Opera Twin Bill: Pietà and Suor Angelica at Oklahoma City University

Oklahoma City University opens its 72nd consecutive year of opera Nov. 17-19 with two one-acts: Suor Angelica by Giacomo Puccini and the American premiere of Pietà, a contemporary work by Jack Landau and Andrea DelGiudice that was inspired by and intersects with the Puccini classic.

Jan McDaniel will lead the 50-piece OCU opera orchestra for the twin bill. Suor Angelica will be performed in Italian and Pietà in English, with projected supertitles.

OCU’s award-winning Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company will present three performances in Kirkpatrick Auditorium. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee.

Tickets ($15-30) available from www.okcu.edu/tickets or 405.208.5227

The works focus on the lives, connections, and imprisonment of three generations of women, exploring “the eventual meaning of motherhood, mercy and hope,” said DelGiudice, director and co-librettist of Pietà. She will present free pre-show talks 30 minutes before curtain.

“This double bill of Pietà and Suor Angelica is more than simply an update of Puccini’s opera that is meant to appeal to contemporary sensibilities,” an indieopera.com review noted after the work’s 2021 Narnia Festival premiere. "By offering a more multifaceted take on the plot, audiences get to hear a plurality of voices…the issues brought to light by these operas are more nuanced, and the people they depict are much more real.”

DelGiudice said Pietà’s story is told through the perspective of young Editta and explores her connection to Suor Angelica. “It is life’s circumstances, which bring these two women together, and is at the heart of my work as a director.” 

The composer praises DelGiudice’s approach to “de-victimize old portrayals of female characters in opera.”

“As a composer, it’s my honor to write music that allows these characters to express the full complexity of their humanity, integrating contemporary musical theater techniques, and crossover, into traditional operatic voices,” said Landau, who will be guest artist at OCU's Nov. 17 Project 21 Composers’ Forum.

The operas feature costumes by Alyssa Couturier-Herndon, lighting design by Hal Piper, scenic design by Jason Foreman and choreography by Francesca Savone.

The productions will be preceded by an opening night dinner at 5:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 ($25, reservations required: 405.208.5227) in the Bass Music Center Atrium.

For details, visit: www.okcu.edu/music or www.okcu.edu/bassschoolofmusic.

THE CAST Featuring Christen Mayer and Amelia Unger as Angelica; Audrey Logan and Isabella Ruano as Genovieffa; Irma Gonzalez and Emma Mize as Editta/Principessa; Alyssa Crowley and Sahara Seifried as Fia/La zelatrice; Ivan Moreno and James Pendergast as Giorgio; Joshua Cominsky and Logan Dooley as Ugo; Kaytlyn Eagleton as Rosanella/La badessa; Elizabeth Nolting as Direttrice/La maestra delle novizie; Madilynn Stelzer as Osmina/Dolcina; Hazel Brady as Dulce/La sorella infirmiera;  Holly Parker as Francesca/Prima sorella cercatrice; Maeve Sullivan as Seconda sorella cercatrice; Camryn Creech as Chiara/La novizia; Fiona Scott and Lucy Abramowitz as Le converse; Alexia DelGiudice-Bigari as Odele. Additional chorus members include Meg Brown, Emma Maki, Psalm Ambos, Alessandro Guacciardi, Adam Basco and Harrison Hitt.

THE ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLIN    

Sydney McCleary, concertmaster

Sarina Paolini, assistant concertmaster

Alaina Brady-Hummingbird

Isabella Mertins

Grace Cavett

Grant Dominick

SECOND VIOLIN   

Andrew White*

Weston Tweddell

Winter Durham

Kynlee Cook

Shaelen Uthe

Cassidy Ferguson

VIOLA                  

Scotty Scott*

Patrick Acosta

Eylin Rocha

Florence Thompson

 CELLO                  

Christophe Delgado*

Kiegan Ryan

Kya Millirons

Ella Brown

BASS                    

Jackson Burnette*

Nathan Hobbs

FLUTE                  

Katie Crim, principal

Emma Gaona

PICCOLO

Jenny Nguyen

OBOE                   

Mary Grace Schayot, principal

Lauren Vaca

ENGLISH HORN

Joshua Roberts

CLARINET           

Christopher Maxwell, principal

Edgar Hernandez

BASS CLARINET

Julia Kahmann

BASSOON          

Emma Stoddard, principal

Joseph Quick

HORN                  

Jacob Fleury, principal

Katelyn Thomas

Andrew Crawford

Michael Pulliam

TRUMPET          

Bruno Zuniga, principal

Gabe Carter

Wayne Hoover

 TROMBONE

Brandon Lowe, principal

Emma Neasby

Joshua Tobias

Ben Rihner

TIMPANI

Alex McDaniel

PERCUSSION

Seth Cox

TBA

CELESTE/HARPSICHORD

TBA

PIANO/ORGAN

Jay Teemer

HARP

Emily Duncan