The production team, casts, and winning micro-operas you experienced in the 6th Annual Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera showcase (2024)
Stage Director & Producer – Julie Fiore
Music Director & PIanist – Joseph Choi
Technical Director – Gus Sterneman
Assistant Director – Carol Brown
Stage Manager – Suzanne Smith
House Manager – Carlee Abschneider
FSOO 2024 Winning Works
Cast:
59 Year Old – Kristin Bilodeau
20 Year Old – Mikaela Pace
40 Year Old – Maureen Broy Papovich
80 Year Old – Angela Irving
Synopsis:
Immersed in a storm of contemplation and reflection, an Artist questions her chosen paths – and what she should’ve done instead – with the help of three unexpected yet all-too-familiar guests. How will what the guests offer affect the Artist’s interpretation of what has become their deepest regrets?
If you’re curious about An Artist’s Regrets’s musical themes, story inspiration, what to listen for, and more, click here for the Creator Spotlight.
Originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center’s American Opera Initiative
Cast:
Bubbie – Cassidy Wallace
Demon – Robert LeBas
Karen – Maureen Broy Papovich
Synopsis:
Bubbie has filled the void of Covid isolation by solving as many word searches and crosswords as possible…until her latest puzzle turns out to be a ƈʊʀֆɛɖ ֆʊʍʍօռɨռɢ ɨռƈǟռȶǟȶɨօռ that conjures a Demon from the netherworld. When Bubbie welcomes him with delight, insisting he must be her long-lost goth grandson, how far will her well-intentioned neighbor Karen go to convince the old woman that something is horribly wrong? A pandemic take on a viral internet myth, this short piece weaves together classical music and heavy metal to pose thorny questions about chosen family and what constitutes true evil.
If you’re curious about Bubbie and the Demon’s musical themes, story inspiration, what to listen for, and more, click here for the Creator Spotlight.
Originally commissioned by Inversion Ensemble, Austin, TX
Cast:
Older Sister – Cristina Jones
Younger Singer – Anneliese Sandoval
Father/Spaniard/Priest – Stephen Maus
Synopsis:
I am worth nothing sets a stunning Coahuilteco/English poem by Texas poet Lisa Kay Adam. From the phrase Pīntci nakāmmam axām (I am worth nothing), Adam creates a vivid story of two young Coahuiltecan sisters and their encounters with newly arrived Spanish settlers and mission priests in the eighteenth century. Musically, the florid phrases and haunting modalities join with the sounds of drums and melancholic bells to paint a picture of exploitation, early death, and a lost way of life in the western Gulf coastal plains.
If you’re curious about I am worth nothing’s musical themes, story inspiration, what to listen for, and more, click here for the Creator Spotlight.
Visit Adrienne Inglis’s website
Find out more about Lisa Kay Adam’s poetry
Originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center’s American Opera Initiative
Cast:
Calamus – Chelsea Scott
Sylvan – Allyssa Kemp
Aurora – Carol Brown
Politician – Jake Jacobsen
Synopsis:
Calamus is a teenage artist with a fantastical imagination and endless curiosity. Rather than easels or clay, Calamus’ canvas is their own body. With the aid of a magic elixir, Calamus shapeshifts, expressing their true spirit by bending into different forms and offering the poetry of transformation. But when a tyrannical politician criminalizes such elixirs, Calamus’ world is on the brink of destruction, and they will need all their strength to bend the arc back towards justice…
If you’re curious about What the Spirit Show’s musical themes, story inspiration, what to listen for, and more, click here for the Creator Spotlight.
Immerse yourself in dynamic storytelling!
For the first time since 2020, experience the much-anticipated return of the micro-opera showcase of the year! Limited seats per show. Gather your most curious crew and join us!
How we got here:
One Ounce Opera, in our annual call for scores, reviewed over 40 works submitted from all over the world.
We lined up an engaging program of four (4) new micro-operas that will immerse you in the sonic tellings of connective, transformative, oh-so-human stories.
Stories that feel NOW.
Dynamic.
Familiar, yet…not.
And you can experience all four in a single program: The 6th Annual Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera!
Showtimes are February 23, 24, March 1, & 2, 2024 at 7:30 pm; and February 25 & March 3, 2024 at 2:00 pm. We’ll once again transform The Museum of Human Achievement in East Austin and welcome you and your friends to reimagine opera in an unexpected space.
(notes: recommended for ages 10+, due to subject matter and some brief language. total runtime is about 110, which includes a 20 min intermission. dress for the weather – the venue is akin to a comfy, fully-enclosed barn – talk about unexpected!)
Q: CAN YOU PURCHASE TIX AT THE DOOR? A: Yes! $25 suggested donation, cash or card (we use Square) – unless we sell out. Less than 90 seats per show available, so we suggest claiming yours ahead of time!
Thank you to our media sponsor, KMFA Classical 89.5 and our beer sponsor, Live Oak Brewing
Searching for past performances, photos, or videos? Visit our Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for archives of our work.
This project has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program and the Live Music Fund.
