October 7th – 9th 2016
Creative Team
Vasco Mendoca, Composer
Etienne Siebens, Music Director
R.B Schlatther, Director
Rachel Calloway, “Sister”
Robert Mellon, “Brother”
Jax Messenger, Lighting/Stage Design
Terese Wadden, Costume Design
Anne Ford Coates, Hair and Make Up Design
Kathleen Stakenas, Stage Manager
Nolan Robertson, Orchestra Coordinator and Co-Producer
Miriam Charney,Vocal Coach
Brian Daurelle, Vocal Pianist
Benjamin Grow, Music/Orchestra Prep Conductor
Miriam Charney,Vocal Coach
Brian Daurelle, Vocal Pianist
Benjamin Grow, Music/Orchestra Prep Conductor
And the Musicians from Manhattan School of Music
Commissioned by LOD muziektheater & Festival d’Aix en Provence.
Opera programming at NS is supported in part by a generous gift from Alberto Cribiore.
About the opera
The House Taken Over by composer Vasco Mendonça and librettist Sam Holcroft
An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being “taken over” by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence RB Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 7, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 9, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 8, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
Other Opera Events
Tragedy Opera with Julia Holter, Zoe Aja Moore, Yelena Zhelezov, and wildUp
June 23, 2017 - 7:00pmIn his play Hippolytus, written over two thousand years ago, Euripides explored the tragic depths of human shame and self-destruction under oppressive powers, themes which remain relevant today. In 2011, Julia Holter recorded an album called Tragedy inspired by Hippolytos and setting some of its text, and now artists Yelena Zhelezov and Zoe Aja Moore are working with Holter to create a staging of Tragedy at National Sawdust.
Glass Handel
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 8, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
Queens of the Night: Mozart in Space
October 31, 2016 - 10:00pm Don your fabulous space suits! Heartbeat Opera presents its third annual Benefit Drag Extravaganza for one spectacular night of eye-popping fashion, divalicious coloraturas, and galactic Halloween revelries. Praised as "radical," "fiery," and "boisterous" by The New Yorker, Heartbeat brings opera into the twenty-first century – creating new adaptations and orchestrations and designing visceral encounters between artists and audiences.
ALL THE WORLD’S A DRAG: Shakespeare in Love…with opera
Oct 31, 2017 - 10:00pm Don thy codpieces, neck ruffs, and farthingales -- Shakespeare cometh! Heartbeat Opera, “one of the most agile and dynamic companies on New York's indie opera scene” (Opera News) proudly presents its fourth annual Drag Extravaganza for two nights of divalicious coloraturas, eye-popping fashion, and Halloween revelries.
Opera on Tap and The Curiosity Cabinet Present: One Night of Excess
March 8, 2017 - 10:00pmOne Night of Excess is a sensual one-act opera that explores darkness, sexuality, sensuality, and their co-mingling. The work encourages the audience to abandon self-consciousness and explore their own role as voyeur for an evening of seduction and storytelling. This work marks the first collaboration between composers Whitney George and Daniel Felsenfeld - co-directors of The Curiosity Cabinet.
Anthony Roth Costanzo: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo CLOSED Rehearsal
Closed rehearsal of the upcoming Opera residency. This Rehearsal is closed to the public.
A Mouth is Not for Talking: La voix humaine
March 10, 2017 - 7:00pm In this theatrical concert, Poulenc and Cocteau’s cautionary tale La voix humaine receives a reflective update when paired with world premiere songs from Forrest Pierce’s The Burning Harp, set to texts of Rumi. Soprano Laura Bohn and pianist Mila Henry’s dual conversation forces listeners to ask: in this age of technology, can we connect with others without losing ourselves?
FERUS Festival: Sarah Hennies & Mara Baldwin “Come ‘Round Right”
January 12th
Dawn Upshaw
R.B. Schlather Presents: Ariodante Workshop Performance
December 21, 2016 - 7:00pm Open workshop of Handel’s Ariodante. Directed R.B. Schlather; Conducted by Geoffrey McDonald. Composed in 1734 by George Frideric Handel.
ALL THE WORLD’S A DRAG: Shakespeare in Love…with opera
Oct 31, 2017 - 7:30pm Don thy bejewelled codpieces, thy neck ruffs and farthingales: Shakespeare cometh! Heartbeat Opera proudly presents its fourth annual Drag Extravaganza for two nights of divalicious coloraturas, eye-popping fashion, and Halloween revelries.
