The Voice of Tulsa Opera
A lunch time crowd at Whole Foods enjoys an impromptu performance by Tulsa Opera Studio Artists Sarah Louise Petrocelli and Stephanie Washington accompanied by pianist Mark Armstrong.
People often cry at the opera. It is almost a cliché. “Bring a hankie” is standard admonition to anyone on their way to their first Madama Buterfly or La Boheme. However, the tears of those who watched the film version of “Dead Man Walking” at the Circle Cinema last Tuesday night were different. There is nothing sentimental, melodramatic or “touching” about a story that deals with the brutal taking of two young lives, the grief of parents burying their children, the terror of a man who knows exactly when and how he is going to die, and one woman’s struggle to gain redemption for a man whose actions cannot be undone.
Here at the Tulsa Opera offices, things are getting very busy very quickly as we gear up for the Oklahoma premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, an opera we have spent several years planning. We have partnered with a number of local organizations to help connect you to the opera in different ways. We have planned an art show (at Living Arts of Tulsa), a screening of the Academy Award winning film (at Circle Cinema), a lecture by Sister Helen Prejean, and a special Inside the Composer’s Studio live interview with Jake Heggie. All of the details for each event is available at www.tulsaopera.com/events
Take a break from holiday planning and join us at The Language of Birds
December is already here, and all of us at Tulsa Opera are humming along getting ready for a number of very exciting upcoming projects!Tulsa Youth Opera will present the Oklahoma premiere of John Kennedy’s The Language of Birds at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 11. The performance will take place at Nathan Hale High School, 6960 E. 21st St., Tulsa, OK 74129. Admission is free to the public and all ages are invited to attend.
Here at the Tulsa Opera offices, we are busily preparing ourselves for the next opera we will be producing: Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. This opera premiered in October 2000 at San Francisco Opera and has gone on to garner great popular and critical acclaim. In the months before our exciting Tulsa premiere, we will be sharing with you some of the interesting stories and people behind this great American opera. To start us off, we would like you to meet Sister Helen Prejean, who lived this story. In the movie, her character was played by Susan Sarandon; at Tulsa Opera, Kirsten Chavez will make her long overdue role debut as Sister Helen. Read her remarkable biography which will help us all understand just a little more about this remarkable woman.
Tulsa Opera’s 2011-12 season has to be one of the most varied we’ve ever had: A famous romantic comedy, a powerful contemporary American drama and one of opera’s most beloved romantic melodramas.
If you are interested in buying it now, please contact the Development Department at (918)582-4035. Bids can also be placed via phone as well. Please call for more information.
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Lovesick women chasing after men who have more on their minds than romance. Fiercely independent women who use their beauty and powers of seduction to find fame and fortune. There are many exceptional roles for sopranos in the operatic repertoire; however many of the most well-known and treasured heroines might also be regarded as stereotypical. ...more
In preparation for our upcoming company premiere and original production of Norma, I had a chance to talk to Stanley M. Garner, the brilliant stage director (and one of Tulsa Opera’s favorites), about his vision for this new production. Garner has not only designed the set for this production, but he also designed the costumes, ...more