UK Opera Theatre presents Hotel Casablanca
Friday, October 12, 7:30 PM
Lexington Opera House
Tickets: $34 adults, $27 UK Faculty/Staff, $30 Seniors, $12 students, $10 Children. Processing fees will apply. Tickets: Singletary Center

The Hotel Casablanca, Pasatieri’s 19th opera set to an original libretto by the composer is a comedy set in 1948 and follows a certain wealthy Texan couple and their attempts to “toughen up” their 25 year-old nephew visiting from New York.  Based on the Feydeau play, A Flea in Her Ear, and set at the mythical Double-T Ranch and the seedy Hotel Casablanca, riddled with assorted eccentric guests, the opera is composed for nine principal singers and an orchestra of seventeen musicians.  John Nardolillo will conduct and Richard Kagey will direct this new Pasatieri comedy.

PASATIERI FESTIVAL!

A series of events celebrating Thomas Pasatieri, composer of Hotel Casablanca. See the calendar of events for complete details, or download the Pasatieri Festival flyer (PDF).

The Hotel Casablanca Opera Project

by Everett McCorvey

Two years ago, when the Singletary Center for the Arts was searching for someone to become their new director, three candidates came to Lexington as finalists to interview for the position.  One of the candidates was a director of an arts center at a regional university and a colleague whom I had met previously while serving on a Kentucky Arts Council grants panel.  I encouraged this colleague to apply for this position.    Because UK Opera Theatre is one of the larger clients of the Singletary Center, I was allowed a brief audience with each candidate. After each audience, I gave UK Opera CD’s, DVD’s and publicity materials as parting gifts to each candidate in order to acquaint the interviewees with our work here at UK Opera.

I also included a CD of THE TENDER LAND by Aaron Copland.  UK Opera’s recording is one of only two full length recordings of this opera that exist!  In 2000 I took the entire cast of THE TENDER LAND to the Czech Republic to record the opera, which was eventually released commercially by Albany Records.

After reviewing these materials, my colleague asked me if I knew of Thomas Pasatieri.  I answered that of course I knew of Mr. Pasatieri through his numerous art song compositions and his work as a film scorer in the film industry.  She indicated that Pasatieri was looking for a university to partner with on the premiere of his new opera HOTEL CASABLANCA, and asked if she could send our materials to him.  I encouraged her to do so!  In less than a week, I received a wonderful e-mail from Thomas Pasatieri which had in the subject line, “Thomas Pasatieri Loves Opera!”  This was the beginning of a wonderful, ongoing conversation!

Mr. Pasatieri was very intrigued by our press materials and recordings but I wanted him to see our product live.  I invited him to Lexington to attend our upcoming production of THE MAGIC FLUTE and also to give a master class to our vocal students. He agreed and in the spring of 2006 traveled to Lexington to see the production and work with our singers.  His visit was a great success -- both the students and Mr. Pasatieri were pleased with the new relationship.  During his visit, we had several production meetings with the newly assembled creative staff in order to discuss the HOTEL CASABLANCA project.   Pasatieri suggested a partnership with the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Young Artist program to present the opera in two productions using separate casts but the same creative team.

Named for Gaetano Merola, San Francisco Opera's first General Director, the Merola Opera Program is an 11-week intensive summer training program featuring classes and public performances of operas to give the selected artists a comprehensive education at this early point in their careers. Each year, nearly 800 artists between the ages of 20 and 34 audition at sites across the country and approximately 29 are chosen, making it an illustrious honor to be accepted into the Merola Opera Program. 

The following month, stage director Richard Kagey came to Lexington to see a performance of UK Opera’s summer production IT’S A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING!  This was an opportunity for him to get to know our program, meet our faculty, staff and students.  He was very excited by what he saw and voiced his excitement concerning working on the HOTEL CASABLANCA project with UK Opera Theatre.

The next process was to meet with the staff from San Francisco Opera. The director of San Francisco Opera’s Merola program is Sheri Greenwald.  Ms. Greenwald has a long and extensive resume of performing all over the world.  A long time friend and collaborator with Thomas Pasatieri, Ms. Greenwald was excited as well about the joint project.  With strong recommendations from Thomas Pasatieri and Richard Kagey, the project was confirmed.  After several meetings by phone conference, the following agreement was established to define the UKOT/SFO-Merola collaboration:

• UK will build the set.  After the multi-city premieres, UK opera will own the production and make it available for rental to other opera companies around the country.
• SFO will rent the set from UK Opera just as it rents from other professional opera companies.
• Each company will build and own its own costumes.
• Thomas Pasatieri and Richard Kagey will hold auditions for HOTEL CASABLANCA in Lexington and they will personally select the cast.
• After the production, the UK Opera cast will record the production for national and international release through Albany Records of New York.
• UK will endeavor to hold a Thomas Pasatieri art song recital during the time of the opera production so that  other students can be involved in getting to know Thomas Pasatieri and his music.

So far, the collaboration has been a huge success. We have collaborated not only with SFO but with other members of our professional theatre community at UK and in Lexington.

• David Steinmetz from the UK Theatre built the set from stage director Richard Kagey’s design.
• UK Opera’s Marc Schlackman served as Technical Director on the UK set building project.
• The set was built in the scene shop at UK Department of Theatre.
• 17 students and 5 opera staff members will travel to San Francisco to work with the San Francisco Opera staff on the production.
• Students will have an Auditions master class offered by Merola Director Sheri Greenwald and Music Director Mark Mason, as well as a Master Class with Thomas Pasatieri.
• Students will attend the final dress and the San Francisco premiere of HOTEL CASABLANCA

This is one of the very few times that one of the Big 5 opera companies has partnered with a public university in such a meaningful way.  I am hopeful that as the word gets out about this collaboration there will be more opportunities of this nature with other companies. 

Finally, a few words about Lexington’s production of the opera, and a special evening of Pasatieri’s art songs:

The Opera:

The Hotel Casablanca
Music and Libretto by Thomas Pasatieri
Sung in English

October 12, 13, 19, 20, 2007
All performances at 7:30 p.m.
Lexington Opera House
Tickets available through the Singletary Center Box Office (859) 257-4929

The Hotel Casablanca, Pasatieri’s 19th opera set to an original libretto by the composer is a comedy set in 1948 and follows a certain wealthy Texan couple and their attempts to “toughen up” their 25 year-old nephew visiting from New York.  Based on the Feydeau play, A Flea in Her Ear, and set at the mythical Double-T Ranch and the seedy Hotel Casablanca, riddled with assorted eccentric guests, the opera is composed for nine principal singers and an orchestra of seventeen musicians.  John Nardolillo will conduct and Richard Kagey will direct this new Pasatieri comedy.

The Songs:

Songs of Thomas Pasatieri
October 15, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
Singletary Center for the Arts, Recital Hall
FREE andOpen to the Public

Thomas Pasatieri, composer and librettist of HOTEL CASABLANCA, will spend a rare evening with us in Lexington, featuring singers from the UK Opera Theatre with a selection of his art songs for our enjoyment.  Pasatieri, known world wide for his art song compositions, is also highly regarded for his neo-romantic operas.  In addition, he is known in the film industry for orchestrations of such films as Shawshank Redemption, Fried Green Tomatoes, and The Horse Whisperer.

Information on Thomas Pasatieri is available on his website.

Submitted by Dr. Everett McCorvey
Executive Producer Hotel Casablanca
Director of UK Opera Theater
Endowed Professor of Voice

July 31, 2007

University of Kentucky Opera
Everett McCorvey, Director
Meriah Kruse, Program Coordinator
101 Koinonia House
412 Rose St
Lexington Kentucky 40508
859 257-9331
ukopera@gmail.com