World Premiere Opera THE COOK-OFF Comes to Nashville Opera

Nashville Opera will present the company’s ninth world premiere - THE COOK-OFF - in a double bill with Lee Hoiby and Mark Shulgasser’s Julia Child- opera, BON APPÉTIT!, on November 15, 16, and 17 at the Noah Liff Opera Center.  

THE COOK-OFF features the music of Nigerian-American composer Shawn E. Okpebholo with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark Campbell. Set in the world of competitive television cooking, this one-act comic opera gently explores the erasure of enslaved Black Americans' contributions to America’s culture by sharing the story of the origin of one of America’s most beloved foods, macaroni and cheese. 

Macaroni and Cheese, whose creation was originally attributed to French chefs by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, was brought to the United States by Jefferson’s French-trained enslaved chef, James Hemings. Hemings was, in fact, the hidden force behind America’s introduction to several of its favorite foods, including mac-n-cheese, french fries, and ice cream.

THE COOK-OFF is set during an episode of TV’s AMERICA LOVES FOOD, where three contestants vie to make the perfect mac and cheese. Southern lifestyle blogger Ivy Sweet, soul food restaurant owner Kendra Smith, and food truck owner Álvaro Mendez compete for the $100,000 prize, each putting their own spin on the American comfort food while uncovering the hidden truth about its origins.

The cast includes Craig Irvin as show host Kenny Kincaid, Emily Pulley as food critic Beryl Bennett, and the three contestants: Amy Owens as Ivy Sweet, Rehanna Thelwell as Kendra Smith, and Jehu Otero as Álvaro Mendez.

Nashville Opera CEO and Artistic Director John Hoomes says, “Although THE COOK-OFF is at heart a comic opera,  the show also offers a subtle message of celebrating the great contributions diverse cultures have made to the overall cultural fabric of the United States, while at the same time warning of the dangers of the attempted erasure of these contributions.  With this multilayered approach to storytelling, THE COOK-OFF is far more important and relevant than what may be apparent by a quick glance at the opera’s comic façade.”

As the evening’s curtain-raiser, Lee Hoiby’s BON APPÉTIT! sets an episode of Julia Child’s The French Chef television show to music.  Adapted by librettist Mark Shulgasser, the opera features Child teaching her viewers how to create  Le Gâteau au Chocolate l’Eminence Brune (a chocolate cake with espresso)  BON APPÉTIT! features (and is directed by) Emily Pulley as the doyenne of French cuisine in America.