I have joined the cast of the medieval fantasy pilot King’s Blade! I’ll be playing King Brennus Arcaine III of the House Arcaine. Creator and cast member Matt Provencal (Matthias Brayden) hosted myself and fellow cast mate Lindsay Prerost (Tavyra Douglas) for a chat about our characters, the script, and answer some questions from the viewers. You can catch our episode here. Be sure to join Matt every Friday at 3 PM EST on his YouTube channel for updates and drop some coin in the GOFUNDME.
LAST MOMENT OF CLARITY Trailer Arrives and Release Date Announced
The trailer for Last Moment of Clarity has arrived! Written and directed by brother team Colin and James Krisel, this thriller draws inspiration from Hitchcock films like Vertigo and Rear Window. I was fortunate enough to land a role as "Johnny," one of the henchman to Pasha Lychnikoff's "Karl." Check out the trailer above and see me take a bottle to the face and stare off into the distance with my furrowed brow. All my love to the stunt team, lead by Curtis Lyons, for showing me the ropes and keeping us safe. Starring Samara Weaving, Brian Cox, Carly Chaikin, Udo Kier, Hal Ozsan, Pasha D. Lychnikoff, and Zach Avery. Available on DVD and streaming May 19th.
Peak Performances Presents the World Premiere of THE ROMANCE OF THE ROSE
Photo by Jim Gibe
“Pulitzer Prize nominee Soper ‘has made a specialty of turning dense, thorny, seemingly unmusical sources into elegant, surprisingly poignant art’ (The New York Times), and Romance represents the most ambitious project to date for an artist who, as The New Yorker’s Alex Ross wrote in 2017, ‘deserves a much bigger stage.’ Soper’s original story and book for The Romance of the Rose fuses her own writing—and texts on love by a plethora of poets—with elements of the medieval French poem of the same name by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. Invited by The Dreamer (Lucas Steele, Tony Award nominee for The Great Comet), the audience’s modern-day avatar The Lover (Devony Smith) enters an otherworldly landscape brimming with riddles. The opera shatters the experience of love into its many facets, embodied by allegorical personalities—the swooning sentimentalist God of Love (Phillip Bullock), the painstaking pragmatist Lady Reason (Brett Umlauf), a pure distillation of scathing Shame (Gelsey Bell), as well as personified Pleasure (Robert Wesley Mason) and Idleness (Ariadne Greif)—playing tug-of-war with the Lover’s subconscious.'“ Read more here.
On Site Opera's DAS BARBECÜ Featured on "It's a G Thing" on Pix 11
The cast of Das Barbecü was recently featured interviewed on “It’s a G Thing” on PIX 11. Check out the link above for shenanigans!
Wes Joins Cast of DAS BARBECÜ
“Winter takes a witty and delicious turn with On Site Opera’s new production of Jim Luigs and Scott Warrender’s Das Barbecü at Hill Country Barbecue Market in the Flatiron District. A nod to Wagner’s Ring Cycle merged with a comedic Texas fable, the songbook ranges from Broadway to Texas swing, from jazz to twangy country and western as mismatched lovers meet on the day of their double shotgun wedding with five actors playing more than 30 outrageous characters at breakneck speed.” -On Site Opera
(Playbill) Cast Set for Site-Specific Run of Das Barbecü at Hill Country Barbecue Market in N.Y.C.
(Broadway World) David Hughey, Justine Aronson and More Announced in Casting of DAS BARBECÜ at Hill Country Barbecue Market
(Operawire) On Site Opera to Present ‘Das Barbecü’
Workshop of Conrad Cummings and Mark Campbell's AGAIN AND AGAIN. AND AGAIN
Wes recently joined conductor Steven Osgood and several opera industry colleagues for a reading of the first portion of a new opera by Conrad Cummings and Mark Campbell called Again and Again. And Again in New York City. Conrad descirbes the work as “a chamber opera based somewhat on Pierre Corneille’s 1636 meta-theatrical free-for-all, L’Illusion Comique.
The opera contains comedy and loss, a sorcerer and reincarnation, French Classical theatrics and a 1980’s TV soap opera. Oh, and a goat farm in Vermont. Through it all a father searches for his estranged son.”
AS ONE Feature in Pensacola News Journal
Meg Burke Photography
“Since its 2014 premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, “As One” has become the most performed contemporary opera throughout North America.
The Florida debut of the coming-of-age story is being presented by Pensacola Opera in partnership with Sunday’s Child and friend of the opera, Diane Peterson.
The mission of Sunday’s Child is to promote equality and inspire inclusion across the community by awarding grants for significant charitable and economic initiatives, according to Board President Gary Rhodes.” Continue reading
BREAKING THE WAVES: An Interview with Sara LeMesh and Robert Wesley Mason
Photo by Cory Weaver
“The baritone called the opera ‘a step forward for the art form.’ A professional singer from the age of 16, Mason has made a career in American opera working with living composers preparing new work for world premieres. Although he finds Breaking the Waves offers ‘beautiful vocal lines requiring a high level of technique and strong diction, what makes the opera different is the dramatic scenarios.’”
Read the full interview here: https://www.repeatperformances.org/west-edge-operas-breaking-the-waves-an-interview-with-sara-lemesh-and-robert-wesley-mason
BREAKING THE WAVES at West Edge Opera Festival
We are getting close to the West Edge Opera 2019 season opening! Check out some behind the scene shots of rehearsals and a breakdown of Breaking the Waves from director Mark Streshinsky. Tickets: https://www.westedgeopera.org/2019/tickets
Elvis Costello's THE JULIET LETTERS with Urban Arias
Photo by C. Stanley Photography
Urban Arias’ staging of Elvis Costello’s The Juliet Letters has concluded its smash hit run at The Signature Theatre. Promotional press as well as rave reviews can be found below.
Wait- Elvis Costello Wrote an Opera?
‘The Juliet Letters’ by Urban Arias- DC Metro Theatre Arts
Elvis Costello’s opera, The Juliet Letters- DC Theatre Scene
Elvis Costello’s THE JULIET LETTERS revived by Urban Arias-Broadway World
Elvis Costellos's THE JULIET LETTERS Versatile and Imaginative