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| AUDIO FROM THE PREMIERE PRODUCTION |
| SYNOPSIS |
| WHAT THE PERMIERE'S PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING |
| BRIAN ONDERDONK, CONDUCTOR |
| CAST FOR THE PREMIERE PRODUCTION |
Marie's Orchard
LIBRETTIST AND
DIRECTOR of the PREMIERE PRODUCTION
DYLAN F. THOMAS
Dylan F. Thomas is the founder and Artistic Director of Center Stage Opera in Canoga Park, CA, where he has directed full productions of numerous operas, including J. Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, Gounod's Faust, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Puccini's Tosca, Verdi's Rigoletto, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Verdi's La Traviata, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio.
Mr. Thomas is one of the creators of Marie's Orchard for which he conceptualized the story, inspired by Willa Cather's novel O Pioneers!, and penned the libretto. He worked closely with composer Philip Westin on the creation of this extraordinary new work, and he directed the world premiere production of the opera at Center Stage Opera, with performances on June 10 and 12, 2011.
As stage director for the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, CA, Thomas has written and directed numerous shows for the Family Musical Mornings series, including A Halloween Spooktacular (2009/2010), Superheroes!, and a scripted introduction to Mozart's The Magic Flute. In May 2011, he wrote and directed a Casablanca-themed show for the Pacific Symphony's annual Gala.
Mr. Thomas directed the semi-staged concert Opera Under the Stars at Orange County's Opera Pacific, which featured opera super-stars Ana Maria Martinez, Chad Shelton, and Quinn Kelsey performing operatic favorites with the Opera Pacific Orchestra under the direction of Maestro John DeMain. Thomas worked as the outreach stage director at Opera Pacific, where he staged the educational outreach show entitled Fun With Opera, which toured Southern California last year. He wrote and directed Opera Soup for Opera Pacific's Opera in the Park presentation in 2008, and also directed The Tinker of Tivoli for their Opera Camp program.
Metropolitan Opera soprano, Ana Maria Martinez, described Thomas as “thinking out of the box in an intriguing and captivating way... an inspiring director and mentor, particularly for young artists.” Baritone Quinn Kelsey, of Chicago Lyric Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, says that Thomas, “utilized his own intuitive twists on the storyline of certain pieces to give me as a singer a different perspective of my interpretation.” Kelsey says that Thomas’ unique new production and staging concepts “... could prove quite useful in bringing more and more audiences back to the opera. Mr. Thomas' insight just seems to me to be a very healthy way to reenergize opera productions.”
As a singer and actor, Thomas has performed extensively throughout California as well as internationally in opera, musical theater, and jazz. He recently triumphed in the role of Cavaradossi in Tosca with Center Stage Opera (CA). He sang the role of Amadee and Young Amadee in the professional recording of Philip Westin’s operetta, Heartland, and has sung the roles of Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Larry/Matt in The Face on the Barroom Floor, Daniel in Donizetti's Betly, Mr. Splinters in The Tender Land, Armored Man in The Magic Flute, Barton in Esperanza, as well as Ambrogio in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia presented by Opera Pacific. He also performed the role of Alfredo in La Traviata, opposite his real-life wife, Shira Renee Thomas, and sang the role of Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen for a concert performance with Center Stage Opera (CA).
For ten months during 2006, Dylan F. Thomas was engaged as a performer in three different variety shows at Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan. There he had the pleasure of singing not only opera repertoire, but musical theater and jazz as well. He performed the role of Luigi in the street theater production of The Five Topping Opera, and was also a tenor soloist in the holiday spectacular, A White Christmas Carol, seen by upwards of 40,000 people each performance. In addition, he performed in a holiday jazz show, which was conceptualized in part by Mr. Thomas.