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The Grapes of Wrath (opera)
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The Grapes of Wrath is an opera in three acts composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a libretto by Michael Korie based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel of the same title. The opera was commissioned by the Minnesota Opera and co-produced with Utah Symphony & Opera, with music The Minnesota Opera ran its world premiere of the opera February 10, 13, 15, 17, and 18, 2007, at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Utah Symphony & Opera ran its performances (in a modified version) on May 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20, 2007, at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Encyclopedia
The Grapes of Wrath is an opera in three acts composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a libretto by Michael Korie based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel of the same title. The opera was commissioned by the Minnesota Opera and co-produced with Utah Symphony & Opera, with music The Minnesota Opera ran its world premiere of the opera February 10, 13, 15, 17, and 18, 2007, at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Utah Symphony & Opera ran its performances (in a modified version) on May 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20, 2007, at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. The world premiere broadcast was heard on Minnesota Public Radio on September 19, 2007. A revised version of the opera was performed at Pittsburgh Opera in November 2008. Its collegiate premiere will be at the Moores School of Music of the University of Houston in March 2009.
Synopsis
Setting: Oklahoma, Southwestern America, and California in the mid-1930s
Prologue
The sharecroppers recall the devastation of their native Oklahoma lands, brought about by drought and economic depression.
Act I
Having been released early from prison on parole for good behavior, Tom Joad meets up with Jim Casy, a lapsed preacher. When they get to the deserted and destroyed Joad family farm, they discover that the bank has foreclosed on it. To and Jim decide to accompany the family to California, where fruit picking jobs are supposed to be plenty. Al Joad buys an old truck, and the family loads up the few possessions they can take. Connie and Rosasharn dream of a new life and home for Moses, their unborn baby. The next day the Joads bury Grampa, who has died during the night. The family then continues their journey down Route 66.
Act II
At a diner, the Joads experiences contempt from the truckers and waitresses when they try to buy only the food they can afford, but the diner owner and waitress decide to act out of compassion. Crossing the Mojave, Granma dies during the night, but Ma keeps her death a secret until they get to California. At the Endicott Farm, the scene flashes back to 1849, when George Endicott plants his first plum tree. In the present time, growers inform the Joads that there's no work there. Another flash to 1924: George Endicott, the grandson, has become a successful businessman. Back in the present, the locals rally - with the influx of Okie laborers, their wages have been slashed. Nearby, plums are being burned, rather than being given to the hungry croppers. The Joads continue on to a Hooverville - a squalid shantytown. Ma struggles to keep the family together. Connie regrets leaving Oklahoma and storms off, never to return. The next day, the Joad men get involved with unscrupulous contractors. A woman is killed in the struggle, and Tom knocks a deputy unconscious, violating parole. Casy volunteers to stay behind and take the blame as the Joads escape to the truck. Noah Joad, feeling himself a burden on the family, goes to the creek and drowns himself.
Act III
Newly relocated at a clean, self-policing government camp, the Joads feel like people again. Local farm owners send in agitators to cause a fight during a hoedown so they can close down the camp, but the croppers remain peaceful. Pa persuades the Joads to go to a new farm. They realize that they have been brought in as scabs, triggering a riot outside the camp. Tom meets up with Jim Casy, now an agitator for farm workers' rights. When Casy is bludgeoned to death by a deputy, Tom kills him and goes into hiding. The remaining Joads find work picking cotton and taking shelter in a boxcar. During the rainy season, Rosasharn goes into labor, but delivers a stillborn child. Ma asks Pa to go bury Moses while Rosasharn recovers to ease her pain; Pa instead chooses to cast Moses' dead body into the river so that everyone can see "the fruits of their blindness." The raging river has flooded the remaining Joads out of their home. The truck is swept away in the water, and Al is lost when he goes after it. Ma, Pa, Ruthie, Winfield, and a very weak Rosasharn seek refuge in a barn, where they find a boy and his starving father. Ma intuitively knows what Rosasharn must do, and users everyone else outside. Rosasharn nourishes the starving man with milk from her breast.
Creative team
Conductor Grant Gershon
Stage Director and Dramaturg Eric Simonson
Assistant Director Doug Scholz-Carlson
Set Designer Allen Moyer
Costume Designer Kärin Kopischke
Lighting Designer Robert Wierzel
Projections Designer Wendall Harrington
Sound Designer C Andrew Mayer
Choreographer Doug Varone
Assistant Choreographer Heidi Spesard-Noble
Wig Master & Makeup Tom Watson & Associates
Production Stage Manager Alexander Farino
Assistant Stage Managers Angie Spencer and Casey Martin
For Utah Opera
Wigs and Make-up Designer Jennifer Lloyd
Chorus Master Susanne Sheston
Musical Preparation Carol Anderson, Jason Hardnick & Kimi Kawashima
Stage Manager Bethany Ann Wright
Minnesota cast
Tom Joad, a released prisoner Brian Leerhuber
Ma Joad, family matriarch Deanne Meek
Rosasharn, Tom’s pregnant sister Kelly Kaduce
Jim Casy, a lapsed preacher Roger Honeywell
Pa Joad, a tenant farmer Peter Halverson
Uncle John, Pa’s brother Robert Orth
Granma, Pa and John’s mother Rosalind Elias
Grampa, her husband Dan Dressen
Noah, Tom’s slow-witted brother Andrew Wilkowske
Al, their younger brother Joshua Kohl
Connie Rivers, Rosasharn's husband Jesse Blumberg
Ruthie, their younger sister Maeve Moynihan
Winfield, their younger brother Henry Bushnell
Featured roles Theodore Chletsos, Anna Jablonski, Greg Pearson, Kelly Markgraf, Karin Wolverton
Chorus Kyle Albertson, Alison Bates, Kory Bickel, Karen Bushby, Andrea Coleman, Ben Crickenberger, Steve Dahlberg, Jennifer Eckes, Andy Elfenbein, Carole Finneran, Peter Frenz, Brandon Glosser, Tracey Gorman, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Katherine Haugen, Michelle Hayes, Robin Helgen, Sandy Henderson, James Howes, Kathleen Humphrey, Ben Johnson, Tor Johnson, Brian Jorgensen, Roy Kallemeyn, Maggie Lofboom, Elizabeth Longhurst, Eric Mahutga, Tom Matchinsky, Eric Mellum, Cortez Mitchell, Edward Mout, Matt Neil, Janet Paone, Rick Penning, Nili Riemer, Steve Sandberg, Joy Scheib, Cathryn Schmidt, Robert Schmidt, Sandra Schoenecker, Joel Swearingen, Hugo Vera, Eric Vollen, Kevin Werner, Sarah Wigley
Supernumeraries Ashlee Fuss, Noah Gilbertson, Kenny Kiser, Kacie Riddle, David Ross, Alex Sundvall, David Wiles
Utah cast
Tom Joad Brian Leerhuber
Ma Joad Deanne Meek
Rosasharn Jennifer Aylmer
Jim Casy Roger Honeywell
Pa Joad Peter Halverson
Uncle John Robert Orth
Granma Mary Ann Dresher
Grampa Todd Miller
Connie Rivers Jesse Blumberg
Noah Joad James Rollins
Al Joad Joshua Kohl
Ruthie Erin McDermott*
Winfield Connor McCoy*
Featured Ensemble: Theodore Chletsos, Kory Bickel, Gregory Pearson, Karin Wolverton, Kathleen Humphrey, Aaron Pegram
* Choristers of the Madeleine Choir School
Chorus:
Soprano: Angela Lewis, Carolyn Klassen, Shannon Kessler, Marilee Packer, Julie McBeth, Janilyn Anderson, Karen Larsen, Katie Hochman, Lyndsay Browning
Alto : Christine McDonough, Ann Allan, Lori Fisher, Mary Sorensen, Paula Fowler, Rebecca Law, Sue Solim, Jennifer Hancock, Madelyn Gilbert, Sammie Tollestrup, Susan Naud, Elisabeth Bieber
Tenor: Tony Porter, Doug Brunker, Tanner Knight, Patrick Langford, Allen Whitesides, David Arrington, Seth Gruber, Fielding Smith, Darrin Young, Shane Sim
Bass: Jayson Henderson, Nelson LeDuc, Scott Noel, Sean Savidge, Thomas Klassen, Kyle Hall, Jon Schild, Chad Sloan, Joe Larsen
Supernumeraries: C. P. Elliot, David Lamb, Matthew Klassen*, Katelyn Klassen*, Antona Yost*, Lucius Bynum*, David Payne*
Pittsburgh cast
Tom Joad Craig Verm
Ma Joad Elizabeth Bishop
Rosasharn Danielle Pastin
Jim Casy Sean Panikkar
Pa Joad Peter Halverson
Uncle John Robert Orth
Granma Anna Singer
Grampa Joseph Frank
Connie Rivers Jesse Blumberg
Noah Joad Andrew Wilkowske
Al Joad Jason Karn
Ruthie Michelle Coben
Winfield Joseph Serafini
Featured Ensemble: Anna Jablonski, Karin Wolverton, Kelly Markgraf, Theodore Chletsos, Gregory Pearson, Sean Donaldson, Dean Kokanos, William Buchanan, Bob Simoni, Jeff Link, Jason Steele, Maliq Cunningham
Chorus:
Soprano: Lilly Abreu, Cheryl Shenefelt Bush, Lara Lynn Cottrill, Jamie Fair, Judith Jenkins, Stephanie Kasper, Eileen H. Murray, Jessica Scheer, Katy Shackleton-Williams, Denise Sheffey-Powell, Carol Wolfe
Alto : Janice Garrone, Angela Madia, Kellie McCurdy-Ryan, Barbara McDonough, Jennifer Neslund, Cynthia Pratt, Eva Rainforth, Veronika Schmidt, Amanda Serra
Tenor: Enrique Bernardo, William Buchanan, William Fisher, Eric Haines, Michael Jankosky, David Knouse, Jeffrey Link, Richard Mikol, Robert Pruitt, John Sereno, Mark Spondike, John Walters
Bass: Brian Barrett, Peter Bianchi, Jesse Lee Davis II, Sean G. Donaldson, John F. Hastings, David Jenning-Smith, Robert Allen Kurth, Christopher G. Laret, Timothy Marquette, Joshua Mulkey, Robert Simoni, Jason Steele
Supernumeraries: Nicholas Angelou, Justin Giles, J.R. Graff, Richard Ivaun, Victor Kivuva, Steve McGalla, Robert Murray, D.J. Robinson, Maggie Scanlion, Ken Shen, Odette Sherk, Camden Williams
Chorus Master: Mark Trawka
Further reading & listening
External links
Opera companies
Publicity and reviews: Minnesota
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