CCM pairs two of Giacomo Puccini‘s most popular operas Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi for its next Mainstage production, which opens this Thursday, March 22, and continues through Sunday, March 25, 2018. These two operas highlight Puccini’s mastery of emotional storytelling, each sharing two contrasting tales about moral hypocrisy and greed.
CCM graduate students direct each production; Meredith Kitz directs Suor Angelica while Andreas Hager directs Gianni Schicchi. These young directors are not only challenged with mounting top-notch productions, but also have the added difficulty of presenting two distinct operas as a cohesive show.
“Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi work well together because they are so different,” says Hager. “The former takes religion and social order very seriously, while the latter completely skewers the awful and rich Donati family. In Suor Angelica, God is the moral compass, but Gianni Schicchi is about flesh and desire, with both the good and bad urges in every human.”
Tickets for CCM Opera’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schcchi are available now through the CCM Box Office.
You can read more about the productions in the directors’ notes below:
Puccini’s Suor Angelica tells a story of faith, redemption and unconditional love. Under the ever-watchful eye of the Virgin Mary, a cloistered community faces the the daily toil of life in service of God and the greater good. Any longing for the outside world is left behind, and the encouragement to grow in relationship to God is brought to life in pastoral beauty. When a bitter presence thrusts harsh reality into this delicate atmosphere, will mercy and forgiveness provide the respite and salvation these women seek?
Suor Angelica asks us to see beyond desires and material attachments and surrender to a love that is greater than anything this world has to offer — a love that transcends life itself.
– Meredith Kitz, director of Suor Angelica
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Firenze è come un albero fiorito,
che in piazza dei Signori ha tronco e
fronde,
Ma le radici forze nuove apportano
delle convalli limpide e feconde
Florence is like a flowering tree,
With trunk and branches in the piazza,
But the roots draw new strength
From the clear and fertile valleys.
So sings the lover Rinuccio, begging his narrow-minded family to allow him to marry his girlfriend. The problem: his family does not want him to associate with “newcomers,” as his aunt refers to the non-native born. The aria morphs into a sweeping ode to immigration and the exchange of cultures. Who brought the great arts and sciences to Florence? Arnolfo, Giotto and the Medici were all born outside the city, Rinuccio reminds them.
The family rejects this and doesn’t warm to the marriage until the girl’s father, the titular Gianni Schicchi, crafts a plot to forge a new will and help them inherit their dead uncle’s money. It’s a masterful study in hypocrisy, all the more remarkable because it remains lighthearted and effervescent.
Like the best of Shakespeare, Gianni Schicchi transcends its time period and national distinctions. We recognize each one of the characters onstage. Composed during the final years of World War I, the opera questions the stability of a fossilized world order but also concedes that a rejuvenated and more diverse society will only emerge through a bit of trickery. If the moral lesson is muddied, Gianni Schicchi certainly gets at a fundamental truth: it’s fun to watch the wicked fall.
– Andreas Hager, director of Gianni Schicchi
Suor Angelica will last 1 hour and will be followed by a 15-minute intermission. Gianni Schicchi will last 1 hour. View the program booklet online here.
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CREATIVE TEAM:
- Mark Gibson, conductor
- Meredith Kitz, director (Suor Angelica)*
- Andreas Hager, director (Gianni Schicchi)*
- Theron Wineinger, scenic designer*
- Oliver Tidwell Littleton, lighting designer*
- Rin Marie Schwob, hair and make-up designer*
- Sidney Martin, props master*
- Hankyu Lee, sound designer*
- Chelsea D. Taylor, stage manager (Suor Angelica)*
- Margo Leist, stage manager (Gianni Schicchi)*
- Ashley Trujilo, costume designer*
- Marie-France Lefebvre, musical preparation
*CCM student
CAST LISTS:
SUOR ANGELICA
- Caitlin Gotimer*, Nicolette Book^ as Sister Angelica
- Amber Fasquelle*, Karis Tucker^ as The Princess
- Brenda Iglesias-Zarco as The Abbess
- Briana Moynihan as The Monitress
- Mia Athey as The Mistress of the Novices
- Claire Lopatka*, Allison Anderson^ as Sister Genovieffa
- Hannah Consenz as Sister Osmina
- Madeline Jentsch as Sister Dolcina
- Rebecca Printz as The Nursing Sister
- Amber R. Monroe as Alms Sister 1
- Victoria Okafor as Alms Sister 2
- Amanda Olea as Novice
- Yewoon Yeon as Lay Sister 1
- Natalie Sheppard as Lay Sister 2
- Mercer May Barton as Griffin
GIANNI SCHICCHI
- Jonathan Stinson*, Samson McCrady^ as Gianni Schicchi
- Teresa Perrotta*, Lisa Rogali^ as Lauretta
- Brandon Scott Russell*, Chandler Johnson^ as Rinuccio
- Rebecca Printz*, Abigail Hoyt^ as Zita
- Dongwhi (Tony) Baek*, Tyler Jonson^ as Gherardo
- Murrella Parton*, Amy Joy Stephens^ as Nella
- Daniel Roger Lefebvre Chaitkin as Gherardino
- John Siarris*, Antonio Cruz^ as Betto di Signa
- Michael Hyatt as Simone
- Zane Hill as Marco
- Briana Moynihan as La Ciesca
- Antonio Cruz*, John Siarris^ as Maestro Spinelloccio
- Miles Wilson-Toliver as Ser Amantio di Nicolao
- Joshua Cook as Pinellino
- De’Ron McDaniel as Guccio
* Thursday, March 22 & Saturday, March 24
^ Friday, March 23 & Sunday, March 25
PERFORMANCE TIMES
- 8 p.m. Thursday, March 22
- 8 p.m. Friday, March 23
- 8 p.m. Saturday, March 24
- 2 p.m. Sunday, March 25
LOCATION
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village,
University of Cincinnati
PURCHASING TICKETS
Tickets are $31-35 for adults, $22-25 for non-UC students and $18-21 for UC students with a valid ID. Student rush tickets will be sold one hour before each performance to non-UC students for $12 or $15, based on availability. UC students can receive one free student rush ticket with a valid ID, based on availability.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/mainstage/gianni-schicchi-suor-angelica.
PARKING AND DIRECTIONS
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.
For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.
For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation
Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s
Opera Department Sponsor: Mr. & Mrs. Edward S. Rosenthal
Opera Production Sponsor: Genevieve Smith
This season, the 
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