Really Spicy Opera
| Really Spicy Opera | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Genres | New opera |
| Years active | 2005 – present |
| Associated acts | Boston University |
| Website | spicyopera.com |
| Members |
Artistic Director Basil Considine Managing Associate Angela Sorenson Artistic Associate Natalie McComas Artistic Associate Adam Baus |
Really Spicy Opera is a non-profit performing arts organization that produces live opera in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The professional opera company operated in Boston from 2006-2013 and has produced performances in the Twin Cities since 2014. Its programming includes a mix of new musicals, new operas, and classic musicals and operas. The company celebrated its 10th anniversary in June 2016 with a performance of the three-act Italian opera, Rigoletto, composed by Giuseppe Verdi at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis.[1] Really Spicy Opera is an Opera America member organization.[2]
The company has staged more than one dozen world premieres of musical works for the stage, including Aaron Krerowicz's Simple Gifts: A Copland Opera, Julia Smith's The Here and Now: Love in the 21st Century, and Leanna Kirchoff's The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret.[3] The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret, an adaptation of Alice Gerstenberg's play Overtones, was the winner of the National Opera Association's 2012-2014 Chamber Opera Composition Competition.[4] The company staged the world premiere of Game of Thrones: The Musical at the 2016 Minnesota Fringe Festival, winning the Twin Cities Arts Reader's Best of Fringe and Critic's Pick awards.[5]
In 2017, Really Spicy Opera embarked on a series of national and international Fringe Circuit tours, including performances of Game of Thrones: The Musical on the Hawaii Fringe Festival Circuit (including the O'ahu and Maui Fringe Festivals), the Tampa Fringe Festival, and appearances at the Orlando and Montreal Fringe Festivals. Game of Thrones: The Musical was the best-selling show at its venue at the O'ahu Fringe Festival and the best-selling show overall of the Tampa International Fringe. Its world premiere of A Pickle by Deborah Yarchun completely sold out at the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival.[6]
Leadership
Really Spicy Opera has been lead since its inception by founder Basil Considine, who serves as the producing Artistic Director.
Repertoire
Really Spicy Opera specializes in world premieres of new musicals and operas, which form the vast majority of its repertory. Some works that it premiered, such as The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret, have entered the new opera repertory. However, the company has produced several classic musicals and operas, including Verdi's Rigoletto in 2016 and Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years in 2017.←
Mainstage Productions (Incomplete)
- A Pickle (2017)
- Ain't that Rich (2017)
- The Last Five Years (2017)
- Game of Thrones: The Musical (2017; multiple stagings)
- Game of Thrones: The Musical (2016)
- Rigoletto (2016)
- The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret (2015)
- The Frat Party (2014)
References
- ↑ Appelbaum, Hanne. '"Fascinating, Striking Rigoletto.". Twin Cities Arts Reader, June 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Opera America membership directory". Retrieved August 9, 2016.
- ↑ Minnesota Fringe Festival. "The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret."
- ↑ Considine, Basil. "Opera minus the high costs and testosterone." Twin Cities Daily Planet, January 24, 2015.
- ↑ Longbella, Marta (August 6, 2016). "Fringe review: Game of Thrones: The Musical". Retrieved August 8, 2016.
- ↑ Really Spicy Opera. (August 9, 2017). "A Pickle 100% Sellout.".