Act Too Studio Opera Workshop

Teen-powered opera

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Coming Summer 2017: Cosi fan tutti!

Yes, you read that right, our adaptation of W.A. Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte is so drastic, we’ve had to change the title! Once a humorous treatise on the fickleness of women (the title can roughly be translated to “All women are like that”), our modern take seeks to explore just how screwed up we all are when it comes to love, and how our preconceived notions about relationships, gender roles, and the nature of devotion lead us to disastrous (and in this case, hilarious) consequences.

Our extreme adaptation of Mozart’s popular opera features (among other things) time travel, gender-switching, fantasy tabletop role-playing, a Marriage of Figaro crossover, chocolate beverages, a twin-operated cafe, snorkeling gear, and some of the most beautiful music ever written.

Cast:
Don Alfonso: Brandon Dallmann
Ferrando: McKenna Troy
Guglielmo: Eliza Carson
Fiordiligi: Calandra Damouras
Dorabella: Ayla Connor-Kirshbaum
Barbarina: Julia Jemsek
Carina: Carina Gravante-Gunnells
Milena: Milena Gravante-Gunnells

Ensemble: Sarah Fischer, Isabelle Bouvier, Greyson Lynch, Craig Judicki, Parker Black, Brayden Stallmann, Liam Shannon

Music by W.A. Mozart, edited by James David Jacobs
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, adapted by James David Jacobs
Directed by Melinda Beasi
Musical Direction by Lemuel Gurtowsky
Stage Manager: Abigail Morris
Assistant Stage Manager: Angela Oldham Barca

Artwork by KaiJu

August, 2017, Gateway City Arts

Stay tuned for more information, including performance dates and times!

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Vote for Act Too Studio Opera Workshop!

Those of you who follow us on social media will already know that the Workshop is currently in the running to receive a small business grant from FedEx, including the top amount of $25,000, and the first step is for us to make it to the top 100 businesses. To do that, we need your vote! Please CLICK HERE to cast your vote. You can vote again every 24 hours between now and April 5th!

A grant like this would really take the strain off of our next summer opera production—an ambitious re-imagining of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte for a modern audience, with new chamber orchestrations and a new English adaptation—including production costs (costumes, props, creative staff, musicians, rehearsal and performance space), and provide much-needed support for future programming, as well as making our growing catalogue of opera adaptations available for production by other like-minded programs for young singers. We are also beginning to seek our own space, which would be greatly helped by a financial boost like this! Please consider casting a vote now!

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Il sogno d’Arianna photo books available!

We’re pleased to announce that these photo books featuring scenes from 2016’s summer opera production, Il sogno d’Arianna, previously only offered to cast members and their families, are now available for purchase by anyone! Available at the studio or by mail (check with us about shipping). Email info@acttoostudio.com to order! Limited quantities available at these special prices!

Il sogno d’Arianna Photo Book — $35
Photographs by Paul Beasi, 43 pgs, glossy cover, regular binding, includes quotes from the original English libretto

Il sogno d’Arianna Photo Book, Premium Edition — $65
Photographs by Paul Beasi, 35 pgs, matte cover, lay-flat binding, extra-thick paper, full page images

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Act Too Studio Opera Workshop Presents: 24 Italian Songs & Arias

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Live & livestreamed for #GivingTuesday, Act Too Studio Opera Workshop students perform the G. Schirmer anthology 24 Italian Songs and Arias of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in its entirety, as a fundraiser for their 2016-2017 workshop season, including their adaptation of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, coming up in the summer of 2017.

The event features current workshop members (ages 13-18), singing this time-honored anthology in full, with bonus songs from its updated version, 28 Italian Songs and Arias, as special rewards to be performed throughout the evening as our fundraising benchmarks are reached!

Local Supporters: Please bring and USE your smartphones during the performance to encourage your friends and family to support our students’ efforts! Cake and other snacks will be provided! Act Too Studio merchandise will be for sale at the venue as well!

All Supporters: This event will be LIVE STREAMED via ConcertWindow for those who cannot attend in person! Join our Facebook Event for updates! THERE WILL BE SING-ALONGS (music provided).

Tuesday, November 29th, 7:00 PM
Gateway City Arts – Judd Paper Hall
92-114 Race St., Holyoke, MA
Directions & parking info

Admission is free, donations gratefully accepted!

Please consider us in your end of the year giving. CLICK HERE TO DONATE.

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#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.

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ATS Opera Workshop on the radio!

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As we’re gearing up for the opening of our summer opera Il sogno d’Arianna tonight at the Academy of Music, I had a chat with 93.9 The River’s Monte Belmonte, talking about the piece and about our incredible teens. Major bonus: audio of yesterday’s sitzprobe, including some of our singers and our gorgeous string section. If you missed it on air, you can listen to it as a podcast on the River website here!

And please join us this weekend for our world premier of this new English libretto, written especially for our production!

August 5th & 6th at the Academy of Music, Northampton
$12 Adults, $7 Students – Tickets on sale now at the Academy Box Office!

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Photos copyright © 2016 Paul Beasi

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Il sogno d’Arianna: Combattimento preview!

ONLY THREE DAYS LEFT of our Indiegogo campaign to raise money for our summer opera production, which will open at the Academy of Music next weekend! Please enjoy this footage from rehearsals of the evening’s most epic piece, “Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” (complete with sword-fighting!) and consider donating to our cause! DONATE HERE

August 5th & 6th at the Academy of Music, Northampton
$12 Adults, $7 Students – Tickets on sale now at the Academy Box Office!