“ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD” BY JACQUES OFFENBACH

The University of Arizona Opera Theater presents “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 8 at 3:00 p.m. in Crowder Hall. There will be a post-performance talk-back after each show. The opera will be sung in English with supertitles.

(See photo gallery below.)

Off we go, down below, Orpheus will rock your underworld!

We all know the famous story of Orpheus and his Euridice. The University of Arizona Opera will be telling this story on stage – with a twist! Join us for Offenbach’s irreverent spoof, complete with the “Can-Can”! When Orpheus and Euridice find boredom in their marriage, the devious god, Pluto, offers a solution to the problem. He seduces Euridice and lures her down to the Underworld. Euridice’s presence causes a big stir among the gods of Olympus. Public Opinion (the woman whom we all know matters) sets the moral tone of the evening and keeps watch over the behavior of the characters.

Director Cynthia Stokes has set the show in the 1970s during the debauchery and glamour of the free-spirited era that brought you Studio 54, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Cher, Jimi Hendrix and Andy Warhol. The costumes, designed by Chris Allen, are a whirlwind of colors, pop art, platform shoes, and of course, glitter. The Fred Fox School of Music will be installing our very own three-story temporary dance club called Inferno 54, designed by Sally Day. Alcohol will not be allowed on stage, of course, but that’s why we have ambrosia and nectar.

Dr. Thomas Cockrell conducts the University of Arizona Symphony Orchestra in this light-hearted farce with many tunes that will have you dancing in your seats. Cynthia Stokes, the newly appointed director of opera and Amelia Rieman Endowed Chair in Opera Theater, brings a fresh and energetic perspective on a time old story.

Join us in Crowder Hall at the Fred Fox School of Music for this thrilling comedy. The performances will be on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 8 at 3:00 p.m. in Crowder Hall. There will be a post-performance talk back after each show. This hilarious romp of Greek mythology will make hell seem like a party and you’re all invited! See you in hell!

Thursday & Saturday Cast

Orpheus: Emma Petersen

Euridic: Brianna Barnhart

Public Opinion: Kaitlin Bertenshaw

Jupiter: Mark Hockenberry

Venus: Bridget Marlowe

Mars: Jordan Murillo

Cupid: Anisa Jimenez

Diana: Chunghee Lee

Mercury: Sebastian Alameda

Pluto: Dan Marino

John Styx: David Ingram

Juno: Jenna Rosebrough

Minerva: Morgan Hardy

Friday & Sunday Cast

Orpheus: Jake Walters

Euridice: Kristen Lucas

Public Opinion: Matthew Alexander

Jupiter: Powell Brumm

Venus: Athena Beebe

Mars: Simon Faddoul

Cupid: Frannie Barrows

Diana: Shainy Manuel

Mercury: Jinzhou Jia

Pluto: Dan Marino

John Styx: David Ingram

Juno: Jenna Rosebrough

Minerva: Morgan Hardy

Cynthia Stokes, stage director

Stage and opera director Cynthia Stokes has devoted her professional career to creating provocative and thrilling productions across America. Her work has been praised for, “clear story-telling, theatrical sensibility and as having existential depths and evoking mythical resonance,” by the Philadelphia Inquirer; and, “funny and moving…as was the fatal confluence of illusion and reality…” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ms. Stokes is the artistic director of San Diego City Opera, which is dedicated to encouraging San Diegans to see their community in new positive ways by presenting opera in site-specific locations throughout the city. City Opera’s first production, “Queen of Carthage,” a contemporary retelling of “Dido and Aeneas” was part of La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls Festival. Music critic Jim Chute said,” they got to the beating, beautiful, timeless heart of Purcell’s 1688 masterpiece. Their 45-minute reduction of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” was an inspiration. She staged Dominic Argento’s song cycle “The Andrée Expedition” with three singers in an abandoned factory. Music critic Pam Kragen said, “ Stokes ends the engrossing piece with a surprising and moving theatrical flourish that features a soulful and stylish reunion of the dead and dying. Opera is at its best when it’s visceral, and City Opera’s imaginative conception of the tragic, true story of the Andrée Expedition has proven to be a natural.”

Other directing credits include: Michigan Opera Theatre, Mainly Mozart, The Vermont Opera Project, Rhymes with Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Cincinnati Opera, Piedmont Opera, San Antonio Opera, Opera Carolina, Opera San Jose and The Los Angeles Philharmonic,

Deeply committed to encouraging the next generation of artists and audiences, Ms. Stokes started La Jolla Playhouse’s Summer Conservatory and San Diego Opera’s Summer Opera Training Program. She is currently on faculty at The Taos Opera Institute. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in directing from The University of California at San Diego.

Thomas Cockrell, music director and conductor

Dr. Thomas Cockrell has served as the Nelson Riddle Endowed Chair in Music, director of orchestral activities and music director of the UA Opera Theater at the University of Arizona since 2000. Cockrell is equally at home on the symphonic podium and in the opera pit, working with professionals or student musicians. In 2010 he was appointed artistic director of Opera in the Ozarks, which he had previously served as music director from 2003 to 2005. He has conducted the professional symphony orchestras of Dallas, Cincinnati, Phoenix, Tucson, Louisville and Boulder, as well as several in Romania, Italy, Mexico and South Korea. Operatic credits include productions for Dayton Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Theatre of the Rockies and Washington D.C.’s Summer Opera Theatre. He served as the associate conductor of Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado, The Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Spoleto Festivals and music director of Denver Young Artists Orchestra. He was a member of the conducting faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp from 2006 to 2008. Cockrell frequently is the conductor and clinician for regional and all state music festivals. In 2008 he was the conducting master teacher for the College Orchestra Directors Association national conference and is increasingly sought after for conducting master courses in the USA, Mexico, Asia and Europe.

Before coming to the University of Arizona, Cockrell was on the faculty of the University of California, Irvine and the State University of New York at Purchase. He has been a visiting professor at the National Academy of Music in Bucharest, Romania and a faculty artist at the Academie Internationale de Musique, Chateau de Rangiport.

Cockrell earned his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University. He studied conducting with Franco Ferrara in Rome and at Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. Additionally, he was an Aspen Conducting Fellow and completed advanced training at the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France and the Tanglewood Music Center, where he worked with Gustav Meier, Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa.