BECOMING SANTA CLAUS DVD/Blu-ray Goes on Sale Tomorrow

The Dallas Opera is delighted to announce the eagerly awaited DVD and Blu-ray release of Mark Adamo's critically acclaimed new holiday opera, BECOMING Santa Claus, distributed exclusively through CD Baby.

This world-premiere recording is priced at $20 for the DVD and $25 for the Blu-ray. Both will be available for purchase beginning tomorrow, Friday, September 15, 2017.

Becoming Santa Claus, from the composer of Little Women, imagines how a spoiled Elf-Prince who values presents over "presence" might have matured into that icon of generosity we know today as Santa Claus. Both the music and book for this family-friendly fantasy were created by American composer/librettist Mark Adamo and commissioned by The Dallas Opera, which recorded the work, live in high-definition, at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in December of 2015.

Becoming Santa Claus starred mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera as the conflicted Queen Sophine, tenor Jonathan Blalock as the troubled Prince Claus, and bass Matt Boehler singing the dual roles of Donkey/Messenger. This lively new work also featured Keith Jameson, Kevin Burdette, and Grammy winners Hila Plitmann and Lucy Schaufer, as a quartet of scheming palace elves!

"There are few new works in my career that I've approached with such great anticipation as Mark Adamo's Becoming Santa Claus," explained Keith Cerny, The Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO of The Dallas Opera. "It was obvious from our very first discussion that Mark had an astonishingly clear and entirely original vision for this piece, which he executed with grace, a Noel Coward-like wit and his signature musical style."

"Mark was always prepared, always enthusiastic, always well ahead of the game," Cerny added, "and working with him on this project has been one of my most pleasurable experiences as a general director."

Adamo's original story follows young Claus, Elven Crown Prince of the polar North, whose mother, Queen Sophine, plans to celebrate his thirteenth birthday with a party to end all parties. If the evening proceeds without a hitch, a family curse will be lifted; and the working Elves will get their first day off in a thousand days. However, the Queen's plot falls victim to a host of last-minute cancellations from royal relatives scattered around the world, as a bright star has signaled a momentous birth. Claus, who has filled the emotional gaps in his own life with possessions, decides to dazzle this newborn with an assortment of the most extraordinary presents, before discovering for himself that love is the most treasured gift of all.

The commissioning of Becoming Santa Claus was made possible through generous support from Dr. and Mrs. Tom Mayer and Charles and Maile Shea.
DVD/Blu-ray recording and post-production generously underwritten by Maile Shea.
Presenting sponsor, The Moody Foundation.

Mark Adamo is the creator and driving force behind The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Lysistrata, and one of the most successful contemporary operas of our day: Little Women-a work which has had more than one hundred international productions and been released on DVD and Blu-ray. The composer writes:

"I'd long wanted to make a piece that could at once celebrate and question holiday tradition-so The Dallas Opera's commission of what became Becoming Santa Claus was a dream come true. Under its glittering Elfin surface, the opera became a drama of people who ache to have, or be, perfect parents, and can't; who use precious objects both to show love when they feel it and to feign it when they don't. The performance and production was everything a composer and librettist could have hoped for."

In addition to his operas, Mr. Adamo is an acclaimed composer of new chamber and choral works. These include Aristotle for Thomas Hampson and the Jupiter String Quartet, (under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center); The Racer's Widow for New York Festival of Song; Four Angels: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as works commissioned and performed by the acclaimed ensemble, Chanticleer, the Choral Arts Society in Washington and The New York Virtuoso Singers.
More information is available at www.markadamo.com and at www.musicsalesclassical.com.
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Becoming Santa Claus was conducted in its 2015 Dallas Opera world premiere by EmManuel Villaume (The Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director). In addition to his duties in Dallas, Maestro Villaume serves as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the PKF - Prague Philharmonia and he continues to conduct and record critically acclaimed performances with the most important artists of our day, from Anna Netrebko to Bryan Hymel and Diana Damrau.

"It's a thrilling responsibility, at any time, to conduct a major world premiere," explains Maestro Villaume. "However, my excitement about Becoming Santa Claus stems from the piece itself, which contains Mark's witty, glittering dialogue; heartfelt sentiment; and absolutely beautiful music. It is my hope that home audiences will find themselves utterly transported and enchanted by the experience."

Mark Adamo's fourth full-length opera was staged in its 2015 world premiere by renowned British director Paul Curran, who did double duty as choreographer for this production. Curran is the former artistic director of the Norwegian National Opera and has been instrumental in creating landmark opera productions including La donna del lago for the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera, The Tsar's Bride for Covent Garden, Tannhäuser for La Scala, Peter Grimes for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and many more. Most recently, he directed the new, critically acclaimed Santa Fe Opera - Dallas Opera co-production of Rimsky-Korsakov's rarely performed final opera, The Golden Cockerel.
Additionally, the Glasgow native has translated plays by Chekhov and Molière.
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera (Queen Sophine), a former New York City Opera "Debut Artist of the Year," has earned accolades on both sides of the Atlantic for her extraordinary vocalism and versatility, prompting Opera News to write of her "ravishing mezzo bloom from top to bottom."
Tenor Jonathan Blalock, winner of the 2014 Agnes Varis Prize for Bel Canto from the Opera Orchestra of New York, made a lasting impression in Paul's Case at The Prototype Festival, which Alex Ross of The New Yorker called one of the top ten musical events of the year. Steve Smith of The New York Times wrote: "Blalock is riveting in the title role; his voice sweet and true, his thin smile telegraphing Paul's honeyed contempt for his working class surroundings."

Bass Matt Boehler appeared in the dual roles of Donkey/Messenger. His voice, wrote Madison.com, "has fantastic dexterity and power."

Set and Costume Designer Gary McCann is one of a phenomenal production team that included Lighting Designer Paul Hackenmueller and acclaimed Video Projections Designer Driscoll Otto.

Mr. McCann, originally from Northern Ireland and now based in London, has worked on Broadway, the West End, at the National Theatre (U.K.) and in major opera houses and theaters throughout the world. His design work was displayed in the 2014 MAKE/BELIEVE exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Paul Hackenmueller has designed lighting for Broadway productions including Disgraced, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Superfly, Fela!, Desire Under the Elms, A Bronx Tale, Mauritius, The Frogs and Martin Guerre. He has also designed concert lighting for the likes of Norah Jones, Beyoncé, John Legend, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett, Gloria Estefan and many more.

Driscoll Otto's projection projects include The Urban Dictionary Plays and The Netflix Plays with Arts Nova; The Steadfast with Slant Theater Project; Long Day's Journey with York Shakespeare Company; numerous productions for The New York Musical Theatre Festival. At the regional level, Otto has designed for Dallas Theater Center, Trinity Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas and many more.

This superb design team collaborated this summer on the new Dallas Opera - Santa Fe Opera co-production of The Golden Cockerel, which premiered as part of the Santa Fe Opera's 2017 summer season.

Commissioning underwriting support for The Dallas Opera's Becoming Santa Claus was generously provided by Dr. and Mrs. Tom Mayer and Maile and Charles Shea (in loving memory of Chloe Simone Shea), and The Twelve Months of Kindness Committee.

Simulcast Production Team

The Dallas Opera
General Director and CEO Keith Cerny
Director of Production John J. Toia
Technical Director Drew Field
Remote Broadcast Barbara Sipes
Operations Manager Barbara Sipes
Director of Marketing Carrie Ellen Adamian
Director of Media & Public Relations Suzanne Calvin
DVD Booklet Layout Paul Semrad
DVD Cover Artwork Gary McCann & Eva Semrad

For WFAA-TV
Production Manager Jerry Cadigan
Engineer Jeff Stevens
Facilities Manager Don Hazen
Director AaRon Butler
EIC / Tech Producer Don Hazen
Audio Jim Sutton
Camera Dode Bigley • Chris Cook • Jim Conrad
Chuck Crosswhite • Jamie Oswald
Lance Martin • Sky Gaskill • Bill Sons
Sound recorded and engineered by: Soundmirror, Inc.

Additional Production Credits:
Supertitles by Jeri Shaffer
German adaptation by Christian Gundlach
Members of the First United Methodist Church of
Dallas Children's Handbell Choir, and other youth ringers
Costumes Coordinated by Dallas Opera Costume Shop
Costume Construction Supervised by Gabriela Ingram
Scenery constructed by Dallas Stage Scenery
Yamaha pianos provided by the Metroplex Piano Warehouse, Darren Speir

A special thank you to the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO (AGMA), the union that represents the performers and staging personnel at The Dallas Opera; the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), Local 72-147, the union that represents the orchestral musicians; and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, AFL-CIO (IATSE), Local 127 (Stagehands), and Local 803 (Wardrobe, Wig & Make-up Personnel) and United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 for their permission in making this simulcast possible.

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