Dallas Opera Opens THE LIGHTHOUSE, 3/16

The Dallas Opera has announced details on its 250^thproduction: a haunting and evocative 1980 chamber opera masterpiece, THE LIGHTHOUSE, by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies, opening Friday, March 16, 2012 at 7:30 PM in collaboration with the Dallas Theater Center.

This new production, with support from Jessie and Charles Price (additional support from Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Rose III, Mr. and Mrs. Michael E. Phillips and corporate sponsor, American Express) will be the Dallas Opera’s first-ever performance in the high-tech Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre that serves as home to the Dallas Theater Center.  In yet another “first,” it will launch the company’s new dedicated chamber opera series.

Tenor Andrew Bidlack will make his Dallas Opera debut in the dual roles of Officer 1 and Sandy. 

Distinctive baritone Robert Orth, first heard on the Dallas Opera stage in the role of Mr. Stubb in 2010 world premiere-production of Moby-Dick, will be singing the roles of Officer 2 and Blazes. 

Completing the cast is Bass Daniel Sumegi singing the roles of Officer 3, Arthur and Voice of the Cards. “Sumegi has a big, commanding voice and wields it with great skill…transforming his character into someone much larger than life, someone who convinces you that he has really seen God” (Washington Times).  Sumegi last performed with the Dallas Opera in 2003 as Timur in Puccini’s Turandot.

The work will be staged by the acclaimed artistic director of the DTC, Kevin Moriarty, in his opera debut, and the renowned California-based conductor, Maestra Nicole Paiement, Artistic Director of Ensemble Parallèle (founded by Paiement in 1994 and dedicated to contemporary chamber opera and multidisciplinary projects) and the BluePrint Project, a San Francisco-based new music series, sponsored by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, will lead from the pit in her Dallas Opera debut.

Scenic design for THE LIGHTHOUSE is by Tony Award nominee Beowulf Boritt, winner of a 2007 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Scenic Design.  Creating costumes for this 1980 masterwork by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies will be the task of Claudia Stephens in her Dallas Opera debut.  Lighting design is by Tyler Micoleau in his company debut, with wig and make-up design by Stephanie Williams.

Jonathan Pell, Artistic Director of the Dallas Opera had this to say about the cast he has put together for this extraordinary opera, “Since there are only three singers in The Lighthouse, and they portray different characters in the prologue and the opera itself, it was essential that we find three brilliant singing actors who could not only give voice to this challenging music, but could also bring the various characters to life in the intimate environs of the Wyly Theatre.

“Robert Orth and Daniel Sumegi are as well known for their acting skills as for their wonderful voices, and both have sung with the Dallas Opera in the past.  Andrew Bidlack, a recent graduate of the young artist program at the San Francisco Opera, will be making his TDO debut in this production, but has impressed me enormously in a variety of roles at other companies.  He embodies the perfect combination of youthful innocence and a strong, lyric tenor that Peter Maxwell Davies’ score requires.” 

“The three of them, under Nicole Paiement’s baton and Kevin Moriarty’s stage direction, should make a compelling trio in this intense, theatrical opera.” 

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