NEW AMERICAN OPERA PREVIEWS
From Page to Stage

BLOOD OF ANGELS
(30-minute staged highlights for Page to Stage)

Sunday, March 15, 2015

From Page to Stage Sunday, March 16, 2014

New American Opera Previews From Page to Stage Deirdre
A Haunting Celtic Tale of a powerful man, an ardent lover, and a mysterious woman from the otherworld,in a mythological and psychological thriller.
Featuring award-winning Encompass Singers and Composer
Brittany Palmer Deirde	Eapen Leubner Naoise	David Salsbery Fry King Conchubar	Jane Shaulis Musician	Thomas Kelso Mercenary
Artistic Director/Librettist Nancy Rhodes Music Director/Pianist Mara Waldman Composer Sameer Ramchandran       Angela Huff Costumes     Following the performance, Midge Woolsey of WQXR Radio moderated an onstage discussion with the Composer, Singers, and Musical Team.

The Astronaut’s Tale traces a young man’s life from his first experience of loss, his dog killed by a car, the appearance of a mysterious Einstein-like guide, his youthful desire to become an astronaut, marriage, and the fulfillment of his ambition.

The setting is our own time with its confrontation of science and religion. The opera concludes with a meditation on the nature of the cosmos and our experience of life and death within. The Astronaut’s dream was to be in outer space, but our afterlife is in the inner space where we dream.

Listen to Encompass' Nancy Rhodes interviewed on FQXi Community about The Theory of Everything and The Astronaut's Tale, March 30, 2012: The Sound of Physics.

"Dear Ann" from Charles Fussell's The Astronaut's Tale

"Dear Ab" from Charles Fussell's The Astronaut's Tale

Charles Fussell, Composer
Jack Larson, Librettist
Nancy Rhodes, Stage Director
Mara Waldman, Music Director/Conductor
Tony Bellomy, Pianist
Eric Fuqua, Stage Manager

CAST

Christopher Vettel (Narrator)
Eapen Leubner (Abel, known as Ab)
Brittany Palmer (Ann)
Frank Basile (Old Man, Peccavit, the Peddler)

Read more on The Astronaut's Tale page.

New American Opera Previews, From Page to Stage promotes contemporary opera to New York audiences though the presentation of staged excerpts of new opera in development. Providing an important opportunity for new composers and librettists to view their work-in-progress with an audience, provides a valuable tool for developing a stage-worthy new work, before it reaches  full-scale production. Post performance audience talk-backs with the creative team and singers, moderated by WQXR Radio host, Midge Woolsey, provide important audience and professional feedback for the creators during the development phase. New American Opera Previews, From Page to Stage creates vital opportunities for young artists to perform in the developing scenes and to work with new writers and composers. This forum provides a natural bridge from academic training to the professional stage.

Midge Woolsey, of WQXR and Public Television, has been a familiar face in New York City for two decades. She is best known for hosting local and national programming and fund-raising for Public Television. National programs include "The Three Tenors from Giants Stadium" and "The Three Tenors with James Levine". Midge has been the weekend announcer for WQXR, the classical station of the New York Times, since 1993. On both radio and television, she has interviewed such celebrities as Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, James Levine, Deborah Voigt, and Robert Merrill. Midge has also been involved with every aspect of the arts as a director, performer, project manager, and choreographer.

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~ PREVIOUS ENCOMPASS PRODUCTIONS ~
IN
NEW AMERICAN OPERA PREVIEWS, FROM PAGE TO STAGE

 

March 13, 2011
Angel of the Amazon

Music and Libretto by Evan Mack

More on Angel of the Amazon.

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March 14, 2010
The Theory of Everything

Music by John David Earnest
Libretto by Nancy Rhodes

More on The Theory of Everything.

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March 15, 2009
Four Saints in Three Acts

Text by Gertrude Stein
Music by Virgil Thomson
Oratorio Version

More on Encompass' full mainstage production of Four Saints in Three Acts
for the 75th Anniversary

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