trouble in tahiti [bernstein]
[03/2015]
conductor | CODRUT BIRSAN
designer | GEORGE CEDERQUIST
lighting designer | CLAIRE SANGSTER
photographer | CATHY JOY PHOTOGRAPHY
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The performance begins with a set of standards, sung by the opera’s Jazz Trio: Jenny Schuler…
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…Jonathan Zeng…
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…and Tobias Wright.
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The Trio then become the narrators of the opera, setting the scene in American suburbia.
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Dinah (Julia Elise Hardin) searches for connection and meaning…
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…in her marriage with Sam (Aaron Wardell).
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Dinah tells her analyst (Jonathan Zeng) about a dream in the aria “There is a Garden.”
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Sam breaks off his affair with his secretary (Jenny Schuler).
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Victorious in the handball final, Sam celebrates with a massage from his trainer (Tobias Wright).
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Dinah works out with her personal trainer (Jenny Schuler) during the opera’s showstopping number “What a movie”…
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…which turns into a fantasy island romance (with Jonathan Zeng).
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The opera’s final image finds Sam and Dinah back at home, as unconnected as before.