FIRE ISLAND OPERA FESTIVAL PRESENTS
2014 SEASON
Featuring
THE PROTAGONIST (American East Coast Premiere)
By
Kurt Weill and Georg Kaiser
UN AMOUR DE PROUST (A Special Opening Night Gala Event)
Music By
Reynaldo Hahn, César Franck
Excerpts from Remembrance of Things Past
By
Marcel Proust
With
Guto Bittencourt, Liam Bonner, John Easterlin, Jeremy Galyon,
Jeremy Hirsch, Maeve
Höglund, Samuel Levine, Megan Marino,
Francesca Mondanaro, Matthew Morris, and Katrina Yaukey
Charles Mary Kubricht, Scenic Design
Bradon McDonald (Project Runway), Costume Designer & Choreographer
Bradley Moore, Music Director
Edwin Cahill, Director
AUGUST 22-24, 2014
"What a spectacular debut for this new and worthy musical endeavor!"- qonstage.com
"It was amazingly fun and delightful -- something truly worthwhile to see in the Pines!"- The Huffington Post
Fire Island Opera Festival made the upper quadrant of the New York Magazine approval matrix as ‘Brilliant and Highbrow’! The Fire Island Opera Festival is pleased to announce programming for its second annual season, running August 22-24, 2014 in the Fire Island Pines. This three-day festival, founded in 2013 by Artistic Director Edwin Cahill and Music Director Bradley Moore, has quickly become one of the most anticipated events of the Fire Island cultural season. More information and tickets are available online at www.fireislandopera.org. These Festival presentations take place in Fire Island Pines at the Fire Island Pavilion and at the home of William Hayden and Ron Perkov at 234 Bay Walk. ABOUT THE WORKS
THE PROTAGONIST
Saturday, August 23, 2014, 9:00 PM
Composer Kurt Weill
Librettist Georg Kaiser
At The Pavilion, Fire Island Boulevard, Fire Island Pines
The Weimar era comes to dangerous life at the Pines this summer as the famous Fire Island Pavilion is overtaken by the exciting and mysterious cabaret world in an edgy new interpretation of Kurt Weill’s most beloved songs followed by a surprise performance of Weill and Georg Kaiser’s expressionist operatic thriller, The Protagonist. The production features scenic design by Marfa-based installation artist Charles Mary Kubricht, choreography and costume design by Project Runway finalist and former Mark Morris Dance Group member Bradon McDonald, cabaret adaptation and direction by Artistic Director Edwin Cahill, and Music Direction and solo piano performance version by Bradley Moore. The evening will culminate in a Kurt Weill inspired Haus music dance party. UN AMOUR DE PROUST: A SALON AT SUNSET (A Special Opening Night Gala Event)
Friday, August 22, 2014, 6:00 PM
Composer Reynaldo Hahn and Others
At 234 Bay Walk, Fire Island Pines
Un Amour de Proust is Fire Island Opera Festival’s 2014 Season special gala opening night event, evoking the 'Belle Epoque’ or 'Golden Age’ of Paris in 1900, and celebrating the 100th anniversary of Marcel Proust’s masterpiece, Remembrance of Things Past. The evening transforms one of the most beautiful bayside mansions in the Pines into a Parisian musical salon, and the program includes music that inspired Proust's writing with vocal mélodies by his lover and life-long friend Reynaldo Hahn as well as movements of the Frank sonata. Songs will be performed against the backdrop of the setting sun and classical tableaux vivants featuring the beautiful dancers of the Fire Island Opera Festival. The evening includes an open pink champagne bar and will culminate with a tasting of chocolate soufflés, macarons, and madeleines created from vintage Proust family recipes by chocolatier Lauren Gockley. MATINEE DOUBLE BILL: THE PROTAGONIST & UN AMOUR DE PROUST
Sunday, August 24, 2014, 3:00 PM
At The Pavilion, Fire island Boulevard, Fire Island Pines
A matinee double bill of both The Protagonist and Un Amour de Proust will be presented on Sunday, August 24 followed by an Opera Pool Party on The Pavilion’s Pool Deck. ABOUT THE FIRE ISLAND OPERA FESTIVAL + CREATIVE TEAM
The Fire Island Opera Festival commissions new one-act American operas and pairs them with revivals of forgotten works. Top artists from the world of opera, theater, classical music, dance, fashion and visual art unite at a Pines beach mansion and the newly rebuilt Pavilion on Fire Island Pines, converted into a beach 'opera house' by Marfa-based installation artist Charles Mary Kubricht. The result is an intimate exchange between art and nature that will transport the audience to a singular theatrical and musical experience. Artistic Director Edwin Cahill is an award-winning director, actor, and producing artistic director. His recent directing credits include a reading at the Pearl Theatre Off-Broadway of a new adaptation of THE SEAGULL starring Tony award-winner Judy Kaye; a new production of DON GIOVANNI for the inaugural opera season of Sherrill Milnes’ Savannah Voice Festival, and Kurt Weill’s THE PROTAGONIST for the second season of the Fire Island Opera Festival where he is also the artistic director. Other past credits include, the “new-world" premiere production of Gluck's L'ARBRE ENCHANTE for the inaugural season of the Fire Island Opera Festival; Kurt Weill’s DER PROTAGONIST for Shenandoah Conservatory, a Bollywood production of FIDELIO for Milwaukee Skylight, and a production of LA BOHEME for the Savannah Philharmonic and the Savannah Voice Festival. This spring Edwin will direct INTO THE WOODS for Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee. As an actor, Edwin won Saint Louis's Kevin Kline award for his portrayal of Cosme McMoon in a touring production of the play SOUVENIR which he also reprised in Santa Barbara, and Hartford. This season he just finished a new feature film, MY DEAD BOYFRIEND directed by Anthony Edwards starring Heather Graham, he co-starred in the CBS hit TV series PERSON OF INTEREST and starred in the new Off-Broadway play ZELDA AT THE OASIS in which he played seven characters. He appeared in the French premiere of Kurt Weill’s STREET SCENE at the Opéra National Toulon, France; made his debut in Brazil as director, pianist, and performer of WIR SIND NEW YORKERS!, a dramatic review of the life and music of Kurt Weill which he conceived ; and created the role of the Gentleman Caller in BLUE ROSES in the world premiere musical adaptation of THE GLASS MENAGERIE. Broadway productions include the new musical about the lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, LOVEMUSIK, directed by Harold Prince and the national tour of the Tony award-winning revival of SWEENEY TODD. Off-Broadway at the Irish Repertory Theatre, Edwin appeared in the world premiere of BEOWULF, and Dylan Thomas's A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES. He also created the role of Robert Lincoln in ASYLUM-The Strange Case of Mary Todd Lincoln, and appeared in DARLING OF THE DAY, which won TIME Magazine's top 10 theatrical events of the year. His regional appearances include the major theatres of America and Canada: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Boston, Portland, Palm Beach, Miami, and Toronto. Edwin's upcoming performing engagements include a concert tour of WIR SIND BERLINERS! in America and Berlin, Germany, and the recording of a new solo album. He is a graduate of New England Conservatory, Tufts University - Magna cm Laude, and studied classical voice at the Manhattan School of Music and French Literature at the University of Paris - Sorbonne. Music Director Bradley Moore recently conducted Madama Butterfly at the Castleton Festival at the invitation of Lorin Maazel. Moore is Head of Music Staff at the Houston Grand Opera, and Music Director of the HGO Studio; he will conduct HGO’s performances of The Magic Flute at Miller Theater during the coming season. He is the founding Music Director of the Fire Island Opera Festival, which recently produced the first staged performances of Gluck’s L’arbre enchanté since the original production at Versailles in 1775. He has conducted Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Opera Colorado and has worked as assistant conductor, backstage conductor and coach at the Metropolitan Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Opéra National de Paris, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Los Angeles Opera, among others. He is a graduate of the Met’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Widely acclaimed as a recital partner, Mr. Moore has performed with Renée Fleming and Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall and on a national tour. His current season includes recitals with Ms. Graham and an international tour with Jamie Barton. He also enjoys partnerships with Angela Meade, Christine Goerke, Alice Coote, Eric Cutler, Eric Owens, and clarinetist Julian Bliss. He has performed live on A Prairie Home Companion with Ms. Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma, and with Joshua Bell on CBS Sunday Morning News and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. His discography includes a recital with Mr. Cutler on the EMI Classics Debut Series, a recital with Mr. Bliss for Signum Classics, and a disc of songs by American composer Daron Hagen for Arsis Audio. Barton will record of recital of songs by Charles Ives in 2015. Moore has performed as piano soloist with orchestras including the National
Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic. He performed the Martinu Harpsichord Concerto with the San Francisco Ballet for the world premiere of Mark Morris’ Beaux, and recently accompanied the recitatives for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s production of Così fan tutte. He has also been heard as a recitative accompanist and continuo player with the Met Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Mozarteum Orchester, and the Met Chamber Ensemble. Costume Designer and Choreographer Bradon McDonald has had a diverse career in both the Performing Arts and Design fields. Upon graduating Juilliard in 1997, Bradon danced with the Limon Dance Company for three years, and then with Mark Morris Dance Group for 10 years. During this time he was Choreographer for opera productions at Wolftrap Opera Company, Aspen Music Festival, Berkshire Opera, and Juilliard. He has conducted dance workshops for opera singers at such companies as Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Bolshoi Opera, Wolftrap Opera, and Tanglewood Music Festival. 12 hours after retiring from the stage, Bradon began studying Fashion Design at LA's Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising where he earned two degrees and the Fashion Design Award upon graduation. In February 2014 he served as Choreographer for Gotham Chamber Opera's double bill presented in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Currently he is designing for private clients, the mass market, and the performing arts. Bradon showed a collection at New York Fashion Week as a top 4 finalist in Project Runway Season 12. Scenic Designer Charles Mary Kubricht, an artist living in Marfa, Texas and New York City, has been exhibiting her work in the US and aborad for three decades. Her work has been the subject of several museum solo exhibitions, numerous museum group exhibitions, gallery solo exhibitions, gallery group exhibitions, and most recently, a stage set for the opera L’Arbre Enchanté (The Magic Tree) at last year’s Fire Island Opera Festival. In 2010 she received a GSA Art in Architecture Award, a permanent public art commission from Rice University and a residency at YADDO. In 2011, the High Line, NYC, commissioned her installation Alive-nesses: Proposal for Adaptation. BOMB magazine has featured her artwork twice: “Charles Mary Kubricht” (BOMB magazine, Spring, 2009) and BOMBLOG. Tom Michael interviewed her on Marfa Public Radio, an affiliate to NPR and the ebook, The State of the Art: Contemporary Artists in Texas by June Mattingly, published in 2012, includes her work.
