Des Moines Metro Opera Stages 4 New Productions for 50th Anniversary

In announcing its 50^th-anniversary season, which opens in March 2022 with a number of new productions, the Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) also launched the public phase of its $15mn fundraising campaign. To date it has raised $12.7mn in cash and estate gifts—85 percent of its goal—and hopes to far exceed that by July 2022 to mark the anniversary. The company’s annual operating budget is $2 million.

The Komische Oper Berlin ’s family-friendly production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute inaugurates the season on March 5 and 6. Created by Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrade, the production places the singers in front of a huge screen, interacting in real time with colorful, silent film-style projections. The cast includes Aaron Blake (Tamino), Audrey Luna (The Queen of the Night), Andrew Wilkowske (Papageno), and John Robert Lindsey (Monostatos). Christopher Allen conducts.

The Summer Festival, which runs from July 1 through July 24, features four new productions. Tazewell Thompson directs a new Porgy and Bess with Iowa native Simon Estes as production advisor, opening July 1 and running for six additional performances. Estes will sing the role of Lawyer Frazier. Other cast members include Kevin Deas (Porgy), Michelle Johnson (Bess), Leah Hawkins (Serena), Norman Garrett (Crown), and Jermaine Smith (Sportin’ Life). Michael Ellis Ingram conducts.

A new staging of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Chas Rader-Shieber opens on July 2, with three other performances. John Holiday sings Oberon, with Sydney Mancasola (Tytania), Barnaby Rea (Bottom), and Isaiah Bell (Lysander).

The first of five performances of A Thousand Acres, based on Iowan Jane Smiley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, comes on July 9, marking the opera’s world premiere. With music by Kristin Kuster and libretto by Mark Campbell, this reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear explores ideas of family conflict, patriarchy, legacy, and the strength and fragility of the ties that bind us together. The cast includes Elise Quagliata, Sara Gartland, Grace Kahl, Roger Honeywell, Keith Phares, John Moore, and Wei Wu. David Neely conducts Kristine McIntyre’s production.

American Apollo, with music by Damien Geter and a libretto by Lila Palmer, opens the first of three performances on July 20. The opera narrates the story of Thomas Eugene McKeller, a Black model who served as inspiration for the famous portraitist, John Singer Sargent, and delves into issues related to race, class, and sexuality. A short performance, discussion, and lecture with Isabella Stewart Gardner curator Dr. Nathaniel Silver will be presented in July 2022 in collaboration with the Des Moines Art Center and Pyramid Theatre. Justin Austin stars as Thomas McKeller, while David Neely conducts.