Ghosts of Gatsby, Season Kick-Off

Opera Las Vegas will kick-off its 22^nd Anniversary Season on October 1^st- 3^rd with The Ghosts of Gatsby, a chamber opera inspired by the Jazz Age and infused with operatic madness by composer Evan Mack and librettist Joshua McGuire.

Based on true events, The Ghosts of Gatsby is a compelling psychological journey into the marriage of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, a relationship being mightily tested as Scott is struggling to finish The Great Gatsby in 1924 in a steamy hotel room on the French Riviera. Competing narratives of Zelda and Scott's past and a large dollop of dark humor all collide in a Black Mirror-like plot twist. 

The Ghosts of Gatsby is a tuneful operatic tribute to the demands of insanity, art, and love. With a script based on Scott and Zelda’s actual words, music based on jazz sensibilities, and highly charged emotions being powerfully delivered by polished singers, the production promises to not only have resonance for literary and period music fans but will also engage seasoned and novice operagoers alike.  

Opera Las Vegas is looking forward to being part of the Renaissance of live performances after many months of distanced, online offerings.  To celebrate that the performing arts are back in Las Vegas, the company is collaborating with a coalition of some of the Valley’s leading creative talent, including members of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Dr. Linda Lister (Director UNLV Opera Theatre), pianist Philip Fortenberry, Emily Kurcan-Stephenson (Opera on Tap - Las Vegas), stage director ‘Daz’ Weller (Vegas Theatre Company), and the popular venue, The Space.

They will join a four-person cast of principal singers that features three OLV favorites, mezzo-soprano Kimberly Gratland James (Gordon and Vavrek’s “27”), sopranos Athena Mertes (Don  Giovanni, “27”) and Kayla Wilkens (Hansel and Gretel), as well as the company debut of baritone Rob McGinness (Arizona Opera, Washington National Opera).  Music Director Joshua Horsch conducts.  Maestro Horsch is well remembered for his recent leadership of OLV’s Don Pasquale, The Elixir of Love, and Cinderella.

This production is also part of OLV’s acclaimed Living Composers and Librettists Initiative, which promotes second and subsequent productions of worthy new operas to help bring them into the performance canon alongside established titles.  Other West Coast premieres scheduled by OLV this season include Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek’s The House Without a Christmas Tree; D.J. Sparr, Mark Campbell, and Davis Miller’s Approaching Ali; and Michael Torke and A.R. Gurney’s Strawberry Fields; joined on the schedule by popular classics like Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, and Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca.  

The Ghosts of Gatsby was the 1st place winner of the 2019 National Opera Association (NOA) Dominick Argento Chamber Opera Competition and will be receiving its West Coast (and professional company) premiere at The Space, 1 and 2 October at 7:30 pm; 3 October at 3:00 pm.  Messrs. Mack and McGuire will attend the premiere and participate in a Q&A after the show on 1 October.
Tickets are priced at $45 and $25, but all military, first responders, and students, use code: COMMUNITY for $15 off your ticket!  Applies to all ticket levels.