A Brilliant Cast Dazzles in Gershwin’s American Classic Porgy and Bess at the Kennedy Center
Porgy and Bess
Washington National Opera
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
May 24, 2025
 Michael Sumuel (Porgy) and Brittany Renee (Bess) in Washington National Opera‘s Porgy and Bess at the Kennedy Center (Photo/Cory Weaver) As one of the most celebrated American operas, Porgy and Bess maintains its broad appeal. With music by George Gershwin and libretto by his brother Ira Gerswhin, hallowed names in the pantheon of composers, alongside the team of Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, it premiered in Boston in 1935 enduring decades of controversy and change. Countless directors have sought to broaden or temper its appeal depending on the political winds of the day, yet it endures as a powerful love story, that like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, doesn’t rely on a happy ending to emphasize its appeal. It’s a story about people, in this case Southern Blacks, who share the same emotional struggles, fears and human connections that people experience all over the world. The difference is that this is the 1930’s South, and despite the legal gains of racial justice after the Civil War, much of the country remained/remains a society based on race and class. Porgy and Bess is still very much a period piece of a time and place with echoes of bygone days, but so are many of our most enduring stories and greatest operas whose central themes focus on the universality of the human enigma.
In the expert hands of Director Francesca Zambello, who brought it to the Kennedy Center stage twenty years before, this quintessential American opera retains its broad appeal with an extraordinary cast filled with glorious African American voices and led by an amazing new Black conductor, Kwamé Ryan in his WNO debut.
My enduring love affair with the opera began decades ago when it was made into a Broadway show and later a film with Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge in the lead roles. Though neither one of these mega stars could sing and professional singers were dubbed in on the recording, these songs became huge hits, and I can recall countless hours listening to it on a record player. Songs like “Summertime”, “A Woman is a Sometime Thing”, “Nightime, Daytime”, “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’”, “Bess, You is My Woman Now”, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, “I Loves You, Porgy”, “I’m On My Way” and other iconic Gershwin tunes forever cemented in Broadway musical theater anthology brought a bright fusion of opera, jazz and musicals. But I digress with chatter about memories.
 Cast of Washington National Opera‘s Porgy and Bess (Photo/Cory Weaver) The story is set in Charleston, South Carolina in the 1950’s in Catfish Row, a community of poor Blacks who plied the coastal waters as fisherman as the women toiled in White households. It centers around Porgy, a large, crippled, big-hearted man; Bess, his beloved; Crown, her abusive, sometime boyfriend; Sportin’ Life, a slick and slithery drug pusher; Maria, the matriarch of the town; Clara, a new mother and her husband Jake, a fisherman; Serena, one of the ladies, and a large community of their neighbors who, though these women exist in a restrictive bubble, have both agency and resilience.
It does little good to write up the story of their interactions, when it is far easier to google it up as it’s well known to opera buffs and those who saw the movie, even though every production has its own singular approach to its telling.
I want to point out that Eric Sean Fogel’s choreography is of central importance – both in the gambling scenes, the praising God church scenes and the big dance numbers – of special note is Sportin’ Life’s cool dance moves and the crackling electricity of all the other dancers. Mark McCullough’s lighting design adds to the general ambiance – flooding the stage in honey tones for the daybreak scenes where the hustle and bustle of daily life begins, to the dramatic hurricane scenes, which, if you’re not prepared, will startle you out of your seat from the cacophony of lightning and thunder.
 Chauncey Packer (Sportin’ Life) and cast of Washington National Opera‘s Porgy and Bess (Photo/Cory Weaver) Highly recommended!!! I can still feel it straight down inside my bones! Do yourself a favor and snag tickets to this phenomenal staging and enjoy a superb cast in the Gershwin classic. You will witness opera history at its finest.
With Michael Sumuel or Reginald Smith, Jr. as Porgy; Brittany Renee or Alyson Cambridge as Bess; Viviana Goodwin as Clara; Amber R. Monroe as Serena; Denyce Graves as Maria; Chauncey Packer as Sportin’ Life; Kenneth Kellogg or Norman Garrett as Crown; Benjamin Taylor as Jake; Marquita Raley-Cooper as Strawberry Woman; Alexandria Crichlow as Lily; Brittani McNeill as Annie; Jonathan Pierce Rhodes as Mingo; Daniel Sampson as Robbins; Keith Craig as Peter the Honeyman; Ernest Jackson as Nelson; Anthony P. Ballard as Crabman; Nicolas LaGesse as Jim; Jarrod Lee as Undertaker; Scott Ward Abernathy as Detective; and James Whalen as Coroner. With the Washington National Opera Orchestra, the Washington National Opera Chorus and the Washington National Opera Corps of Dancers.
With Set Design by Peter J. Davison and Costume Design by Paul Tazewell.
Through May 31st at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.467.4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Apple’s Inventor Featured in a Fascinating New Opera at the Kennedy Center
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Washington National Opera
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
May 4, 2025
Special to The Zebra
 John Moore (Steve Jobs) in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Washington National Opera at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Photo/Scott Suchman) In a unique opening, composer Mason Bates strikes the perfect complement to the characters using saxophone, guitar and the electronika from Apple equipment to represent the major characters – electric guitar for Steve Jobs, saxophone for Steve “Woz” Wozniak, and wind-like instrumentation for Jobs’ spiritual mentor Kōbun Chino Otogawa. Against a backdrop of several dozen video monitors to reflect his life and times the story, set in 17 separate scenes, begins to unfold. It’s Bates’ first opera and it’s a stunner. And so is the cast! I was captivated by baritone John Moore’s portrayal of Jobs, though you may see it during its short run with John Patton in the role.
Presented by the Washington National Opera, Mark Campbell’s libretto takes us through Jobs’ life as a child circa 1965 inspired by his father’s encouragement to build something mechanical; through his collaboration with Woz (Jonathan Burton or Nicholas Huff), the technological genius; his free spirit lover, Chrisann Brennan (Kresley Figeroa or Anneliese Klenetsky); his relationship to a spiritual life with Otogawa (Wei Wu); and his marriage to his beloved Laurene Powell Jobs (Winona Martin).
 Chrisann Brennan (Kresley Figueroa), John Moore (Steve Jobs), and Winona Martin (Laurene Powell Jobs). (Photo/Scott Suchman) Jobs and Woz considered themselves radicals of the period, anti-establishment, anti-capitalist members of the counterculture that had its beginnings in California. Working together in a family garage in Cupertino, Woz creates new technology that allowed for free phone calls, by copying the telephone tones of Ma Bell and ye olde rotary phone. This revolutionary tactic cemented the beginning of their odyssey together and Jobs’ eventual power mad mania to create the ultimate device – the smart phone.
Set in 2007 in a large convention center, Jobs launches his product to a sea of adoring acolytes. “Never trust a computer you can’t fit in your pocket,” he famously told the young techies. “Type, type, type… swipe!” he commands.
 The cast of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. (Photo/Scott Suchman) When Jobs devolves into a self-centered egomaniac, Woz quits, “You’ve become one of the people we hated – a Goliath!” Laurene begs him to slow down, to rest. They know by now of his disease and the cancer that will take his life at 56 years old. Along the way the zigs and zags of his life are reflected by the intensity of the music (Jobs was a huge fan of Bach and saw music in mathematics) and the poetry of Campbell’s libretto that transcends the ordinariness of a life steeped in technology to reflect the drama of a visionary genius who reached supersonic status and changed the entire world as we knew it.
This modern opera has all the dramatic elements of a tragedy plus love story backgrounded by the thrill of a massive revolution in technology through the invention of a product that brings us together as readily as it can tear us apart. As composer and Virginia native, Mason Bates, puts it, “The story of Steve Jobs is the stuff of opera. It’s got obsession, betrayal, passion and ultimate betrayal and death that might have been able to be avoided had Steve Jobs been a little more willing to cede control of his health to others.”
 John Moore (Steve Jobs), Jonathan Burton (Steve Wozniak), and Wei Wu (Kōbun). (Photo by Scott Suchman) With the Washington National Opera Orchestra and Washington National Opera Chorus conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya alternately Micah Gleason; Production and Staging by Tomer Zvulun; Scenery and Costume Designer Jacob Climer; Projection Design by S. Katy Tucker; Lighting Design by Robert Wierzel; Sound Design by Rick Jacobsohn.
Highly recommended!
Through May 10th at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202-467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
World Premiere Schmigadoon! is a Wacky, Wonderful Spoof of Early Broadway Musicals Now at the Kennedy Center
Schmigadoon!
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
February 3, 2025
 Sara Chase, McKenzie Kurtz, and Alex Brightman (Photo/Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) There was such a tremendous reception from the audience for every pun, joke, dance, slow burn and musical number throughout the sell-out performance of Schmigadoon! I attended last night, that I had to wonder what in the Sam Hell was up. The rousing applause and laughter were something I’d expect from avid theatregoers who come to a show having seen it before, maybe many times over, and are huge fans. I had to do a little digging to discover what the heck is the secret sauce to its immediate unquestionable success – especially given that the show is a spoof on old time musicals from the 50’s and 60’s and there was a young audience in total thrall.
If you didn’t see it, the series premiered on Apple TV + featuring a well-known cast of television and B’way superstars. Fans followed two seasons of episodes, and it was a huge hit winning kudos and awards along the way. Fast forward to this brand-new, live stage iteration and there’s your audience… plus anyone who grew up with these earlier musicals. To identify a few of the original tunes taken to hilarious heights, I thought I recognized The Music Man, Brigadoon (naturally), Carousel, Oklahoma, South Pacific and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. When you figure out the rest, let me know.
 Emily Skinner and the cast of Schmigadoon (Photo/Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) For those unfamiliar with the story, it focuses on a young couple who have both literally and figuratively lost their way while on a weekend camping trip when they cross a bridge to find themselves in the throwback 1910’s in the mythical town of Schmigadoon. These two medical doctors, Josh and Melissa who are in the midst of a lovers’ spat, live in present-day New York City. In this retro, small town USA they find they are entirely out of their element, both socially and politically as they discover a community driven by Puritan values and yesteryear’s ignorance. But wow, can these small-town guys and gals sing and dance! As they say here, in a twist on the old trope, “Yee hawk”.
 Eloise Kropp, Sara Chase, and Phillip Attmore (Photo/Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) This world premiere musical has a cast chock-a-block with beloved Broadway, film and TV veteran performers who sang their faces off to an audience who hooted and hollered with glee. So did we. It’s silly, sweet and infectious, while harkening back to a Victorian era when love was as pure as the driven snow and pre-marital sex and having babies out of wedlock was beyond the pale. All that makes for some wacky scenarios as Josh and Melissa thread their way back to their love for each other helped by an adorable town crier kid, Carson, who damn near steals the show.
Linda Cho’s costumes reflect vintage country with the ladies in floral prairie dresses and the men in Victorian daytime formal wear or farm togs with high-waisted trousers held up by wide suspenders. Director and choreographer, Christopher Gatelli steers the chorus line into some serious high-stepping dance moves from kicks, leaps and flips to a brilliantly executed tap number.
 Alex Brightman and the cast of Schmigadoon (Photo/Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) You will lean in close to pluck out Book, Music and Lyrics Composer, Cinco Paul’s references to past musicals. I had alternate tunes from early musicals running rampant in my brain while trying to focus on the music at hand. I cadged a few (see above). Unfortunately, the program gives no hint. There’s your challenge.
For old school aficionados of period Broadway musicals plus the younger audience who followed the TV series (did I leave anyone out?) this wacky, wonderful, farcical musical is for you.
 09_Brad Oscar and Kevin Del Aguila_Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman Starring Alex Brightman as Josh, Sara Chase as Melissa, Ann Harada from the original cast as Florence Menlove, Brad Oscar as Mayor Menlove, Emily Skinner as Mildred Layton, Ryan Vasquezas Danny Bailey, Javier Muñoz as Doc Lopez, McKenzie Kurtz as Betsy McDonough, Ayaan Diop as Carson Tate, Isabelle McCalla as Emma Tate, Kevin Del Aguila as Reverend Layton/Leprechaun with Phillip Attmore as Freddy, Brandon Block as Buford Riggs, Holly Ann Butler as Helen Pritt, Max Clayton as Larry the Fireman, Kimberly Immanuel as Zaneeta, Eloise Kropp as Nancy, Jess LeProtto as Pete, Nathan Lucrezio as Farmer McDonough, Lauralyn McClelland as Ruth O’Reilly, Shina Ann Morris as Norma Nelson, Angel Reda as The Countess Gabrielle Von Blerkom, and Richard Riaz Yoder as Harvey the Innkeeper.
Scenic Design by Scott Pask, Lighting Design by Jen Schriever, Sound Design by Haley Parcher. With the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra under the Musical Direction of Steven Malone and Jay Crowder.
Highly recommended. It’s a short run so snag your tix asap!
Through February 9th at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets call the box office at 202 416-8540 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
In the &Juliet Musical Rom-Com Juliet and Her BFFs Flip the Script at the Kennedy Center
&Juliet
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
December 23, 2024
 The company of the North American Tour of & JULIET (Photo/Matthew Murphy) Curious theatregoers are wondering, what happened to Romeo? Not to worry, readers, Romeo is in the house in full. But in this switcheroo, Anne Hathaway rewrites the classic play in which the ladies take charge. What if Juliet didn’t kill herself? So move over, Will, these ladies are on fire! In this female empowerment story, familiar pop hits from Max Martin, who wrote massive multi-platinum tracks for pop princesses like Taylor Swift, Pink, Katy Perry, Brittany Spears, Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande, collaborates on the music with fellow hitmakers tweaking the tunes to fit the plot. Speaking of the plot, sweet Juliet along with her kickass besties, Anne Hathaway as April and identity-confused May, “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman”, get to flip the script on our pal Romeo, here self-portrayed as an insecure dolt who’s still madly in love with Juliet. Yes! He comes back to life too.
 Corey Mach and Teal Wicks (Photo/Matthew Murphy) You’ll need to suspend all notions of ye olde Shakespearean plots and dialogue because this iteration is a rock concert on steroids. To picture how it’s presented, imagine your English Renaissance characters sporting Jacobean hip-hop gear while breakdancing and pop-locking, krumping and kicking to a ferociously fierce beat provided by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra who collaborate with the production’s own musicians.
While feisty Anne and Will trade barbs and witty quips – the adorable Will occasionally stealing back the plot from her – romance abounds. It’s a modern-day rom-com cum musical with the known-world characters finally having their say. Nurse, Angelique, is no shrinking violet either. In fact, she has her share of some of the snarkiest lines. It’s a huge, multi-diverse cast with killer voices, belting out 29 mega hits that keep the audience dancing in their seats. Because who can sit still for deliciously hot chart-toppers like “Oops, I Did It Again”, “Teenage Dream/Break Free”, “Roar”, “I Kissed a Girl”, “Baby One More Time” and “Whataya Want From Me” that François duets in a word-duel with May.
This multi-award-winning show is big fun! Catch it while you can!
 Kathryn Allison (Photo/Matthew Murphy) Directed by Luke Sheppard with Rachel Simone Webb as Juliet; Teal Wicks as Anne; Corey Mach as Shakespeare; Nick Drake as May; Kathryn Allison as Angélique; Michael Canu as Romeo; Paul-Jordan Jansen as Romeo; Mateus Leite Cardoso as François; Naima Alakham as Lady Capulet/Nell; Nella Cole as Eleanor/Benvolio; Camille Brooks as Judith; Lois Ellise as Susanna; Ishmael Gonzalez as Gregory; Kenneth Onesimus Goubran as Augustine; Shelby Griswold as Lucy; Christopher Robert Hanford as Henry; Jourdan Ibe as Lennox; Josh Jordan as Richard; Nichole Lamb as Margaret; Yoshi Maysonet as Dion; Usman Ali Mughal as Lord Capulet/Sly; Jaydon Nget as Kempe; Kyra Smith as Titania; and Francisco Thurston as Cuthbert.
Music and Lyrics by Max Martin and Friends; Book by David West Read; Music Supervisor, Orchestrations and Arrangements by Bill Sherman; Choreographed by Jennifer Weber; Scenic Design by Soutra Gilmore; Costume Design by Paloma Young; Lighting Design by Howard Hudson; Sound Design by Gareth Owen; Video & Projection Design by Andrzej Goulding; Hair/Wig & Makeup Design by J. Jared Janas; Dance Captain, Francisco Thurston.
Through January 5th in the Opera House at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.467.4600 or visit the website at www.Kennedy-Center.org
From Yann Martell’s Extraordinary Novel “Life of Pi” Comes a Captivating and Visionary Five Star Fantasy at the Kennedy Center
Life of Pi
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
December 21, 2024
 Taha Mandviwala as Pi, and Richard Parker (Toussaint Jeanlouis, Shiloh Goodin, Anna Leigh Gortner) (Photo/Evan Zimmerman) This extraordinary production follows Yann Martell’s novel as closely as I can recall. Having read the philosophical novel in 2001 when it earned the worldwide attention of book critics, later garnering the Man Booker Prize, I recalled a most unusual story. It tells of Pi (Taha Mandviwala and on the night I saw it was performed admirably by his understudy Savidu Geevaratne), a teenager growing up in Pondicherry, India surrounded by his family and the wild animals at his father’s botanical zoo. He’s a playful boy full of questions about God. Each week he attends a mosque, a church and a temple searching for answers. His sister, Rani, keeps an eye on him. “I just want to love God,” he reveals, as the holy men offer up the virtues of their different religions.
Butterflies, neon-colored fish, an orangutan, a dog, a sea turtle, hyenas and a giraffe are among the myriads of creatures you will see during Pi’s adventures, with each one representing certain challenges to a boy faced with the unthinkable. “My story will make you believe in God,” he tells the audience.
The country is in turmoil when his father announces they are going to relocate to Canada by ship taking the animals with them to start a new life. Before leaving his father takes in a Bengal tiger with the odd name of Richard Parker. Pi foolishly sneaks into his cage and is caught by his father who wants to teach his son a lesson by tossing in a beloved goat which Richard Parker promptly devours. “This world is dangerous,” his father warns his son.
 Taha Mandviwala as Pi, and Richard Parker (Toussaint Jeanlouis, Shiloh Goodin, Anna Leigh Gortner) (Photo/Evan Zimmerman) When the ship sinks in a dangerous storm and everyone is lost at sea, Pi must fend for himself on a small lifeboat. Soon a zebra named Black & White as well as the menacing Richard Parker climb aboard the small boat and Pi must face the dangers that lie ahead. Months at sea with a small cache of food and water from a discovered survival kit force Pi to reckon with his dire situation when he is joined by an equally desperate hyena who climbs into the boat and makes a meal of the zebra eyeing Pi as his next victim. Pi, raised in a Muslim household, shuns meat, compounding his survival even more.
In his delirium and as conditions become more dire with the passing months, members of his long-lost family appear to him with advice on how to survive. Admiral Jackson who wrote the survival book Pi finds in his ration box, tells him, “Kill or be killed.” When Pi’s father appears in another dream, he advises Pi to dominate the big cat, and with a small whistle and a large oar, Pi bravely cows the beast.
The story incorporates his family life at the zoo and his colorful village to his confinement on the boat and later a raft tied to the boat to distance himself from the tiger, to Pi’s rescue from the middle of the Pacific Ocean to an infirmary in Tomatlán, Mexico where he is interviewed by Mr. Okamoto from the Department of Transportation and Lulu Chen from the Canadian Embassy – both determined to extract Pi’s story of the shipwreck and how he survived. Neither believe his report. “We want a different story,” they insist.
 Taha Mandviwala as Pi and Richard Parker (Toussaint Jeanlouis, Shiloh Goodin, Anna Leigh Gortner), Back-Sinclair Mitchell, Rishi Jaiswal, Betsy Rosen (Photo/Evan Zimmerman) I thought of the psychologist Carl Jung’s book, “Man and His Symbols” and Joseph Campbell’s work on mythologies to parallel Pi’s search for the answers to life’s greatest questions through dreams and imagination. Life of Pi is both an extraordinary fable and a brilliant production incorporating fantastical puppetry, which, if you are familiar with Julie Taymor’s puppetry in the musical The Lion King, will help you to understand how this highly inventive story is told with the most imaginative stagecraft. It’s true that the theme is complex, like life, yet the story is universal and told in a poetical manner with humor, grace and beauty.
Highly recommended!!! This is one of the most moving, intellectually stimulating and visionary productions. The cast is marvelous and the puppetry captivating and irresistibly clever.
LIFE_OF_PI_NATIONAL TOUR_Taha Mandviwala as Pi, and Richard Parker (Toussaint Jeanlouis, Shiloh Goodin, Anna Leigh Gortner)_Photo by EVAN_ZIMMERMAN (3) With Ben Durocher and Emmanuel Elpenord as Cook/Voice of Richard Parker; Sorab Wadia as Father; Sinclair Mitchell as Admiral Jackson/Russian Sailor/Father Martin; Jessica Angleskhan as Amma/Nurse/Orange Juice; Mi Kang as Lulu Chen/Mrs. Biology Kumar/Zaida Khan; Rishi Jaiswal as Mamaji/Pandit-Ji; Alan Ariano as Mr. Okamoto/Captain/Jai; Sharayu Mahale as Rani; Ben Durocher,Emmanuel Elpenord, Shiloh Goodin, Anna Leigh Gortner, Austin Wong Harper, Toussaint Jeanlouis, Intae Kim, Maya Rangulu, Betsy Rosen and Anna Vomacka as Richard Parker/Puppeteer.
Novel adapted by Lolita Chakrabati; Directed by Max Webster; Scenic and Costume Design by Tim Hatley; Puppetry and Movement Director Finn Caldwell; Puppet Design by Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell; Video & Animation Design by Andrzej Goulding; Lighting Design by Tim Lutkin & Tim Deiling; Sound Design by Carolyn Downing; Hair & Wig Design by David Brian Brown & Meg Murphy; Composer Andrew T. Mackay; Dramaturg Jack Bradley.
Through January 5th at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.467.4600 or visit the website at www.Kennedy-Center.org
Kennedy Center’s All Star Cast Shines in Fidelio – Beethoven’s Only Opera Merges Love, War and Tenderness
Fidelio
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
October 28, 2024
 Derek Welton (Pizarro), David Leigh (Rocco), Sinéad Campbell Wallace (Leonore), Jamez McCorkle (Florestan) (Photo/Cory Weaver) Hear ye! Hear ye! Ludvig Van Beethoven’s Fidelio is revived at the Kennedy Center! The only opera the composer ever wrote took him decades to finish and was poorly received when it premiered in Vienna in 1805. Since then, it has undergone the efforts of three librettists, overture substitutions and ten difficult years of struggles until ultimately becoming the sweeping opera we know today.
Written during the extreme censorship period after the French Revolution in the aftermath of the Reign of Terror, Beethoven was forced to work in secret and at the very same time he had begun to lose his hearing. It is a radical departure from the dire politics of the period and a time in which any discussion of peace, enduring love, and ultimate freedom from those in power would have meant imprisonment. In this climate, the composer who held firmly to the belief that love conquers all and love endures all things including torture, imprisonment and starvation, toiled.
 Sinéad Campbell Wallace and Jamez McCorkle (Photo/Cory Weaver) Based on a true story, Florestan (James McCorkle) is a revolutionary leader jailed in a Spanish prison for his political views. To free him, his faithful wife, Lenore (Sinéad Campbell Wallace) disguises herself as a man, Fidelio. Lenore as Fidelio comes to work for Rocco (David Leigh) the prison warden whose daughter, Marzelline (Tiffany Choe) has fallen madly in love with Fidelio thinking he’s a man, and spurned her avid suitor, Jaquino (Sahel Salam). Don Pizarro (Derek Welton) is the cruel governor of the prison who imprisoned Florestan. Deeming him to be a threat to his power, Pizarro plans to kill him. The French called this a “rescue opera” evolving from the term “opéra comique”. Because, yes! There are some very funny bits, especially in the mistaken identity of Fidelio as a man.
Erhard Rom’s set design on a two-tiered stage features backdrops by Projection Designers S. Katy Tucker and Kylee Loera who use black & white newsreels of marching troops and battles with headlines – “Ban on Public Assembly”, “Florestan Arrested” and “Free Florestan” – reflecting the tenor of public protests anywhere in the world. In fact, we are not entirely certain where this is taking place though it is highly relatable to oppressive governments both past and present. The vintage film clips reflect shades of Nazi Germany, Peron’s war on the people of Argentina or the Soviet Era under Stalin. Two (live!) German Shepherds suggest Germany, but it could be any repressive government then or now.
 Washington National Opera’s production of Fidelio (Photo/Cory Weaver) The drama revs up when Rocco asks Fidelio to help him dig Florestan’s grave before Don Pizarro’s imminent arrival with plans to murder Florestan. This is the moment when Lenore sees her husband in his cold, dark, dank cell chained to the wall and suffering from starvation. The duets are so beautiful and tender and the situation so dire and urgent that you will easily be swept up in the heart-breaking emotion of it all.
We don’t see megastar Denyce Graves as the kindly Prime Minister until the end when the prisoners are freed, but that doesn’t make it any less of a role. In fact, she was so excited to perform in this opera she revealed, “It will be my first time singing Beethoven, and Fidelio was the first opera I ever saw as a child, which happened to be the Washington National Opera!”
The 37-person Washington National Opera Chorus is lavishly underpinned by 11 supernumeraries and the entire Washington National Opera Orchestra to give this debut an extraordinarily full-throated back up.
If you’re a fan of Beethoven, you won’t want to miss seeing this presentation of his only opera.
 Tiffany Choe (Marzelline) and Sahel Salam (Jaquino) (Photo/Cory Weaver) Conductor Robert Spano; Costume Designer Anita Yavich; Lighting Designer Jane Cox; Dramaturg Kelly Rourke; Assistant Director Amy Hutchison. With Chaźmen Williams Ali as 1st Prisoner and Jim Williams as 2nd Prisoner/Prime Minister’s Assistant.
Through November 4th at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call te box office at 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
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