February 16 & 18, 2024
Friday at 7:30 PM | Sunday at 2:30 PM
Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall (MPAC)
Run Time 1h 30m, with no intermission
Performed in English and French with English and French supertitles
Rated PG
Performance Events
Opening Night Dinner: February 16 at 5:30pm Saint Kate Hotel in the Arc Theater
Pre-Opera Talk: February 16 at 6:30pm and February 18 at 1:30pm Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall (MPAC)
Opening Night Post-Show Party February 16 after the show Saint Kate Hotel (Cash bar)
Offenbach’s Songbird is a reduced version of French operetta La Périchole. The scene is 1920’s New Orleans, and musicians Songbird and Piquillo have fallen on hard times and are desperate for a better life.
A tale of true love, capers, villains and confusion. Despite a series of dizzying events, they prove love conquers all. Don’t bet against Songbird!
Role Sponsor for Celeste
Bob Balderson
Production Sponsors
Claire and Glen Hackmann
Artists & Cast
Songbird Lindsay Metzger^
Piquillo Aaron Short^
Don Andrès Zachary Crowle^
Panatellas Tom Leighton^
Don Pedro / A Mobster Brandan Sanchez+
Guadalena Laura McCauley+
Berginella Alisa Jordheim^
Mastrilla Tzytle Steinman+
Celeste - Panatella's Mistress Colleen Brooks^
A Priest Jerek Fernández+
The Guide Vince Vogelsang*
Conducted by Robert Mollicone
Stage Directed by Jill Anna Ponasik
Co-Scenic Designer by Lisa Schlenker
Co-Scenic Designer by Madelyn Yee
Costume Designer by Shima Orans
Lighting Designer by Aaron Lichamer
Wig & Makeup Designer by Erica Cartledge
Supertitles Designer by Dyan Yoder
With musicians from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Adaptation created by Eric Sean Fogel, James Lowe, and Kelley Rourke
Musical Arrangement and Orchestration by James Lowe
English lyrics and book by Kelley Rourke
Based on “La Périchole” by Jacques Offenbach, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival, 2021
*Indicates Florentine Opera Debut | + Baumgartner Studio Artist | ^ Baumgartner Studio Artist Alum
