April 16 | 7:30pm | Get Tickets
April 18 | 2:00pm | Get Tickets
Audio Description, Touch Tour, and Braille Programs are available at the Sunday performance.
Based on the novel by Stephen King, The Shining brings audiences inside the Overlook Hotel as the Torrance family becomes trapped by snow, isolation, and the hotel’s malevolent history. Danny’s sixth sense exposes horrors long buried, while Jack’s struggle with his past turns increasingly dangerous. Wendy refuses to give up without a fight. With a haunting score by Paul Moravec and libretto by Mark Campbell, this opera transforms King’s psychological thriller into a powerful family drama – unnerving, emotional, and impossible to look away from.
#ShiningOC
This production will be performed in English with English captions.
The Shining
Music by Paul Moravec
Libretto by Mark Campbell
Based on the novel by Stephen King*
Published by and presented with the permission of Subito Music Corporation
The Shining includes depictions of extreme violence, including domestic abuse and murder. 13+
What’s Interesting About This Opera…
- Marks the 50th anniversary of Stephen King’s iconic novel
- Ohio Premiere: Be among the first to experience this gripping work live!
- You will love this show if you are a fan of psychological operas: The Turn of the Screw (Benjamin Britten), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Stephen Sondheim), Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
Synopsis
Setting
The Overlook Hotel, western Colorado, the end of September to late November, 1975
Epilogue: eight months later, a hotel in Maine
Libretto © 2014 by Mark Campbell
Synopsis
Act I
Setting: In and around the Overlook Hotel, Colorado, late September to November, 1975.
The Shining | Danny & Dick HalloranJack Torrance has been engaged as winter caretaker for the Overlook Hotel in a remote part of the Colorado Rockies and arrives there with his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, during the last week of September, at the end of the hotel’s season. Wendy and Jack welcome the change the hotel will bring to their lives, believing that the experience will bring the family closer together; Jack is also happy that he’ll finally have time to finish his play. The general manager, Stuart Ullman, gives the Torrances a tour of the hotel and touts the history of its famous guests. The family is then introduced to the hotel cook, Dick Hallorann, who shows Wendy and Danny to the kitchen.
Ullman privately expresses his concerns to Jack about his personal history, which he has learned includes physical abuse and alcoholism. Jack reassures Ullman that he has conquered his problems and that all will be fine. Bill Watson takes Jack to the basement where he instructs him on the boiler and tells some stories about the hotel’s nefarious past: a previous caretaker, Delbert Grady, killed his wife and two daughters before taking his own life; another guest, Mrs. Massey, committed suicide in a bathtub after her young lover abandoned her.
At the same time outside the hotel, Hallorann confides in Danny that he senses the boy shares a second sight, the shining, that Hallorann’s grandmother detected in him as a child. He also tells Danny that fears about the hotel can be controlled but encourages Danny to call out to him if the Torrance family is in danger. Ullman, Watson, and Hallorann bid the Torrances farewell, leaving the family alone on the porch of the Overlook.
One evening several weeks later, Wendy reads Treasure Island to Danny while Jack works on his play. As Danny leaves to brush his teeth before being tucked in, the couple affirms their love for each other. Danny is trapped in the bathroom and once he escapes, appears traumatized, claiming to have had dark visions. Jack tries to shake Danny out of it, but Wendy stops him, revealing that Jack once injured the child. She vows to take The ShiningDanny to the doctor in town the following day for a check-up. As she tucks Danny in and sings him a lullaby, Jack recalls his own childhood abuse at the hands of his father, Mark. Danny utters a curious message “redrum” which Wendy dismisses as a reference to Treasure Island.
Jack sifts through boxes of memorabilia in the basement a week or so later, finding a scrapbook assembled by The Manager. He learns more about the Overlook’s infamous past, including Horace Derwent’s sale of the hotel to the Mafia and a subsequent hit that occurred there years later. He also reads about the tragedies of the Grady family and Mrs. Massey. An invitation to a New Year’s Eve masked ball drops from the scrapbook and ignites Jack’s imagination. He vows to tell the hotel’s story. Wendy and Danny return from the doctor where Danny has received a clean bill of health. Disturbed about Jack’s obsession with the Overlook, Wendy requests that they all leave immediately, but Jack dismisses the idea.
The first week of November. Wendy is awakened by strange noises, and Danny runs into his parent’s bedroom in a panic. Jack checks the elevator, then the ballroom, where he momentarily hears people and finds a dog mask and a giant croquet mallet. He is shaken, but composes himself, returning to their room to reassure Wendy, who still believes they should leave the hotel.
Danny has approached Room 217 several times in the past weeks, and now, in late November, finally enters it with a key. In the hotel office, a ranger on the CB radio warns Jack of an upcoming blizzard. Suddenly, the ranger’s voice becomes that of his father Mark, telling Jack to kill his family. Jack smashes the radio with the mallet. Wendy rushes in and is horrified to learn that Jack has destroyed their only contact with the outside world. Danny is found with his clothes wet, bruises around his neck, and lipstick marks on his face. As Jack rallies to protect his family, the structure of the hotel collapses, and all of its ghosts appear, including Delbert Grady, Mrs. Massey, Horace Derwent, and the guests of the New Year’s Eve party. Danny cries out for Hallorann as a light snow begins to fall.
Act II
The Shining | Danny & JackOne day in early December. Jack returns to the basement for the boiler’s daily maintenance. Grady appears and encourages Jack to apply the same discipline to his son that Grady meted out to his daughters. He then invites Jack to join him for the masked ball. Upstairs, Danny warns his mother that they have gotten to his father. Wendy tries to mitigate his fears, but once Danny is alone, he again calls out for Hallorann.
Jack enters the ballroom where the masked ball is in full swing and orders drinks from Lloyd, the bartender. Onstage, Horace Derwent, Grady, and Lloyd raise their voices in song, soon joined by Mark Torrance and then Jack, before he collapses and the party dissolves. Finding her husband sprawled on the floor, Wendy tries to help him upstairs. When he attempts to strangle her, she renders him unconscious by smashing a bottle over his head, and she and Danny lock him inside the pantry. When Jack comes to and demands to be released, Wendy leaves the kitchen with Danny, taking a large knife with her. Grady enters and helps Jack free himself from the pantry.
Upstairs in the caretaker’s quarters, Wendy tries to assuage her son’s fears before returning to the kitchen for food. She sees ghosts in the ballroom, but convinces herself they are not real. Jack suddenly attacks her with the mallet. Wendy plunges the knife into his back and runs back to the quarters, locking the door. Jack follows her and almost breaks through the door, when Wendy slices his hands with razors she has retrieved from the bathroom. Grady and Derwent appear to Jack, telling him to dispose of Wendy later, as Hallorann is suddenly approaching the hotel on a Snowcat and must be attended to.
Hallorann enters the hotel. Danny runs toward Hallorann, attempting to warn him, but Jack strikes Hallorann with his mallet, rendering him unconscious. Jack corners Danny, but Danny bravely stands up to him, saying, “You are not my father.” Returning momentarily to his senses, Jack begs Danny to run, allowing him to escape. Derwent, Grady, and Lloyd appear, castigating Jack for his failure and warning him that the boiler is about to explode.
Hallorann revives, and drives Wendy and Danny away from the hotel in the Snowcat. In the basement, Jack resolves to let his family live. When they are out of harm’s way, he allows the boiler to explode, causing the entire hotel to burst into flames.
The Shining Epilogue
Epilogue: a hotel in Maine; eight months later.
Wendy and Danny are staying in a cabin at a hotel in Maine where Hallorann now works as a cook. On his break, Hallorann checks up on Wendy and Danny. While Danny fishes from a pond and his mother looks on, Hallorann urges the boy to be strong and get on with his life and help his mother, despite the tragedy that has befallen him.
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Plan on arriving about 30-40 minutes early. This gives you plenty of time to park, get tickets from Will Call if needed, grab a drink and find your seats in the theatre without feeling rushed. And all OC show have interactive pre-show experiences in the lobby!
Late comers are seated (or stand) in the rear of the theatre until ushers take them to their seats at an appropriate point in the production.
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Accessibility and ADA Information
At Opera Columbus, we believe world-class art belongs to every body, every ability, every voice. Whether you are joining us for the first time or returning with a lifelong love of live performance, our mission is simple: to make the opera experience open, welcoming and accessible to all. Here’s how we’re making that happen:
Audio Description
Available at Sunday performances. For patrons who are blind or low-vision. our professional describers bring the production to life with real-time narration that captures the moment, staging, costumes, props, set and emotion.
Vibrating Vests
Available at all performances. Through wearable technology that transforms music into physical sensation, deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members can feel the score as it happens.
Braille Programs
Available at all performances. We proudly offer braille programs so every patron can have access to cast information, opera synopsis and program notes.
Touch Tour
Available at Sunday performance. Before the show, blind or low-vision patrons can explore the costumes, props and set pieces through a guided tactile experience.
Captions
Opera in German? Italian? English? Opera Columbus has English captions at every performance.
If you or a guest would like accessibility services, please contact us ahead of the performance so we can make your experience seamless. Questions? Reach out to Kelsi at kmoore@operacolumbus.org
What is CAPA Ticket Center All-In Ticket Pricing?
CAPA Ticket Center has implemented All-In Pricing
What does this mean for you?
You will see the full price for any ticket sold through CBUSArts.com as soon as you click the “Buy Tickets” link from any event page or description. When selecting seats, the full ticket price will be listed, as well as broken down into ticket price and fees
NOTE: The cost of the ticket will not change; you will simply see the full price from the first step, instead of being surprised at checkout
Why are we making this change?
All-In Pricing is our way to make the ticket-buying process more transparent, so you see exactly what you will pay at checkout as soon as you start shopping for seats, inclusive of the ticket price and any fees
Creatives .
Paul Moravec
Mark Campbell
Everett McCorvey, Principal Guest Conductor, is a native of Montgomery, Alabama. He received his degrees from the University of Alabama, including a Doctorate of Musical Arts. He has performed in many cities around the world and theaters across the country, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Kennedy Center, Aspen Music Festival, Radio City Music Hall, Birmingham Opera Theater, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Italy, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, England, as well as performances throughout Spain, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Austria, Japan, China, Brazil, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Hungary, Mexico, Peru and France. He joined the Tony Award winning Sherwin Goldman Production of PORGY AND BESS at Radio City Music Hall in 1982 and was also part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Debut Production of Porgy and Bess in 1985. McCorvey’s career has spanned all areas of the performing arts business from performer to musical director, stage director, voice teacher, producer, impresario, orchestra conductor, union representative, administrator and mentor. McCorvey recently conducted the World Premiere of Stella Sung’s Opera THE SECRET RIVER with Opera Orlando in December of 2021. The Librettist for the opera was Pulitzer Prize Winner Mark Campbell. He was also featured in Taromina, Sicily conducting the Grand Finale Opera Gala at the Mythos Opera Festival 2018 and in December of 2019, he conducted the Dvořák Symphony #9 in Prague’s Smetana Hall with the North Czech Philharmonic. Upcoming concerts includes Musikverein Golden Hall in Vienna conducting the Boshualave Martinu Philharmonic and in Haydn Hall Vienna with the Euro sinfonietta as well as an upcoming Word Premiere with the Santa Fe Opera’s Opera for All Voices in performances of THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE by Chandler Carter with the libretto by Diana Solomon Glover. Later in 2022, McCorvey will serve as Chorus Master with the Santa Fe Opera production THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE and Music Director and Conductor for the Kentucky Opera performances of the same work. McCorvey served as the Music Director and Conductor of the World Premier of BOUNCE, The Basketball Opera, conceived and directed by Gretha Holby with the lead composer Glen Roven and author and librettist Charles R. Smith, Jr. Additional music for BOUNCE was written by Tomas Doncker and West Side Story Film Star Ansel Elgort. https://bouncethebasketballopera.org This past September 11, 2021 on the 20th Anniversary of the attacks, he conducted the National Chorale and the US Army Field Band in New Jersey’s 9/11 Commemoration at Liberty State Park. He has also appeared in television movies and feature films including The Long Walk Home. Dr. McCorvey’s operatic roles include Don Jose in Carmen, Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Fenton in Falstaff, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Puck in La Grande Duchess de Gerolstein, and many others. Orchestra and Oratorio works include the Beethoven Symphony #9, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and the St. Matthew Passion, among others. Vocal Excellence is a hallmark of Dr. McCorvey’s work. As a teacher he has given masterclasses and vocal workshops throughout the United States, Europe, South America, China, Japan, and Poland. Dr. McCorvey is the founder and Music Director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, www.americanspiritualensemble.com a group of 24 professional singers performing spirituals and other compositions of African-American composers dedicated to keeping the American Negro Spiritual alive. In its 27-year history, the group has presented over 600 concerts including 20 tours of the United States and 17 tours of Spain. Presently the American Spiritual Ensemble is the only professional ensemble of its kind dedicated solely to the American Negro Spiritual. The Ensemble has released twelve CD’s: On My Journey Now – The American Spiritual Ensemble on Tour, Ol’ Time Religion, Lily of the Valley, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot; The Spirituals; The Spirit of the Holidays; The Duke Returns; Duke Ellington Sacred Concerts; Mosaic, featuring Metropolitan Opera Star Angela Brown; Stand the Storm, Featuring American Soprano Jeryl Cunningham; Been in the Storm Too Long featuring American Baritone Kenneth Overton as well as two CD’s featuring the music of John Jacob Niles produced by McCorvey featuring American Soprano Hope Koehler. McCorvey recently produced a CD Anchored in the Lord featuring singers from the Bay View Music Festival’s American Negro Spirituals Intensive program, where McCorvey serves as Director. The US Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) has produced six Documentaries featuring McCorvey’s work, including It’s a Grand Night for Singing: 10th Anniversary (1992); Impresario (2002); A Tribute and a Toast to Opera (2005); The Spirituals (2007); The American Spiritual Ensemble in Concert (2017); and It’s a Grand Night for Singing 25th Anniversary (2017). Dr. McCorvey is also in his seventh season as the Artistic Director of the National Chorale of New York City www.nationalchorale.org. Celebrating 54 years of great choral singing, the National Chorale is a symphonic choir which performs at Lincoln Center in New York City. The National Chorale is well-known in New York and around the region for its performances of the great choral titans as well as for the popular New York Messiah Sing-In at Lincoln Center! The Sing-In is one of the oldest sing-in’s in the country. Dr. McCorvey has served on the faculty of the New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga Springs, New York where he was Artist-in-Residence and Associate Conductor and is also a frequent advisory panelist and on-site reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts Opera/Musical Theatre program in Washington, D.C. He also served on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria. He is on the opera faculty in the summers at the Bay View Music Festival in Petoskey, MI, www.bayviewassociation.org/performingarts/musicfestival, and is co-director of the Bay View Music Festival’s American Negro Spirituals Intensive program, a program dedicated to helping young singers learn about the American Negro Spirituals. Dr. McCorvey is a teacher and vocal advisor to many singers in the profession. Dr. McCorvey has been the recipient of several awards highlighting his teaching, research and service. Recent awards include the SEC (South Eastern Conference) Faculty Achievement Award, given to a faculty member from each of the 14 SEC Athletic Conference schools. He was also the recipient of the UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement in 2018. This award is one of UK’s most prestigious awards given to one Kentuckian, it recognizes high intellectual achievement by a Kentuckian who has made a contribution of lasting value to the Commonwealth. The award also promotes education and creative thought. Other awards include the Lexington Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award (2020); two Regional Emmy Awards for UK Opera Theatre’s summer production of “It’s A Grand Night for Singing” (2018); the Notable African-Americans in Lexington Award given by the Lima drive Seventh-Day Adventist Church (2018); the Central Music Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), the Alabama Governor’s Artists Award, the highest arts award given to an artist from Alabama (2015), the Salvation Army Community Service Award (2014) and the Camp Horsin’ Around Community Service Award (2014). In 1998 he was the Acorn Award Recipient given by the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education. This prestigious Award goes to only one Professor in the state of Kentucky who exemplifies excellence, innovation and creativity in teaching and research. Dr. McCorvey was also the recipient of an outstanding faculty award from the University of Kentucky Lyman T. Johnson Alumni Association for 1998 and was selected to receive the Outstanding Alumni Award in the Arts from the Society for the Fine Arts at the University of Alabama, his Alma Mater, in February of 1999. Dr. McCorvey produced only the second full-length recording of The Tender Land by Aaron Copland with the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre recorded in Zlin, Czech Republic and released January 2002, featuring singers from the University of Kentucky Opera Program with Kirk Trevor conducting the Boshuslave Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra. Two other CD’s released in 2008, were a world premiere of a new opera, The Hotel Casablanca, by Thomas Pasatieri, produced by Dr. McCorvey and performed by the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre and a collection of songs by John Jacob Niles, performed by soprano Hope Koehler and produced by McCorvey. Both recording were released by Albany Records. In the spring of 2010 UK Opera released a new CD of Die Fledermaus with Maestro John Nardolillo conducting and in December of 2010 a World Premiere CD of Thomas Pasatieri’s new opera God Bless Us Everyone which premiered in New York at DiCapo Opera with students from UK Opera and which received a rave New York Times Review. Dr. McCorvey is of the belief that every citizen in the country should find ways to give back to his or her community, city or country. He has been very active in his volunteer activities working to keep the arts as a part of the civic conversation and currently serves on many local, regional and national boards. In his home state of Kentucky, he is Chairman of the Kentucky Arts Council Board and nationally he is on the Sullivan Foundation Board of Trustees, www.sullivanfoundation.org, an organization dedicated to supporting young professional singers with career grants and study awards for continuing development. He holds an Endowed Chair in Opera Studies/Director of Opera and Professor of Voice at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. www.ukoperatheatre.org. In September of 2010, Dr. McCorvey served as the Executive Producer of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Alltech 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games held in Lexington, Kentucky. The Opening Ceremony was broadcasted on NBC Sports and was viewed by over 500 million people worldwide. The Alltech 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games was the largest equestrian event to ever be held in the United States. He is married to soprano Alicia Helm. They have three children.
Dr. Everett McCorvey
