The Grand Duchess

Jacques Offenbach
  • Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
    Friday, October 16, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.
    Friday, October 16, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.
  • Century II Concert Hall

Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann.   He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. The Tales of Hoffmanremains part of the standard opera repertory.

 

Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical theatre. Finding the management of Paris’s Opéra-Comique company uninterested in staging his works, in 1855 he leased a small theatre in the Champs-Élysées. There he presented a series of his own small-scale pieces, many of which became popular.

 

In 1858, Offenbach produced his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers (“Orpheus in the Underworld”), which was exceptionally well received and has remained one of his most played works. During the 1860s, he produced at least 18 full-length operettas, as well as more one-act pieces. His works from this period included La belle Hélène (1864), La vie parisienne (1866), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867) and La Périchole (1868). The risqué humor (often about sexual intrigue) and mostly gentle satiric barbs in these pieces, together with Offenbach’s facility for melody, made them internationally known, and translated versions were successful in Vienna, London and elsewhere in Europe.

 

Offenbach became associated with the Second French Empire of Napoleon III; the emperor and his court were genially satirized in many of Offenbach’s operettas. Napoleon III personally granted him French citizenship and the Légion d’Honneur. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Offenbach found himself out of favor in Paris because of his imperial connections and his German birth. He remained successful in Vienna and London, however. He re-established himself in Paris during the 1870s, with revivals of some of his earlier favorites and a series of new works, and undertook a popular U.S. tour. In his last years he strove to finish The Tales of Hoffmann, but died before the premiere of the opera, which has entered the standard repertory in versions completed or edited by other musicians.

 

Friday, October 16, 2015, 7:00 PM – Century II Concert Hall –

Saturday, October 17, 2015, 7:30 PM – McPherson Opera House –

Sunday, October 18, 2015, 3:00pm – Century II Concert Hall –

by Jacques Offenbach
An opéra bouffe in three acts
Sung in English

Libretto in French by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
World Premiere: Théâtre des Variétés in Paris, April 12, 1867

Stage DirectorConductor
Shawna Lucey Edward Lada
Set DesignMargaret Ann Pent
Scenic ArtistStefan Pavlov
Lighting DesignTyler Lessin
Costume DesignMargaret Ann Pent
ChorusmasterMatthew Schloneger
ChoreographerDiane Gans
Hair & Wig StylistPatricia Ponder
Make-up ArtistPatrica Myers
Wichita Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus
CAST OF CHARACTERS 
The Grand Duchess ………………………………………………………………….. Kaitlyn Costello
Fritz, a soldier……………………………………………………………………………….. Cullen Gandy
Wanda, a peasant, Fritz’s fiancee…………………………………………………… Alyssa Toepfer
General Boom …………………………………………………………………………… William Powers
Baron Puck, the Lord Chamberlain …………………………………………………. Brian Frutiger
Prince Paul, betrothed to the Duchess…………………………………………… Brian Yeakley †
Baron Grog, Prince Paul’s aide…………………………………………………… Jake Skipworth †
Népomuc, a servant …………………………………………………………………….. Dylan Moore †
Iza, a maid of honor ………………………………………………………………………… Anna Berry †
Olga, a maid of honor ……………………………………………………………………. Andra Erbar †
Amelia, a maid of honor …………………………………………………….. Ashten Linnea Smith †
Charlotte, a maid of honor ……………………………………………………… Carmenrosa Duarte
CHORUS: Officers, soldiers, townfolk, and magistrates
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*WGO Resident Artists    †WGO Young Artists