Thursday, September 9, 2021
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Curtain: 7:30 p.m.
The Barns at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
1635 Trap Road
Vienna, VA 22182
This performance will observe the COVID-19 policies and guidelines as determined by Wolf Trap. Please review current guidelines here before purchasing your tickets.
Attire matching the event's theme (Denim & Diamonds) is strongly encouraged.
Join us for a celebration, Denim & Diamonds: The Blacksmith at Wolf Trap! The evening will boast a performance of La Maréchal ferrant / The Blacksmith , pre-show cocktails, a special opening performance by Grammy and Emmy-winning banjo artist Dom Flemons, and a post-show champagne and dessert celebration where we will unveil our 2022 season.
Presenting
Le Maréchal Ferrant / The Blacksmith (1761)
François-André Danican Philidor, Composer
English Translation By Nick Olcott
Adaptation By Nick Olcott and Ryan Brown
From the French Libretto By François-Antoine Quétant
Recapturing the humor and immediacy of the original, Nick Olcott and Ryan Brown have adapted Philidor’s opéra comique Le marechal ferrant into the late 19th-century American West. Opéra comique originally integrated French vaudeville songs, allowing for audience sing-alongs. Honoring this, Brown has woven in popular American folk songs of the time. This fully-staged production bridges country and city, celebrates rural themes, and invites the audience to participate by joining in singing familiar folk songs. Do not miss what Opera Canada dubbed, “Ninety welcome minutes of charm and cheer.”
The production features the return of Joshua Conyers, Dominique Côté, Pascale Beaudin, Arnold Livingston Geis, and Frank Kelley each of whom will reprise their roles for this Washington, DC premiere. New to the cast and making her Opera Lafayette main stage debut is Ashley Marie Robillard. The orchestra features Ryan Brown on his fiddle, Grammy-winner Dom Flemons, guitar, Denver native Dylan Kober, guitar, and Doug Balliett, contrabass, previously heard with Opera Lafayette in An Evening of Monteverdi. This performance is like “…nothing you have ever seen from Opera Lafayette, or anyone else for that matter,” writes Mike Rogers of Opera Gene.
Dom Flemons (Credit: Timothy Duffy)
Grammy and Emmy-award winning banjo artist, Dom Flemons will perform an opening recital before The Blacksmith.
Branded the moniker The American Songster® since his repertoire of music covers over 100 years of early American popular music, Dom Flemons is an Emmy and Grammy-winning artist. An expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife and rhythm bones, Flemons was selected for the prestigious 2020 United States Artists Fellowship Award for the Traditional Arts category.
Tickets for the event are being sold through Wolf Trap’s Box Office, or you may support us directly by purchasing a benefit ticket here:
Pre and Post-Show Celebrations
Join us for a pre-show beverage, and post-show champagne and dessert reception followed by a first-look at our 21/22 season.
Featuring
Cast:
Pascale Beaudin, soprano
Joshua Conyers, bass-baritone
Dominque Côté, baritone
Ashley Marie Robillard, soprano
Arnold Livingston Geis, tenor
Frank Kelley, tenor
Ryan Brown, violin
Doug Balliett, bass
Dom Flemons, guitar, et.al.
Dylan Kober, guitar
Creative Team:
Nick Olcott, stage direction
Lisa Schlenker, scenic design
Marsha LeBoeuf, costume design
Keri Thibodeau, lighting design
The Critics Have Spoken
“The Blacksmith demonstrates opera’s power to bind and heal.”
“This unique staging and musical treatment got cleverly restyled for the Plains, circa 1900 ... [and] made for a diverting and tuneful ninety minutes.”
“You have never seen anything quite like this from Opera Lafayette, or from anyone really.”