presents

Music by Engelbert Humperdinck
Libretto by Adelheid Wette
English adaptation by Kathleen Kelly

Friday, April 21, 2023 at 7:30pm
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 2:30pm
Dorothy Jemison Day Theater at ASFA

Hansel and Gretel will be performed in two acts with one intermission.
Approximate run time is two hours.

Cris Frisco, conductor
Frances Rabalais, stage director
Wes Chapman, choreographer

Opera Birmingham Chorus
Alabama Symphony Orchestra
Alabama School of Fine Arts Dancers

PLEASE SILENCE ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES.
NO TEXTING OR TWEETING DURING THE PERFORMANCE.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND RECORDING OF ANY KIND IS PROHIBITED. 
THANK YOU!

(in order of vocal appearance)

Gretel
Alicia Russell Tagert *

Hansel
Lisa Marie Rogali *

Mother
Alexis Davis-Hazell *

Father
Hunter Enoch

Sandman
DeLee Michiko Benton ^

Dew Fairy
Caitlyn Rodrigue ^

Witch
Quinn Middleman *

* denotes Opera Birmingham debut
^ denotes members of the Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University

Leah Desiderio

Temperance Jones

Betsy Pate

Camryn Rodrigue ^

Emily Scott

Janice Sullivan-Stoll

Marissa Eden Talwa 

Heather Thaxton

^ denotes members of the Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University

Sophia Albright

Jovelyn Gonzalez

Lilah Helmer

McKynzie Lomax

Isabelle Shemwell

Julia Skeen

Christiana Thigpen

Production Stage Manager
Hope Griffin

Costume Designer/Coordinator
DeLee Michiko Benton

Costume Design for Angels
Wendy Gamble

Technical Director
Adam Stermer

Lighting Designer
Therrin Eber

Hair & Makeup Designer
Holly McClendon 

Assistant Stage Manager
Kristen Aragon

Props Manager
Craig Etheridge

Rehearsal Pianist
Arthur Bosarge

Supertitle Operator
Joseph Robinson

Production Photographer
Stewart Edmonds

Costumes designed and provided by Nashville Opera,
with additional costumes designed and created by DeLee Michiko Benton

Scenery designed by Erica Edmonson and purchased from Nashville Opera

Michael J. & Mary Anne Freeman, cast lunch sponsors
Lee Woehle, scenery and costume sponsor
Dr. Emily Omura, ASFA dancers sponsor
Mary K. “Mimi” Jackson, rehearsal pianist sponsor
Cathy & Barry Logue, Liz Saunders, Ruth & Will Varnell, Keith & Kevin Wolfe-Hughes, housing hosts
Birmingham Children's Theatre
Red Mountain Theatre
Samford Theatre Department
UAB Theatre Department

Our season has been made possible, in part, by grants from Alabama Power Foundation, Alabama State Council on the Arts, The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, The Daniel Foundation of Alabama, The Hugh Kaul Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts.

Student tickets are supported by The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.

Members of the Opera Birmingham Studio at Samford University are sponsored by Michael J. and Mary Anne Freeman, in celebration of Mike’s 70^th birthday.

Alabama Media Group is the Official Media Sponsor of Opera Birmingham. Additional support provided by Bham Now.

Opera Birmingham acknowledges that we are on the traditional land of the Kosati speaking Mvskoke (Muscogee/Creek) People. Alabama has been home to the Alabama, Biloxi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Mobile Tribes—including the Abihka, Alabama-Coushatta, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and the Yuchi Peoples—and is home to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama, the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama, the Machis Lower Creek Tribe, the Mowa Band of Choctaw, and the Star Clan of Muskogee Creeks. We honor and thank the Indigenous peoples connected to this territory and give gratitude to this land.

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