The location of the venue will be sent to ticket holders by email 36 hours before the performance. The secret venue will be located downtown Columbus with parking nearby
Friday, April 19, 2024 │7:30pm Get Tickets
Saturday, April 20, 2024 │7:30pm Get Tickets
Sunday, April 21, 2024 │2:00pm Get Tickets
Thursday, April 25, 2024 │7:30pm Get Tickets
Saturday, April 27, 2024 │7:30pm Get Tickets
Sunday, April 28, 2024 │2:00pm Get Tickets
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This production will be performed in English with English supertitles.
Please note: this production contains loud noises and strobe lights.
Due to location, you must be 21+ to attend this production.
#TempleOC
What’s Interesting About This Opera…
- This 90-minute, immersive world premiere is based on Mozart’s final opera, The Magic Flute.
- This opera was conceived by Julia Noulin-Mérat, Allegra Libonati and Que Jones, Columbus artist.
- This performance will be at an secret downtown location! The location of the venue will be sent to ticket holders by email 36 hours before the performance. The secret venue will be located downtown Columbus with parking nearby
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What Should I Wear?
There is no dress code for the opera! Some patrons choose to dress for a special occasion and others prefer to keep it casual.
Where Should I Park?
Parking is available at the Columbus Commons Parking Garage located off of Rich or Main Street.
When Should I Arrive?
Plan on arriving about 30-40 minutes early. This gives you plenty of time to park, get your tickets from will call if you need to and find your seats without feeling rushed. Latecomers are seated (or stand) in the rear of the theatre until ushers take them to their seats at an appropriate point in the production.
CAST
American operatic baritone Eric McKeever has won consistent praise for his voice of “power and brilliance” (Chicago Tribune) and “considerable flexibility and a communicative presence enhanced by expressive, crystalline diction.” (Opera News) Eric’s 2022-2023 season includes a season of debuts. First, he joins the Delaware Symphony Orchestra in their “Opening Night at the Grand” gala, makes his role debut as Don Alfonso in Così Fan Tutte at Opera Delaware where he serves as an Artist-in-Residence/Artistic Ambassador, sings Falke in Act II of Die Fledermaus with Maryland Opera in their “Ritorna Vincitor” concert, makes house and role debuts with On Site Opera as the title role in Der Kaiser von Atlantis and William Grant Still in Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road with the Penn Square Music Festival. And later in the season, he debuts Monterone in Rigoletto with Opera Columbus. During the 2021-22 season, he performed the title role in Don Giovanni in his return to Indianapolis Opera, made his debut with Teatro Grattacielo as the Banditore in Zandonai’s rarely-heard Giulietta e Romeo, covered the role of Monforte in New Amsterdam Opera’s I Vespri Siciliani, made his recital debut in Opera Delaware’s “Sunday Spotlight” Series, covered the title role in On Site Opera’s production of Gianni Schicchi, and made his debut with Washington DC’s Urban Arias as Papa-Daddy in the world-premiere of Why I live at the P.O. During the 2020-2021 season he recorded Kamala Sankaram’s Looking at You, available on the Bright Shiny Things label and recorded several roles for Experiments in Opera’s Aqua Net and Funyuns podcast opera. Mr. McKeever also recorded Dandini for Opera on Tap’s digital version of La Cenerentola, performed live in Salt Marsh Opera’s outdoor “Music at the Lighthouse” concert, and performed in Little Opera Theatre of New York livestream of “Zemlinsky’s Zimmer.” Mr. McKeever returned to live performances as Marcello in a new production of La bohème with Opera Columbus and performed outdoor concerts with Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera. During the 2019-2020 season, Eric received critical acclaim as Charlie in the world premiere of Kamala Sankaram’s Looking at You with HERE Arts in New York, joined Opera Columbus in “Twisted 3”, a collaboration with the Columbus Symphony and Ballet Met, made his role debut as Tonio in Pagalicci in a return to Salt Marsh Opera, and performed in Baltimore Concert Opera’s “Thirsty Thursday” Concert Series. Eric was scheduled to debut the title role in Don Giovanni with Indianapolis Opera, the title role in Rigoletto with Mill City Summer Opera and make his Anchorage Festival of Music debut in Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice, but those engagements were cancelled due to COVID-19. Recent performances include Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Opera Columbus, David in L’amico Fritz with Baltimore Concert Opera, Germont in La traviata with Pacific Opera Project, Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Anchorage Opera, the Speaker in The Magic Flute with Florentine Opera, and Frank in Die Fledermaus with Nashville Opera, Finger Lakes Opera, Florentine Opera, and Baltimore Concert Opera. On the concert stage he has appeared as a soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth with the New Albany Symphony, performed Bernstein’s Songfest with Skidmore College, and made his debut with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra in Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice.
Eric McKeever
During the Covid-19 impacted 2020-2021 season, Soprano Bizhou Chang appeared as Mimì in a feature film version of La Bohème directed by Laine Rettmer with More than Musical (Hong Kong), a co-production of Opera Omaha, Tri Cities Opera, and Opera Columbus, performed Mimì in a new production of La Bohème with Opera Columbus, and returned to Pensacola Opera to sing Micaëla in Carmen. In season 2021-2022, Ms. Chang will make her role debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Pensacola Opera, makes her company debut in the world premier of “Island of Hope, Island of Tears” by Gabriele Vanoni with Guerilla Opera, performs Violetta in an immersive production of La Traviata with Opera Columbus and Out of the Box Opera. Ms. Chang’s operatic repertoire spans from Baroque to Contemporary, including Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Leonora (cover) in Il Trovatore with Pensacola Opera, Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly with Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Miami Music Festival, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul, Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, and the title role in Alcina with Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Ms Chang is a finalist of the prestigious Teatro all Scala Academy of Lyric Opera Competition and a finalist of the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition. Described by Theater Mania as a performer who is “worth the price of admission alone” (Nutcracker Rouge-Company XIV), and by Opera News as giving the “best all-around performance” (Handel’s Ariodante – The Princeton Festival), soprano Marcy Richardson has brought the art of marrying aerial arts, pole dancing, and burlesque with live classical singing to opera and entertainment companies worldwide. On the NYC nightlife scene, she has performed with Company XIV, Duane Park, the Bartschland Follies with Susanne Bartsch at the Mckittrick Hotel and Sony Hall, Speakeasy Times Square at Bond 45, the People’s Ball at the Brooklyn Public Library, the Great Gatsby Party at Capitale with Astarte Creative, and The Rose Room at the Triad Theater. Equally at home on the operatic and concert stage, she has performed as a soloist in many of New York’s most acclaimed concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. She took home the 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Female Performance in an opera for her acrobatic aerial and vocal portrayal of Amour in Gluck’s Orphée with Against the Grain Theater, a co-production with Opera Columbus. She will be joining Opera Columbus once again in the role of Papagena in their newest production of The Magic Flute in April 2024. This Summer, she is in New York performing with Duane Park, Susanne Bartsch, new venues such as Red Pavilion in Bushwick, and at various private events. She is based in both London and New York when she is not on the road or at sea, and has a private pole studio in Brooklyn for both live and virtual teaching and training. She recently served as aerial director/choreographer and acrobatic trainer for Kaleidoscope Entertainment and Celebrity Cruises, where she helped create and premiere three shows onboard the new Beyond before it’s maiden voyage from Saint Nazaire, France. This past year, she has been a guest entertainer multiple times on Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, performing her signature singing aerial acts in lyra and aerial pole. She also recently jumped into a general aerialist/ensemble track with two days notice for the premiere of Persephone on Resilient Lady out of Athens due to a last minute emergency until they were able to find a long term replacement. Subsequently, she will be joining the cast of Persephone once again in Greece and Croatia, but this time as aerial and circus director for the new cast members embarking in September. She is also serving as Aerial/Circus director and creating a track in a brand new show premiering on Virgin’s fourth ship, “Brilliant Lady” which will make its maiden voyage next year. While furloughed, she could be seen hanging in a hoop from fire escapes in both her backyard and over the street at Duane Park for “outdoor dining with ambient street performance” in sub zero temps without batting an eyelash. With almost 13 years of pole and aerial training under her belt, she got her start in the air as a competitive pole dancer, and is the 2014 Pole Sport Organization National Level 4 Championship winner. She also recently appeared as Star in the movie Hustlers and has filmed featured extra pole work for the HBO series Betty as well as featured burlesque background on Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Originally from Grosse Pointe, MI and a BM/MM graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Ms. Richardson’s classical music career highlights include soloist in Handel’s Samson under Nicholas McGegan with American Classical Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina with Operamission, Diana and Giove as Diana (La Calisto) with Vertical Player Repertory, Dalinda (Ariodante) with the Princeton Festival, Monica (The Medium) with St. Petersburg Opera, Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance) and Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), with Orlando Opera, Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore) with Baltimore Opera, Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s C Minor Mass, at Galway Cathedral in Ireland, and Exsultate, Jubilate with both the Princeton Symphony and Lyrique-en-Mer in Belle-Isle, France. As an apprentice artist, Ms. Richardson has trained and performed with Central City Opera, Baltimore Opera, Orlando Opera, and Brevard Music Center. Ms. Richardson has won various awards and grants from the Kurt Weill Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Heinz Rehfuss Singing Actor Awards, Metropolitan Opera National Council, Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation, Heida Hermanns International Voice Competition, and Opera Birmingham’s Cassell Stewart Vocal Competition. A champion of new music, she has sung many roles in contemporary opera and oratorio, including So Yeon in John Eaton’s microtonal opera, Re-Routed, with the Pocket Opera Players at Symphony Space in NYC, the highest soprano soloist in Sven David Sandström’s High Mass with VocalEssence in Minneapolis under Philip Brunelle, Fiordiligi in the premiere of Jonathan Dawe’s Cosi Faran Tutti at Columbia University’s Italian Arts Center, and the title role in a staged reading of Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre with Center for Contemporary Opera. Ms. Richardson has also been a featured performer with the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS Next,) American Composer’s Alliance Summer Festival, Opera on Tap, American Opera Projects, and the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland as a member of the Contemporary Music Festival Academy under Pierre Boulez. She has appeared in many of New York City’s premiere entertainment spots for variety shows and burlesque outside of her regular venues, including Blunderland at House of Yes, The Slipper Room, Mac’s Powderkiss Cabaret hosted by Alan Cumming at Sony Hall, Schtick-a-pole-in-it and the Hot Jazz Festival with Shanghai Mermaid at DROM, Second Tuesdays at Sid’s at Sid Gold’s Request Room, Zavo NYC, Secret Circus at Secret Loft NYC, the Arianna Project with Music Nuova at Le Poisson Rouge, Spiegelworld at St. Anne’s Warehouse, Lavo Nightclub, Dances of Vice at Capitale, Cirque Central Entertainment, and The Curiosity Cabinet at Dixon Place.Bizhou Chang
Marcy Richardson
Mezzo-soprano Hilary Ginther continues her trajectory as a bravura artist in several branches of the classical European repertoire. In the summer of 2022, she headlined Opera Omaha’s Opera Outdoors concert with major excerpts from the roles of Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana) and Éboli (Don Carlos). During her all-Italian 2022-2023 season, she makes an international role debut as Elisabetta (Donizetti’s Queen Elizabeth I) in Maria Stuarda for her return to Musica Viva Hong Kong, a rare Puccinian venture as Suor Angelica’s La maestra delle novizie for her return to Opera Omaha, her Opera Columbus debut as Maddalena in Rigoletto, and her Central City Opera debut as Emilia in the rarely performed Rossini Otello. Further recent Italian roles include Adalgisa (Norma), in which she made her internationally broadcast Asian debut with Musica Viva Hong Kong, and Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) which she debuted at Florida Grand Opera and has since reprised with Fargo Moorhead Opera and Opera on the James. In the French repertoire, Ms. Ginther has earned success both as the familiar Carmen as well as Anne Boleyn in the rare Saint-Saëns grand opera Henry VIII, with which she made her Odyssey Opera debut. Additionally, her affinity for Tchaikovsky has been confirmed by her performances as Olga in Opera Omaha’s Eugene Onegin and the title role of New Orleans Opera’s Joan of Arc (The Maid of Orléans). Ms. Ginther’s experience in contemporary American works includes her Philadelphia Orchestra debut as a featured soloist in Bernstein’s MASS under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a performance recorded and released by Deutsche Grammophon, her New York City Opera debut as Lureen in the North American premiere of Brokeback Mountain, her Los Angeles Opera debut in a double bill by Gordon Getty, Usher House & The Canterville Ghost, the comical Lady Meresvale in the New York premiere of Floyd’s Prince of Players, and the world premiere of Musto’s The Inspector with Wolf Trap Opera.
Hilary Ginther
Anabella Petronsi, is a 2nd year DMA student in Voice Performance with the Singing Health Specialization at OSU under the tutelage of Dr. Katherine Rohrer, where she serves as a Graduate Teaching Associate. She graduated from the National University of Arts in Argentina with a BM in Voice Performance and from The Ohio State University with a MA in Music Education, Choral Education. She has sung L’ Enfant (Ravel), Barbarina (Mozart), Dame 2 (Mozart), Serpetta (Mozart), Papagena (Mozart), Despina (Mozart), Poesie (Charpentier), Berenice (Rossini), Mrs. Webster (Candey), Mirror 1 (Albinarrate), Mariquita Sanchez (Scher), and Heraldo (Lambertini). She worked as an Artistic Administrator, Director of Operations and Special Projects and Events for the Department of Musical Arts at the National University of Arts in Argentina. She also sang with Enhorabuena Company, Ensemble Tempus, and Opera of Columbus. She is a member of the Columbus Symphony Choir.
Anabella Petronsi
CREATIVES
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Emanuel Schikaneder
I am a freelance director for theater, opera, and circus. As a lover of music, magic, dance, masks and puppets, my work often incorporates these theatrical elements. I have directed productions nationally and internationally and am grateful for the inspired collaborations I’ve experienced with incomparable artists around the world. My work comes in many shapes and sizes – including Shakespeare, plays, musicals, TYA, opera, concerts, variety shows, opera, and immersive events. While I work in many genres, I am always striving unearth a universal collective experience. As the Resident Director/ Artistic Associate at the American Repertory Theater for 9 years I contributed to the direction and development of countless productions including the immersive phenomenon Sleep No More, Tony Award Winning Broadway Revival of Pippin, Prometheus Bound with Serj Tankien (System of a Down), Steven Sater, and Amnesty International, The Tempest with Teller, Tom Waits, and Piobolus, and In the Body of the World with V (formerly knowns as Eve Ensler). Broadway Credits include Tony Award Winning Broadway revival of Hair (Associate Director). My most recent Shakespeare production, Romeo and Juliet, played in the Boston Common for the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. The production was met with excellent reviews and played for audiences of up to 8,000 people per night. Other loved Shakespeare productions include Julius Caesar at the Old Globe, San Diego and King Lear at the Hilberry Theatre, Detroit. In addition, I directed seven beloved seasons of outdoor Shakespeare productions at the Summer Theatre of New Canaan. I have directed 10 seasons of musicals including My Fair Lady, South Pacific (9 Broadway World Nominations), Hairspray (10 Broadway World Nominations), Legally Blonde (12 Broadway World Nominations). Currently I have multiple new musicals in varying phases of development. Latest immersive projects include Usher’s Las Vegas Residency concert Preshow Backstory Experience currently playing at The Coliseum, Las Vegas. Previously, Peter Pan’s Neverland, premiered in Beijing, China in a 50,000 sq foot warehouse where families were able to physically adventure through Neverland itself. I started the children’s theater program at the American Repertory Theater where I developed, taught, and managed theater classes for ages 4-12, as well as devised and directed original family productions for the A.R.T. season. Shows include The Snow Queen, which went on to be produced in multiple venues across the country, Hansel and Gretel, The Light Princess, which transferred to the New Victory Theater, NYC, and The Pirate Princess, a new musical based on Twelfth Night. I fell in love with opera directing Stravinsky’s The Rakes Progress for the Boston Lyric Opera at the Cutler Magestic Theater. A mash-up of opera, dance theater and magic, the opera took a bold new angle on the opera and was met with great reviews. Other productions include Opera Omaha’s production of Verdi’s Falstaff and Gorilla Opera’s premiere of Troubled Waters. As an AD, I traveled internationally with Death and the Powers, A Robot Opera, convinced by the MIT Media Lab and composed by Tod Machover. Favorite plays directed include Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Big Love, The Illusion, Life’s A Dream, The Island. I am currently the director for the hit variety show Opium produced by Spiegelworld running nightly at the Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas. Prior to the pandemic I directed my first bit top circus, Celestia at the Strat Hotel and Casino, under the guidance of producer Brian Burke (Creative Director for America’s Got Talent/Artistic Director for Franco Dragone) which became winner of Best New Show and Best acrobatic Show, Best of Las Vegas Awards 2019. As Associate Director to Diane Paulus: Death and the Powers a Robot’s Opera (Dallas Opera Theater, Chicago Opera Theater, A.R.T. Monaco Opera) Crossing: A New American Opera (Brooklyn Acadamy of Muisc, A.R.T.) Prometheus Bound: A Dammed God in Chains (A.R.T.) In the Body of the World by Eve Ensler (A.R.T.) 9 Years as Resident Director for The Donkey Show (Adrian Arscht Center, Miami, A.R.T.) As Associate Director to Teller (of Penn & Teller) and Aaron Posner: The Tempest (A.R.T., The Smith Center, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Southcoast Repertory Theater) I guest teach classes and workshops at Harvard University, MIT, Wayne State University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, and Westfield State University. I am a member of Tut’Zanni Commedia Company, a student at the Academia Dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy, and graduate of Tisch School of the Arts, NYU (BFA) and Carnegie Mellon University (MFA). On the Horizon I am looking forward to working at Northcoast Repertory Theatre where I will remount a previously sold-out production of Always Patsy Cline for the holidays.
Allegra Libonati
Que Jones
Brandon Shaw McKnight passionately believes that art has the power to inspire, reflect, educate, and empower. Well-versed in multiple genres of the performing arts, they most recently served as the assistant director for Le Nozze di Figaro, Annapolis Opera and Dreamgirls, Morgan State University. In 2019, Shaw McKnight produced and directed a staged version of Handel’s Messiah, which they have since performed annually. An exceptional artist who can be found on and behind the stage, Shaw McKnight has been a part of productions on Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center with Teatro Nuovo, The Kennedy Center, Toledo Opera, Annapolis Opera, Opera Baltimore and in Italy. They are often seen performing in his hometown of Baltimore, MD. In addition to joining Opera Columbus as the Crane Directing Fellow, Shaw McKnight is currently a directing resident artist with Opera North.
Brandon Shaw McKnight
Shaw McKnight has been a young artist with programs such as La Musica Lirica, New York City Lyric Opera Theatre, and Utopia Arts. Their love of opera began as a student at Morgan State University.