West Bay Opera NOW - New Opera Works and Escenia Ensamble of Mexico City present
DESPERTAR AL SUEÑO
(DRACULA FOR OUR TIME)
Gothic opera in one act by Federico Ibarra Libretto by David Olguín In Spanish, with projected English titles.
November 5 - 6, 2016 | Z Spaces Mainstage
Stage Direction Ragnar Conde, Musical Direction José Luis Moscovich.
A fully-staged production of Ibarra and Olguín’s fascinating take on “Dracula”, the great Bram Stoker Gothic novel, “Despertar al Sueño” lauches West Bay Opera’s New Opera Works program, designed to showcase outstanding works by Latin American contemporary opera composers and artists.
The story (the title means “Awakening into a dream”) is set in a mental institution. Jonathan Harker, the realtor that travels to Transylvania to settle the sale of an old London mansion to Count Dracula, is imprisoned there after having been convicted of the rape and murder of several women. In Ragnar Conde’s staging, the now classic vampire story is revealed as a kind of romatic allegory of much darker problems, supressed by society in Victorian times. Propelled by Ibarra’s highly atmospheric and captivating score (for just three instruments: clarinet, cello and piano), the work blurs limits and makes us question notions of good and evil, in much the same way as the original novel did, lending a contemporary urgency to the “horror” label.
SAY NO TO THE WALL:
In a world where stereotypes and artificial divisions are used to justify the building of walls between peoples, we are happy to show there’s a better way. The US and Mexico have plenty in common, even in the realm of opera. This co-production by West Bay Opera NOW and Escenia Ensemble of Mexico City features a bi-national cast. The two male characters, Dracula and Jonathan Harker, are played by Mexicans (Harker is a spoken role) and the three female characters are sung by american artists. It will have two performances at the Teatro Degollado opera house in Guadalajara (Jalisco) in late October before traveling to San Francisco for the performances at Z-Space
Cast:
Count Dracula - Josué Cerón, baritone
Jonathan Harker - Juan Carlos Martín del Campo, actor
Mina - Chelsea Hollow, coloratura soprano
First Woman - Raeeka Shehabi Yaghmai, soprano
Second Woman - Veronica Jensen, mezzo-soprano
Costume, Makeup and Hairstyle Design - Gabriel Ancira
Set & Lighting Design - Pedro Pazarán
Sponsored by the Mexican National Fund for Culture and the Arts, the Jalisco Philharmonic, the Jalisco Secretariat of Culture, Patronato OFJ, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.
