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Recent Press Releases
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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Opera
Performance replicates old-time radio show Boston--Intermezzo-The New England Chamber Opera Series, continues its 2005 season with a re-creation of the premiere performances of “The Old Maid and the Thief,” by Gian-Carlo Menotti. The performances take place Friday, September 16, 2005, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, September 18, 2005 at 4 p.m., at the David Friend Recital Hall of the Berklee College of Music, Genko Uchido Building, 921 Boylston St., Boston, MA. Adult tickets cost $20, while student and senior tickets cost $15. Tickets may be purchased at the door, reserved online by sending an e-mail message to jwopera@aol.com, or calling 617-899-4261. Both performances are fully staged, sung in English, and accompanied by piano. The Old Maid and the Thief premiered on the NBC network in 1939 as the first opera written exclusively for radio. “Rather than staging the opera in a traditional theater, the singers came into the radio studio and performed the opera in front of a live audience in a manner similar to other radio shows of the day,” says John Whittlesey, founder and artistic director of Intermezzo. As a tribute to that auspicious premiere, Intermezzo will replicate the radio studio performance venue, complete with sound effects, applause signs, and a radio announcer. “In this case, our audience in the theater will represent the radio studio audience, providing a truly interactive audience experience,” Whittlesey says. The opera tells the story of a wandering hobo, Bob, who charms his way into the lives of an elderly woman and her maid. Both women think Bob has an eye for them, and concoct different schemes to keep him in the house. The women learn there is an escaped thief from the local prison, and the description matches Bob. Through an increasing web of gossip, lies, and petty theft, Bob is forced to become the thief that he is suspected to be. The
opera features Sharon Brown as the old maid Miss Todd, Kristen Watson as
Laetitia, the housekeeper, Harry Baechtel as Bob, Marilyn Bulli and John
Whittlesey round out the cast as the nosey neighbor and the radio
announcer. Stephen Yenger accompanies on piano.
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