Where:
Lueders Opera Center
926 E Burleigh St, Milwaukee, WI 53212
When:
February 6th, 2024 @ 5:30pm
Rsvp: Email events@florentineopera.org to rsvp and for any questions about the event.
Songbird is a story where true love conquers all. Join us for an opportunity to hear from our director and conductor about this modern adaptation of Offenbach’s work!
About Versed
We build operas over the course of a few years! In that time, dozens of creatives work on color palettes, lighting effects, historical juxtapositions and casting. Get a peek into the production process and learn more about what makes this show magical, including historical context.
For each mainstage production, we offer two Versed experiences for the Milwaukee community (and beyond) to learn about composer histories, the first audience's response, historical contexts, culture, and the intentions behind a show.
Our Versed series takes place as an intimate gathering somewhere in Milwaukee. These are FREE and open to the public. Food and beverage will be available for purchase.
Featuring
Jill Anna Ponasik, Director
This is Jill Anna’s 15th season as artistic director of Milwaukee Opera Theatre, and Songbird is her 4th production with The Florentine. At both organizations, she loves watching artists and audiences connect through opera.
Select past productions with the Florentine include: Così: REMIX, Cinderella, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, and Little Mahagonny. With the Skylight Music Theater: Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, Oklahoma!, Ruddigore, Carmina Burana and Tales of Hoffmann. With Milwaukee Opera Theater: Impossible Operas, Rusalka, Preludes, Clemenza di Tito, Zie Magic Flute, Doc Danger and the Danger Squad, Svadba, A Chorus Line, Handel’s Bestiary, The Mikado, Victory for Victoria, 1776, Song from the Uproar, Lucy, Fortuna the Time Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom, and Guns N’ Rosenkavalier.
An eager creator, always excited to collaborate, Jill Anna has helped develop work with The Decameron Opera Coalition, Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Present Music, Renaissance Theaterworks, The Florentine Opera, In Tandem, First Stage Children’s Theatre, Quasimondo Physical Theatre, Danceworks Performance Company, Wild Space Dance Company, The Alchemist, Theater RED, Angry Young Men Ltd, Carroll University, The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and The University of Wisconsin Parkside. Despite the 337 miles that separate them, she feels especially connected to Nautilus Music-Theater in St Paul, MN.
Jill Anna’s work has been presented in parks and parking lots, ballrooms and breweries, churches, classrooms, gardens, lobbies, recital halls, bookstores, masonic temples, and sometimes, like right now, in a theater.
Robert Mollicone, Conductor
Robert Mollicone is a member of the music staff of San Francisco Opera, where he was recently named assistant to Music Director Nicola Luisotti beginning Fall 2017; he is also a frequent guest at such companies as Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Utah Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Opera San Jose. He has also prepared productions with and assisted many of today’s leading conductors, including Jesús López-Cobos, Donald Runnicles, Stephen Lord, and Patrick Summers. These nearly 50 productions since 2010 span the breadth of the repertoire, including Ariadne auf Naxos, Turandot, La Cenerentola, Les Troyens, Der Ring des Nibelungen, La Finta Giardiniera, and Show Boat.