A RIOTOUS TWIST ON CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY, OFFENBACH'S ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD COMES TO OBERLIN COLLEGE'S HALL AUDITORIUM, NOVEMBER 17, 19, 20 & 21

Sung in English

Conducted by Steven Smith, former Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra

OBERLIN, OH—Jacques Offenbach will go to hell and back to make you laugh, in the uproarious satire Orpheus in the Underworld, opening on Wednesday, November 17, at 8 PM in Oberlin College's Hall Auditorium. Witty dialogue and an extravagant score (including an operatic cancan!) make this an opera to die for.

The conductor is Steven Smith, former assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and music director of the Oberlin Conservatory orchestras. Stage direction is by Jonathon Field, opera director and associate professor of Opera Theater. The opera will be sung in English, with English supertitles.

Performances of Orpheus in the Underworld are at 8 PM, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, November 17, 19, and 20, with a 2 PM matinee on Sunday, November 21. Hall Auditorium is wheel chair accessible, parking is free and hearing enhancement is available upon request. Orpheus in the Underwold is sponsored by the Oberlin Conservatory Opera Theater program (www.oberlin.edu/operathe) and produced in cooperation with the Oberlin College Theater and Dance Program (www.oberlin.edu/thedance) with generous support provided by the Louis C. Sudler Fund.

Synopsis and Director's Notes
Eurydice has had enough of her husband Orpheus, a violin virtuoso and director of the conservatory of Thebes, and has given up hiding her affair with the shepherd Aristeus. Aristeus, however, is in truth Pluto, the lord of the underworld, who stages a tragic death for Eurydice so he can take his beloved down to Hades. Orpheus feels relieved, for now he can fully devote himself to his female pupils. But at that point, Public Opinion steps in. After all, the reputation of classical antiquity is at stake, so he asks the characters to keep to the mythology. Thus Orpheus goes to the Underworld to retrieve his wife, who in the meantime has caught the attention of Jupiter. Later, at an extravagant party in Hades, Jupiter tries to sneak off with Eurydice, but Pluto bars the way and reminds them that Orpheus is on his way with Public Opinion. Jupiter and Cupid devise a plan, and when Orpheus demands the return of his wife, Jupiter sets the condition that Orpheus may not turn around to look at her as they exit Hades. The reluctant couple starts to depart together, but Jupiter hurls a thunderbolt and shocks Orpheus into turning around. To the delight of everyone but Public Opinion, Orpheus thus forfeits his right to Eurydice, and Jupiter transforms her into a priestess of Bacchus. (Information adapted from Boosey & Hawkes and Grove Music.)

"Offenbach's musical retelling turns classical mythology on its head," remarks director Field. "Orpheus can't stand his wife Eurydice, and is thrilled when she's carted off to the Underworld. To appease Public Opinion he embarks on a journey to bring her back � and he sees some rather ungodly behavior on the way!"

Performers and Production Team
This production of Orpheus in the Underworld features Oberlin Conservatory students double cast in the principal roles. The principals alternate performances, with one cast appearing Wednesday and Saturday, and the other Friday and Sunday. The principal roles include Pluto (Michael Sansoni '06); Jupiter (Damien Pass '06); John Styx (Mason McCamey '07); Mercury (John Orduna '07); Orpheus (Nicholas Bentivoglio '05); Mars (Jason Bayus '05); Eurydice (Colette Boudreaux '06, Desiree Brodka '07); Cupid (Marie Masters '05, Megan Radder '05); Diane (Jodi Gage '05, Meagan Brus '05); Public Opinion (Sara Fanucchi '05, Roin Hok '05); Juno (Abigail Peters '05); Venus (Megan Hart '05); and Minerva (Jennifer Forni '06). The ensemble includes Mara Adler '06, Graham Bier '05, Allison Choat '06, Jennifer Jakob '07, Jacob Kidder '07, Sarah Klauer '07, Kate Lerner '07, Colin Levin '07, Sam Levine '07, Kira McGirr '05, Ilene Pabon '07, Edward Parks '06, Munib Raad '06, Kevin Ray '07, Daniella Risman '06, Libby Shoup '08, Carlin Singer '06, Alice Teyssier '05, and Stephanie Washington '07.

The Oberlin production team of professional staff and students includes: Assistant Music Director Alan Montgomery; Assistant Director/Stage Manager Victoria Vaughan; Managing Director/Technical Director Michael Louis Grube, associate professor of theater; Scenic Designer Damen Mroczek, lecturer in theater; Costume Designer Chris Flaharty, associate professor of theater; Sound Engineer and Lighting Designer Jen Groseth, lecturer in theater; Costumer JoEllen Cuthbertson, lecturer in theater; and Assistant Stage Managers to be announced.

Jacques Offenbach (Composer, 1819-1880), French composer of German origin, composed some of the most exhilarating and tuneful music ever written; his Les contes d'Hoffman remains one of the most popular of French operas, though his most ssignificant achievements lie in the filed of operetta. Orpheus in the Underworld, La belle H�l�ne and other satirical products of Second Empire Paris remain pre-eminent in the operetta repertory, and it was through the success of Offenbach's works abroad that the operetta became an established international genre during the late 19th century and the early 20th. ("Offenbach," Andrew Lamb, www.grovemusic.com)

Steven Smith (Conductor) recently completed his tenure as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and music director of its Youth Orchestra. He is music director of the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus, Oberlin's associate professor of conducting, and music director of the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestras. Smith has guest conducted with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Houston, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Auckland, New Zealand. During the 2000-01 season, he led the Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Smith was associate conductor of the Kansas City Symphony from 1996-98, during which time he received the Conductor Career Development Grant and was named Foundation Artist by the Geraldine C. and Emory M. Ford Foundation. Also an active composer, Smith has been commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra, and his work has since been featured on National Public Radio and performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National and Columbus symphonies. Mr. Smith earned master's degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Jonathon Field (Director) has directed over 90 productions and is becoming one of America's most sought-after stage directors. His touring productions for the Lyric Opera of Chicago include Trouble in Tahiti, Gianni Schicchi, The Old Maid and the Thief, and The Spanish Hour. For San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theatre he directed La Cenerentola and Die Fledermaus and for Seattle Opera, an updated version of La Bohème. He has also directed Eugene Onegin and Boris Godunov in San Francisco and has been deemed the Arizona Opera's "most perceptive stage director." Since coming to Oberlin, he has directed Carmen, Slow Dusk, The Old Maid and the Thief, Roméo et Juliette, Così fan Tutte, Manon, Don Giovanni, Coyote Tales, La Cenerentola, Die Fledermaus, The Rake's Progress, The Bartered Bride, Alcina, and Hänsel und Gretel. As artistic director of Lyric Opera Cleveland, Field directed the 2002 production of Don Giovanni, which was nominated for the Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement. In the 2004 season Mr. Field directed Così fan Tutte and was the artistic director for Little Women.

UPCOMING OBERLIN OPERA THEATER EVENTS
OPERA SCENES 4 PM & 8 PM, Saturday, December 12; Kulas Recital Hall

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

8 PM, Wednesday, Friday, & Saturday, March 16, 18 & 19; 2 PM, Sunday, March 20 Hall Auditorium.

Guest Conductor to be Announced; Jonathon Field, director

Sung in Italian, with English supertitles.