The Dallas Opera Unstable

The Dallas Opera unstable on many fronts is the song sung by insiders at The Winspear Opera House. This comes after several recent issues.

The Dallas Opera unstable on many fronts is the song sung by insiders at The Winspear Opera House. This comes after several recent issues. The Dallas Opera in celebrating its 65th anniversary this year. It is showing signs and symptoms of old age and in need of adult supervision.

Tonight, The Dallas Opera will present its latest production tonight, Das Rheingold. Some media organizations have already pronounced it a success. Insiders tell a very different story.

This week several cast left the production after TDO chose not to corral a wayward employee. The was doubling as a production extra. The employee was acting threatening towards other cast and crew.

The Dallas Opera unstable on many fronts is the song sung by insiders at The Winspear Opera House. This comes after several recent issues.

Other Side Dallas has reached out to the reported victims in this case who will not return calls or emails.

Cast and crew describe walking on eggshells around a trans male Facility Manager. The employee works from the Karayanis Rehearsal Production Center.

Other Side Dallas was able to speak to a few cast and crew about Das Rheingold and this employee.

There is “too much testosterone” and he has a “hormonal imbalance” was a familar refrain.

A person with the production said senior staff know the situation is unsafe. They refuse to provide the adult supervision he needs.

One other person said, “no one wants to deal with the problem out of fear of violence.”

This is a problem given the production has several youth extras, or supernumeraries.

Safety: Children

Despite working with minors, the opera does not provide any safety guard rails. There are no provisions for their own staff or volunteers.

This is one area of oversight that the opera appears guilty of from a management standpoint. There are no background checks and no training for working with children.

These basic safety measures have come about from decades of abuse scandals. involving nonprofit groups.

One firm noted every forty-three hours a registered sex offender tries working for a nonprofit. Those persons are caught by organizations undertaking basic precautions. The Dallas Opera skips these basic steps in providing a measure of protection.

There is a notation from Josh Martin, Artistic Services Coordinator, that seems problematic. The memo reads the opera does “not employ a “child wrangler.”

He appears to mean children should be seen and not heard. He also seems to indicate they’re not doing anything to protect children.

Other Side Dallas has also seen the submission of a related Child Protective Services report. The report was made Monday morning by a school counselor.

The report details an adult improperly brushing a teenage girl. It names the Winspear Opera House as the location of the incident. We are working to confirm that these issues are related.

We do know that both the employee and the underage girl were co-located in a cramped substage crawl area.

Other Side Dallas has reached out to The Dallas Opera more than six times for comment. So far no one from their organization has responded.

Safety: Adults

Other Side Dallas also found that another employee, Mark Wagenhurst, died during production. This happened at Karayanis Rehearsal Production Center a few weeks ago.

He was found dead by other employees, but no attempts were made to help him. This comes despite the opera employing a medical safety officer.

The Dallas Opera Unstable Costumes, Set, and Stage

Finally, the production has many problems. TDO got a positive review from the Dallas Morning News before the show ever got to The Winspear Opera House. It seems

Invited audience members on Tuesday night noted a few problems.

At one point, the the orchestra stopped playing during a transition. This occurred when a lighting issue arose causing the several minute delay.

Additionally, several cast members have had wardrobe malfunctions. “Grand” costumes caught on set design pieces like a scaffolding set up. There have also been issues with elevators and lifts.

One crew member said, “you have elaborate transitions so some designer can prove who they are, but they don’t go together.”

The costumes are getting caught on “modern set designs” and everyone is at risk.

The Dallas Opera was the first to return to the stage last year after coronavirus. Their production of Madame Butterfly received good reviews at the time. Since then they seem off track.

The Dallas opera company seems less focused on quality now than pre COVID19.

The current quantity over quality production makes a company unstable for future audiences.

Madame Butterfly Tickets

Madame Butterfly Tickets

Yesterday we reported on the return of The Dallas Opera with its presentation of Madame Butterfly which starts tonight. Great Madame Butterfly tickets are still available for all shows.

Madame Butterfly Tickets

The distinguished cast of Dallas Opera favorites and debuts includes 2005 “Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year” Latonia Moore (Cio-Cio-San), Evan LeRoy Johnson (Lt. B.F. Pinkerton, TDOdebut), Kirstin Chávez (Suzuki), Michael Adams (Sharpless, TDOdebut), Martin Bakari (Goro, TDO debut), Hyung Yun (Prince Yamadori), and Adam Lau (The Bonze).

Music Director Emmanuel Villaume leads The Dallas Opera OrchestraLaurie Feldman directs, Michael Yeargan is set and costume designer, and Duane Schuler is lighting designer. Alexander Rom, chorus master, leads The Dallas Opera Chorus.

“It’s such a joy to to be able to bring fully staged productions back to the Winspear Opera House,” said Ian Derrer, The Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO.

Madame Butterfly Tickets

Program book available here

·         Four performances: February 18 (8pm), 20 (2pm), 23 (7:30pm), 26 (7:30pm)

·         2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission

·         Sung in Italian with English translations projected for each performance.

·         Location: Winspear Opera House (2403 Flora Street, Dallas, TX)

·         Tickets start at $19 and can be purchased online at dallasopera.org or by calling (214) 443-1000 (Monday – Friday from 10am – 5pm)

·         $15 advance student tickets are available for the Wednesday, February 23 performance of Madame Butterfly.

·         $15 student rush tickets are available at the Winspear Opera House 90 minutes prior to any Dallas Opera performance and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

·         We require one valid Student ID for every two tickets purchased.

Dallas arts are returning in full force with a full season of The Dallas Opera and the City of Dallas celebrating the the Majestic’s centennial.

Madame Butterfly Returns To Dallas

Madame Butterfly Returns To Dallas

Arts are coming backs trong as Madame Butterfly returns to Dallas.

The Dallas Opera returns to presenting fully staged works after an almost two-year hiatus with its production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, reminding audiences that grand opera endures.

The production, filled with some of the most beautiful operatic music of all time, opens at the Winspear Opera House on Friday, February 18, 2022, at 8:00 PM, with subsequent performances on Sunday, February 20 (2:00 PM), Wednesday, February 23 (7:30 PM), and Saturday, February 26 (7:30 PM).

Madame Butterfly Returns To Dallas

The distinguished cast of Dallas Opera favorites and debuts includes 2005 “Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year” Latonia Moore (Cio-Cio-San), Evan LeRoy Johnson (Lt. B.F. Pinkerton, TDOdebut), Kirstin Chávez (Suzuki), Michael Adams (Sharpless, TDOdebut), Martin Bakari (Goro, TDO debut), Hyung Yun (Prince Yamadori), and Adam Lau (The Bonze).

Music Director Emmanuel Villaume leads The Dallas Opera Orchestra, Laurie Feldman directs, Michael Yeargan is set and costume designer, and Duane Schuler is lighting designer. Alexander Rom, chorus master, leads The Dallas Opera Chorus.

“It’s such a joy to to be able to bring fully staged productions back to the Winspear Opera House,” said Ian Derrer, The Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO.

Madame Butterfly Returns To Dallas: The Story

In Nagasaki, Japan, a young woman, Cio-Cio-San, falls in love with a U.S. Naval Lieutenant, B.F. Pinkerton. For Cio-Cio-San, also known as “Madame Butterfly,” their impending marriage is one of longevity and love, but for Pinkerton, she is no more than a woman to pass the days until he finds a “real” American wife.

Three years later, Pinkerton has left, and Butterfly continues to wait, holding on hope for her husband’s return. Not only has Pinkerton abandoned a wife, but now a child. Cio-Cio-San is thrilled to see that after all this time, her husband’s naval ship has finally returned to the harbor. Butterfly prepares to reunite with her love, however it’s a woman she sees—Pinkerton’s American wife.

Filled with grief for what was, Butterfly is asked to give up her child. Quietly agreeing, she regains her composure and retrieves her father’s dagger, reading the inscription: “To die with honor when one cannot live with honor.” Cio-Cio-San bids her son farewell and stabs herself, dying as Pinkerton’s voice is heard outside.

Madame Butterfly Details

Program book available here

·         Four performances: February 18 (8pm), 20 (2pm), 23 (7:30pm), 26 (7:30pm)

·         2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission

·         Sung in Italian with English translations projected for each performance.

·         Location: Winspear Opera House (2403 Flora Street, Dallas, TX)

·         Tickets start at $19 and can be purchased online at dallasopera.org or by calling (214) 443-1000 (Monday – Friday from 10am – 5pm)

·         $15 advance student tickets are available for the Wednesday, February 23 performance of Madame Butterfly.

·         $15 student rush tickets are available at the Winspear Opera House 90 minutes prior to any Dallas Opera performance and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

·         We require one valid Student ID for every two tickets purchased.

Dallas arts are returning in full force with a full season of The Dallas Opera and the City of Dallas celebrating the the Majestic’s centennial.