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The Capulets and the Montagues Student Dress Rehearsal Study Guide Created as a companion to Opera Omaha’s Student Dress Rehearsal of The Capulets and the Montagues, the study guide includes information about the opera, notes from the Director and Conductor, as well as brief articles about related topics and an overview of the dress rehearsal experience. Download Study Guide Special thanks to Jack Hardwick for his work creating this study guide.   Adapting the Classics Virtual Workshop In Opera Omaha's Adapting the Classics Virtual Workshop, participants investigate how adapting an artistic work brings new energy and accessibility to the story. Students actively engage with the content to better understand th...

Notes from Conductor Christopher Allen ABOUT THE PRODUCTION BUY TICKETS I will never forget the first time I heard the horn solo during the orchestra prelude before Juliet’s famed aria “Oh! Quante volte.” When the orchestra phrase ends, the unaccompanied voice breaks the silence of the theater with “Eccomi in lieta vesta”. Hearing this phrase for the first time was a magical moment that remains in my memory to this day. The moment shows how expressive the human voice can be. Should the perfection of silence be broken, let it be by the human voice. Vincenzo Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi is a gem of a bygone era. Bellini...

Some thoughts about operatic repertoire, gender and expectation from Director James Darrah ABOUT THE PRODUCTION BUY TICKETS In choosing I Capuleti e i Montecchi, the most pressing question on everyone’s mind was: what are we going to do with the fact that Romeo, the romantic “male” lead, was originally and intentionally written for a female mezzo-soprano voice type? While I don’t have any hard data to back up this claim, I would argue that this basic fact in casting has even resulted in Capuleti also having far fewer performances in this country than some of Bellini’s other works, let alone other bel canto repertoire. Are other opera companies ...