all who attended or spoke at the second Opera In Conversation! In case you missed it, here are some takeaways from “Verismo Opera”: Head of Music Sean Kelly explored the verismo opera movement, including famous works and composers like Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and the elements of this musical style. The stylistic changes of the time were apparent in the music both orchestrally and vocally. Verismo was drawn from the naturalism literary movement in France; it was thought that literature should approach life as a scientist would ...
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Oct 3, 2018
Opera in Conversation: "Opera and Film: Fellini and Italian Neorealist Cinema" Takeaway
Don't miss this iconic production at Opera Omaha, Oct 19th and 21st! Tickets start at $19: https://ticketomaha.com/Productions/pagliacci A big thank you to all who attended or spoke at the first Opera In Conversation! In case you missed it, here are some takeaways from “Opera and Film: Fellini and Italian Neorealist Cinema”: Both verismo style opera (such as Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo) and Italian neorealist cinema (such as La Strada by Frederico Fellini) sought to bring to light marginalized lifestyles and people of society rather than those of kings, nobles, and the wealthy. This trend can also be traced in visual art and literature from Édouard Manet, Gustave Flaub...
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