OPERA NEO (2019) 

La Calisto - Assistant Director

La cenerentola, Eugene Onegin - Production Assistant

Summer Stock in San Diego

In 2019, I was hired to work as an one of three Assistant Directors at the Opera NEO festival in San Diego, CA. Over the course of five short weeks, the festival produced a cabaret concert and three operas, including La Cenerentola (directed by Ophélie Wolf), Eugene Onegin (directed by Peter Kozma), and La Calisto (directed by David Toro). My primary responsibility for the summer was to assist David Toro in his production of La Calisto, which was my first Baroque opera in nearly four years and my first as a director. Toro’s vision of the story updated the mythological Greek tale to a more modern and overtly political context: a world on fire was being presided over by a god who had all the power to stop it and only did something when it personally suited his agenda. Similar winks towards conditions in 2019 were peppered in throughout, and both the audience and cast learned (or affirmed) how immediate and relevant Baroque operas can be.

In addition to assistant-directing La Calisto, I also served as a production assistant for the other main stage operas, which the other AD’s did as well. Wolf set La Cenerentola in an updated setting similar to Toro, and used Don Magnifico’s cartoonish lust for power and adoration as a stand in for a certain politician. While there was some political allusion, the opera still maintained its inherent charm based on the ludicrous scenarios drawn up by Rossini and his librettist Ferretti. This was our first opera in the theatre, which required a lot of troubleshooting and problem-solving, but set us up for smoother sailing the following week.

Peter Kozma - the head of all things at Opera NEO, directed and conducted the production of Eugene Onegin. This opera was the most ambitious of the three programmed this summer, involving elaborate choreography created by AD Alyssa Weathersby, video content created specifically for this production as shot by Kozma, and a drastic costume and makeup change for the ensemble in Act III. We shot video for both La Cenerentola and Eugene Onegin, but the videos for Onegin proved to be the most challenging for either resource gathering or lighting, which I helped with all summer. There was a very intricate nightmare sequence that we were able to gather props for, incorporate into a frightening design done by AD Seamus Ricci, add lighting, and improvisatory blocking within the room in a day! Things I thought would be impossible at Opera NEO always had a way of coming together.

There were many great people behind the scenes at the festival, including Kelley, Sophi, and Sam on the administration side of things. Julius Sanchez - the festival’s stage manager - was a rockstar with one of the heaviest loads, and his energy helped keep daunting work as easy as it could be. The singers, pianists, and musical staff were equally good to work with, especially as many of them balanced multiple productions or projects at the same time. My two biggest thanks for festival staff would be Cameron Mock, who came and helped us as a lighting designer when we needed it most and taught me a couple of new tricks, and Peter Kozma for caring enough about his artists to give feedback for the moment and larger goals for the future.

Ultimately, though, I owe several important people an enormous THANK YOU for making all of this possible. In the spring, I fundraised to help defray the cost of traveling to and driving in and around San Diego during the time of our contract. Since I live in Florida during the summer, this travel assistance fund gathered through GoFundMe was invaluable, and many individuals from various parts of my life made significant financial gifts to help me focus on the artistic projects I had this summer and not worry about expenses.

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