Cast And Creative Team Announced for Opera Orlando's ALL IS CALM: THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914!

Opera Orlando remounts its 2019 production of the critically-acclaimed All is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 this holiday season, welcoming back some familiar faces and new cast members.

This poignant and moving work was created by Peter Rothstein, founding artistic director of Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His All Is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914, which premiered in a live broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio, has since been broadcast around the globe, receiving its Off-Broadway debut at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, for which it won a 2019 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. The show has enjoyed global success, reaching more than 50 cities playing prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Cal Performances (Berkeley, CA) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). It retells the historic World War I events of Christmas Eve in 1914 through actual soldiers' letters and official military correspondence, interwoven with old war songs and carols, and according to Orlando Sentinel's Matthew Palm in his 2019 review of the show, "...All Is Calm has a message that should ring out loud and clear during this festive season. In Opera Orlando's production, beautifully sung and staged, it does."

"It really is an honor and labor of love to get to revisit this beautiful show," shares stage director and Opera Orlando artistic director Grant Preisser. "Coming back to the piece, I am once again struck by the message that one person's voice can truly change and influence a moment, as that German soldier did on that miraculous Christmas eve of 1914."

According to Mr. Preisser, Peter Rothstein tapped into something truly universal with this work: "The universal truth that we are all, in fact, a part of something greater than ourselves," he said, "and I can't wait to once again share that beautiful sentiment on the MainStage of Steinmetz Hall, and also as we tour throughout Central Florida."

Joining stage director Grant Preisser in developing this new tour of duty is music director Andrew Minear. Mr. Minear will be making his Opera Orlando debut with this show, but he is already very well regarded in Orlando as founding artistic and executive director of Orlando Sings, where he conducts the Orlando Sings Symphonic Chorus and the professional vocal ensemble Solaria. He previously served as the director of choral activities at the University of Alabama and earlier taught at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando. Mr. Minear was one of only 40 choral leaders in the world selected to present at the 12th World Symposium on Choral Music in Auckland, New Zealand, and his upcoming engagements include the National Concert Chorus in Carnegie Hall, the Seoul Oratorio Festival in South Korea, Music and Worship Arts weeks in Lake Junaluska and Montreat, and all-state choirs in seven states.

Also joining the ranks and making his Opera Orlando debut is tenor Dashiell Waterbury. With his warm tone and thrilling and expressive vocal quality, Mr. Waterbury has performed some of the repertoire's most iconic tenor roles, including the Rake in The Rake's Progress, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. In addition to singing, Mr. Waterbury is also a stage director, directing shows in genres ranging from opera to Elizabethan theater. Past credits include Adamo's Little Women and Die Zauberflöte for Opera in the Heights, Postcard from Morocco and A Little Night Music for Florida State University, Dido and Aeneas for Chicago Summer Opera, and The Two Noble Kinsmen for Shakespeare Santa Cruz. He has also written and produced several of his own shows, and this year, he will be directing Dido and Aeneas and The Cunning Little Vixen for Stetson University, where he is their new head of opera. Enjoy Mr. Waterbury's stunning rendition of Nemorino's aria from Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore."

Opera Orlando is also pleased to welcome back baritone Torlef Borsting, who is making a role debut in All Is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 as Charles. Mr. Borsting was last seen with the Opera as the Baron in last season's La Traviata and the Father in Hansel & Gretel in the previous season. Mr. Borsting's powerful baritone fuses sensitivity, compassion, and lyricism to lend a musical and dramatic depth to characters such as Scarpia in Tosca, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and Jack Rance in The Girl of the Golden West. A native of Hawaii, Mr. Borsting has spent most of his time on the West Coast performing leading and supporting roles with San Francisco Opera, Opera Parallèlle, West Bay Opera, Sacramento Opera, Opera San Jose, Livermore Valley Opera, Opera San Luis Obispo, and Berkeley Opera. In concert, he has performed as a soloist with Pacific Chamber Symphony, Mendocino Music Festival, Oakland Symphony Chorus, Symphony Parnassus, Cantare con Vivo, Oakland Civic Orchestra, and he recently debuted with

Orlando Sings in their inaugural choral festival last season. Listen to Mr. Borsting's "revealing" voice and interview with Opera San Jose here: Torlef Borsting's La Bohème interview | Opera San Jose.

Audiences throughout Central Florida have a variety of opportunities to experience this incredible, theatrical work that re-tells the story of a German soldier stepping into No Man's Land to sing "Stille Nacht (Silent Night)," sparking an extraordinary and unprecedented night of music, acceptance, and peace. The production is sung a cappella in English with a running time of approximately 75 minutes and no intermission.

Learn more about Mr. Rothstein's inspiration and research for All is Calm at the link here All Is Calm - YouTube, and stay up to date with Opera Orlando's upcoming season online at www.OperaOrlando.org. Follow and like the Opera's Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts to learn about all the Opera has planned for its 2022-23 Opera Everlasting season, and see YOU at the Opera!

Celebrating, expanding, and sharing the world's greatest art form, the 2022-23 season marks Opera Orlando's seventh season producing high-quality operatic entertainment and educational programs that engage Central Florida audiences.

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