INTERVIEW: little OPERA to present NY premiere of Floyd’s ‘Prince of Players’
The little OPERA theatre of ny might be little in name, but they are ambitious in scale. Under the artistic direction of Philip Shneidman, the company has brought several important works to New York audiences over the years, and their latest is the local premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players.
Performances of the piece will run Feb. 23-26 at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on East 68th Street in Manhattan. Shneidman directs the production, which is set in 17th-century Restoration England.
“It’s a beautifu and exciting new opera by Carlisle Floyd, one of the real great masters of American opera, and he’s also a bit of an Anglophile,” Shneidman said in a recent phone interview. “So he’s written this opera, Prince of Players, and set it in England. It’s about Edward Kynaston, who is a Shakespearan actor in the time of Charles II in Restoration England, and Kynaston was famous for his interpretation of the female parts in Shakespearan plays — Juliet and Ophelia and Desdemona and everything else. And Desdemona figures signficaintly in Carlisle’s opera because the opera, Prince of Players, starts with Othello and ends with Othello, and a lot of things happen in between.”
The opera company is able to produce Floyd’s work because of a familial connection they made a few years ago. In December of 2014, Floyd and his niece came to see little OPERA’s production of Slow Dusk & Markheim, and the composer and his family enjoyed the performance.
“They seemed pretty happy with the results, which was a relief for all of us,” Shneidman said. “We were all happy they came to the show, and [his neice] kind of whispered to me … ‘You know, Carlisle is writing a chamber opera.'”
Shneidman was ready to sign up for the project, which would become Prince of Players. The opera was originally commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, and now little OPERA is able to present its New York premiere. “The next chapter was last spring the New York Opera Alliance did its first big … launch festival,” he said. “We did a concert called Floydiana as part of the New York Opera Fest, and we included highlights from both of the past Floyd pieces we’ve done. … And we got permission to do three scenes from Prince of Players.”
Now audiences will be able to see the entire piece at Hunter College. Some of the singers from that concert last year will be included in the full production; others have recently joined the team. The double-cast features Sharin Apostolou, Matthew Curran, Neal Harrelson, Maeve Höglund, John Kaneklides, Michael Kelly, Ron Lloyd, Angela Mannino, Raùl Melo, Shea Owens, Jessica Sandidge, Marc Schreiner, Jane Shaulis, Nicholas Simpson and Bray Wilkins.
The little OPERA theatre of ny began with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — well, not exactly. Shneidman wanted to produce an early Mozart opera, and he decided to utilize his DIY skills.
“The idea was really simple,” Shneidman said. “I just wanted to do a production of an early Mozart opera called La finta giardiniera, which at one point I gave a nickname of Gardens of Disguise. … What happened, I just wanted to do the opera. I had been doing operas at Mannes College of Music, where I was teaching, and I kind of wanted to do one outside the school. That’s how it started, and I didn’t really think I was founding a company. I just thought I was trying to raise interest and do a production of La finta giardiniera.”
Now more than 12 years later, little OPERA has grown into a BIG producer of this unique art form.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The little OPERA theatre of ny presents Prince of Players by Carlisle Floyd. The opera is directed by Philip Shneidman, artistic director of the little OPERA. Performances run Feb. 23-26 at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on East 68th Street in Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
