October 31 – November 2, 2025
San Diego Civic Theatre
Music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Conducted by Yves Abel
Directed by Christopher Mattaliano
The tears of a clown can be deadly. Canio is a comic actor in a troupe of street performers touring the Italian countryside. He also has a hair-trigger temper, and there are whispers that his gorgeous wife Nedda might be cheating on him. Leoncavallo’s masterful score includes such extraordinary arias as “Stridono lassù” and one of the most famous tenor arias of all time, the iconic and heartbreaking “Vesti la giubba.”
Jonathan Burton
Canio
“As Canio, Jonathan Burton gave ample proof that he should be engaged as often as possible.”
~onStage Pittsburgh
Jonathan Burton
Canio
San Diego Opera debut
Recent and Upcoming: Manrico in Il trovatore (North Carolina Opera, Pittsburgh Opera); Woz in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Washington National Opera); Canio in Pagliacci (Utah Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Austin Opera, Nashville Opera); Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West (The Washington Opera Society, Central City Opera); Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca (Pittsburgh Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Santa Fe Opera); Calaf in Turandot (Washington National Opera, Opera Colorado); B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Virginia Opera, Palm Beach Opera); Paul in Die tote Stadt (Opera Colorado).
Hailey Clark
Nedda
“A luminous soprano!”
~Online Musik Magazine
Hailey Clark
Nedda
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Mimì in La bohème (Austin Opera); Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Palm Beach Opera); Violetta Valéry in a semi-staged La traviata (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra); Nedda in Pagliacci (Austin Opera); Freia in Das Rheingold (Bayreuther Festpiele); Rachel in La juive (Staatsoper Hannover); Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (Palm Beach Opera); Gerhilde in Die Walküre (Dresdner Philharmonie); Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus (Central City Opera); Alma Beers in Brokeback Mountain (Stadhtheater Giessen).
Kidon Choi
Tonio
“He surpassed his own high standards with each successive phrase!"
~Voix des Arts
Kidon Choi
Tonio
San Diego Opera Highlights: Sharpless in Madama Butterfly
Recent and Upcoming: Amonasro in Aida (Arizona Opera); Marcello in La bohème (Opera San Jose, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Idaho); The Bonze in Madama Butterfly (Detroit Opera); Voice of the night watchman in Die Frau ohne Schatten (San Francisco Opera); Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly (San Francisco Opera); Baron Scarpia in Tosca (Opera San Jose); Lindorf in Les Contes D’Hoffman (Korea National Opera); Giorgio Germont in La traviata (Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Opera); Montano in Otello (Cleveland Orchestra); Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West (Korea National Opera); Tonio in Pagliacci (North Carolina Opera); A herald in Otello (The Metropolitan Opera).
MORE CAST »
Felipe Prado
Gastone
Felipe Prado
Gastone
Tenor Felipe Prado made his Company debut as Remendado in 2019’s Carmen¸ and returned to sing the Second Villager in the world premiere of El último sueño de Frida y Diegoand Padre Matias in El milagro del recuerdo. Notable appearances include Spoletta in Tosca with Guild Opera, Borsa in Rigoletto and Gastone and Giuseppe in La traviata with Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale, Tamino in The Magic Flute with Ridgecrest Opera Guild, and Alfredo in La traviata with Pacific Lyric Association. He has been a featured soloist for the concert Opera Highlights with the California Philharmonic Orchestra. As an active member of multiple professional ensembles such as the California Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale he has had the great honor to perform in great venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Warner Grand Theater, The Santa Anita Race Track, and the UCLA’s Royce Hall. In 2010 he joined the AVC Concert Choir and Master Chorale and took part in many concerts in a wide range of repertoire. In 2013 he started collaborating with several groups in Los Angeles area, such as the Pacific Palisades Symphony, Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic and Legal Voices among others. He also became part of the California Philharmonic Chorale as a chorister under the baton of Victor Vener and vocal direction of Marya Basaraba, and the Golden State Pops Orchestra.
Travis Sherwood
Baron Douphol
Travis Sherwood
Baron Douphol
San Diego Opera debut.
American Baritone, Travis Sherwood, has received praise for his powerful voice and emotionally poignant performances around the world as an opera singer, concert artist, and recitalist, performing a wide range of musical genres and styles.
On the operatic stage, Sherwood has sung for Amarillo Opera, Mississippi Opera, Aspen Opera Theater, Opera a la Carte, Princeton Festival, Bohème Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, and Opera New Jersey. On the concert stage, Sherwood has performed with the La Jolla Symphony, Southwest Symphony, Chatter Orchestra, Hunterdon Symphony, Symphony of the Vines, Canto Bello Chamber Orchestra, Monroe Symphony Orchestra, and La Sierra Symphony Orchestra. Sherwood has also enjoyed many collaborative recitals with distinguished pianists throughout the world.
Beyond performing, Sherwood enjoys teaching the next generation of singers. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice, Voice Area Coordinator, and Director of SDSU Opera Theatre on the faculty of San Diego State University.
DeAndre Simmons
Marchese D'Obigny
DeAndre Simmons
Marchese D’Obigny
Company appearances: Sciarrone in Tosca (2023), The Bonze in Madama Butterfly (2024)
American bass, DeAndre Simmons. Notable appearances: Amonasro, Aida (Portland Opera in the Park); Oroveso, Norma (NJ Verismo Opera); Padre Guardiano, La Forza del Destino (Atlantic Opera Festival); Alidoro, Cenerentola (Opera Philadelphia); Carbon, Cyrano (Opera Philadelphia); Soloist, Mozart Requiem (Santa Barbara Symphony); soloist, Beethoven Ninth (Santa Barbara Symphony); Boatman, Sunday in the park with George (CCAE Theatricals); soloist, Verdi Requiem (London Symphony); Caiaphas, Jesus Christ Superstar (Moonlight Theatre); soloist, World Childhood Fdn for HM Queens Silvia of Sweden; Recital, Die Winterreise (Chicago, NYC, LA, Berlin, Paris, London); soloist, Handel’s Messiah (Grand Junction Symphony); Ferrando, Il Trovatore (Astoria Music Festival); soloist, Haydn’s The Creation (Bar Choral Society & London Symphony); Grand Inquisitor, Candide (LA Philharmonic); Cal, Regina (Pacific Opera Victoria); Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte (Opera Panama); Recital, (Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris)
IG: @DeAndresVoice
Michael Sokol
Doctor Grenville
Michael Sokol
Doctor Grenville
Company appearances: Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance (2017), Ensemble, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 (2018); soloist, When I See Your Face Again (2021); Maestro Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi (2023), A Sacristan in Tosca (2023), Mr. Costello in Ghosts (2023).
Notable appearances: Metropolitan Opera; Philadelphia Orchestra; Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago; Frank Lloyd Wright, Shining Brow (Madison Opera); director, San Diego Summer Gilbert and Sullivan Workshop.
Tzytle Steinman
Flora
Tzytle Steinman
Flora
Company appearances – Page in Rigoletto, February 2019
Tzytle Steinman, once described as, “Wickedly funny and talented” by The Fargo Forum, is a mezzo-soprano originally from San Diego, CA. She has performed with multiple companies including The Glimmerglass Festival, Ohio Light Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Sarasota Opera and Florentine Opera. She will next be returning to The Glimmerglass Festival this summer to perform Mother Goose in The Rakes Progress and Edna/Shamana 2 in the world premiere of The House Mango Street. Her other roles include L’enfent in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Buttercup in HMS Pinafore, Venus in Orpheus in the Underworld, Rosina in the Barber of Seville (Tour), Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Stephano in Roméo et Juliette. Tzytle is a Grand Prize Winner of the Patricia Crump Vocal Competition and has won multiple Awards from the Laffont Competition. She received her MM in Voice and Opera from Northwestern University and her BM from Boston Conservatory. In 2021, she was a contestant on the Price is Right. When she isn’t singing, Tzytle loves take her rescue dog, Golde, to her favorite dog beach. @Tzytle
Erika Nicole Alatorre
Annina
Erika Nicole Alatorre
Annina
San Diego Opera debut
Erika Nicole Alatorre is a Mexican-American soprano, acclaimed for her vocal beauty, musicianship and consummate acting skills. Rachel Willis-Sørensen hails “Ms. Alatorre is so talented, the world must hear her voice!” Her Recent roles include: Pierrette (Girondines) with Los Angeles’ Mission Opera, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) Live with Vincerò Academy in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with LA’s Mission Opera and Violetta (La traviata) with Vincerò Academy, Zerlina in professionally staged scenes of (Don Giovanni) at Carnegie Hall and Nella (Gianni Schicchi) with Opera Romana Craiova, Romania.
Ms. Alatorre performs in the USA, Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Follow Ms. Alatorre’s career on her website, Facebook page and instagram.
Yves Abel
Conductor
“One has to say it very clearly and often. The presence of Yves Abel in the pit is a luxury. The work that Abel realizes with each new appearance is intense and the results impeccable from start to finish.”
~La Nueva España
Yves Abel
Conductor
San Diego Opera Highlights: San Diego Opera Principal Conductor from 2020-present. Conductor – The Daughter of the Regiment; Pagliacci; Madama Butterfly; Carmen; Roméo et Juliette; Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi; Don Giovanni; Salome, La traviata.
Recent and Upcoming: Chief Conductor – Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, 2005 to 2021; Principal Guest Conductor – Deutsche Oper Berlin, 2005 to 2013; Conductor – Carmen (Royal Sweden Opera, Wiener Staatsoper); Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 (Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur); Roméo et Juliette (Canadian Opera Company); Turandot (Savonlinna Opera Festival); Dialogues des Carmélites (Teatro Regio Turin); La Damnation de Faust (Opernhaus Zürich); La fille du régiment (London’s Royal Opera Covent Garden); Armida (Rossini Opera Festival).
Christopher Mattaliano
Director
"Director Christopher Mattaliano’s elegant stage pictures varied in shape and size, and each was better than the last."
~Chatham Life & Style
Christopher Mattaliano
Director
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and upcoming: Stage Director – Il trovatore (Opera Colorado); Tosca (New Orleans Opera); Anna Bolena (The Academy of Vocal Arts); The Barber of Seville (Cincinnati Opera, The Dallas Opera, Portland Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre); Rigoletto (Opera Colorado, Portland Opera); Pagliacci (Portland Opera); Die Zaberflöte (Washington National Opera, Portland Opera); La Cenerentola (Portland Opera); Candide (Arizona Opera); Macbeth (New Orleans Opera); Falstaff (Portland Opera).
Set and Projection Design
Tim Wallace
Lighting Design
Abigail Hoke-Brady
Costume Design
Jess Goldstein
Hair and Makeup Design
Jenn Hill
Resident Conductor/Chorus Master
Bruce Stasyna
Assistant Director
Matthew Haney
Diction Coach
Emanuela Patroncini
Stage Manager
Carmen Catherine Alfaro
Supertitle Caller
Oxana Bulgakova
Assistant Stage Managers
Caitlynn Sandoval
Adrian Speth
Musical Preparation
Catherine Miller
Production Assistant
Holden Fox
Pre-Performance Talk
October 31, November 1, and 2
Beat the traffic and get the most out of the performance at a free 25-minute talk in the auditorium 50 minutes prior to each opera performance. It’s a great way to learn about the opera and note what to listen for!
Post-Opera Talk-Back
November 1 and 2
Immediately following the performance on Saturday and Sunday, join us in the Dress Circle seating section for an informative Q&A with San Diego Opera staff and cast members.
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