Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie's The Grapes of Wrath, an operatic adaptation of John Steinbeck's Dust Bowl-set novel, comes to Carnegie Hall via MasterVoices for a concert performance April 17. Ted Sperling leads the 120-member community chorus and the Orchestra of St. Luke's.
The cast features Kyle Oliver as Tom Joad, Margaret Lattimore as Ma Joad, Nathan Gunn as Pa Joad, Bryonha Marie as Mae, Mikaela Bennett as Rose of Sharon, Victor Starsky as Jim Casy, Malcolm MacKenzie as Uncle John, Schyler Vargas as Connie Rivers, Christian Pursell as Noah, and John Brancy as Al. J. Smith-Cameron and Joe Morton provide narration.
Along with conducting, Sperling is directing the concert performance, which features sound design by Scott Lehrer, costume design by Tracy Christensen, lighting design by Brian Tovar, and projections by Wendall K. Harrington.
The Grapes of Wrath is the first of three contemporary operas which MasterVoices intends to produce over the next six years as part of its newly announced Three in Six program. Said Sperling in an earlier statement: “The major opera companies have so few slots available, and while there are innovative groups doing wonderful chamber stagings, there is little in between. So many worthy works—by some of our country’s greatest contemporary composers—have yet to be produced in New York for precisely this reason, and we look forward to opening up those vistas.”
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