February 12–14, 2027 | San Diego Civic Theatre
February 12–14, 2027
San Diego Civic Theatre
Music and libretto by Carlisle Floyd
Conducted by Yves Abel
Directed by Patricia Racette
Eighteen-year-old Susannah Polk lives with her brother Sam in the woods outside a Tennessee mountain town. When local churchmen spot her bathing in an isolated creek, she becomes the target of gossip, accusations, and worse.
Carlisle Floyd transplants the biblical “Susannah and the Elders” to the Appalachian backwoods in this modern classic: a riveting tale of sex, corruption, and hypocrisy with a folk-inspired score and the beloved aria “Ain’t it a pretty night?” Floyd’s centenary is the perfect time to experience the opera Gramophone calls “an important work within modern American opera” and Opera Today dubs the “operatic equivalent of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.”
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Hailey Clark
Susannah Polk (Fri & Sun)
“Pure goosebumps! She has that certain something, the magical — you only know that from great divas.”
~ Neues24.com
Hailey Clark
Susannah (Fri & Sun)
San Diego Opera Highlights: Nedda in Pagliacci.
Recent and Upcoming: Mimì in La bohème (Austin Opera); Title role in Die ägyptische Helena (Bard SummerScape); Countess Almaviva in The Marriage Of Figaro (Palm Beach Opera); Violetta Valéry in 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).
Teresa Perrotta
Susannah Polk (Sat)
“We were so taken with Teresa Perrotta’s performance that we can think of nothing else.”
~ Voce di Meche
Teresa Perrotta
Susannah (Sat)
San Diego Opera Debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Micaëla in Carmen (The Dallas Opera, Cincinnati Opera); Title role in Madama Butterfly (Opera Louisiane); First Lady in The Magic Flute (The Metropolitan Opera); Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Opera Omaha); Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Freia in Das Rheingold (Pacific Symphony); Alice Ford in Falstaff (Santa Fe Opera, Maryland Lyric Opera); Mimi in La bohème (The Glimmerglass Festival); Musetta in La bohème (Washington National Opera).
Greer Grimsley
Olin Blitch
“He sings like a god – with a rare combination of power and suavity.”
~ The Huffington Post
Greer Grimsley
Olin Blitch
San Diego Opera Highlights: Scarpia in Tosca (2009, 2016 and 2023); Telramund in Lohengrin; Pizarro in Fidelio; The High Priest of Dagon in Samson and Delilah; Méphistophélès in Faust; Jochanaan in Salome; The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance.
Recent and Upcoming: Wotan in Siegfried (The Atlanta Opera); Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes (The Metropolitan Opera); Escamillo in Carmen (The Metropolitan Opera); Jochanaan in Salome (The Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Vancouver Opera, San Francisco Opera); Scarpia in Tosca (The Metropolitan Opera, L’Opera de Montreal, Opera Colorado, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Glimmerglass Festival, Shreveport Opera); Telramund in Lohengrin (Metropolitan Opera); and Amfortas in Parsifal (The Metropolitan Opera); Wotan in The Ring Cycle (Seattle Opera), Don Pizarro in Fidelio (Opera Company of Philadelphia, Portland Opera, Portuguese National Opera); Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Title role in The Flying Dutchman (Lithuania Opera, Seattle Opera); Title role in Macbeth (Vancouver Opera); Amonasro in Aida (Portland Opera); Méphistophélès in Faust (New Orleans Opera); Title role in Sweeney Todd (Vancouver Opera).
Joseph Dennis
Sam Polk
“...The tenor Joseph Dennis' voice has formidable strength.”
~ Maryland Theatre Guide
Joseph Dennis
Sam Polk
San Diego Opera Debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Opera Colorado, Austin Opera, Opera San Antonio, Israeli Opera); Erik in The Flying Dutchman (Des Moines Metro Opera); Boris in Katya Kabanova (Seattle Opera); Alfredo in La traviata (Memphis Opera, Israeli Opera); the Duke in Rigoletto (North Carolina Opera); Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Virginia Opera); Tamino in The Magic Flute (Central City Opera).
Christian Sanders
Little Bat McLean
“A lithe, gleaming tenor and a hugely winning stage presence.”
~ Opera Today
Christian Sanders
Little Bat McLean
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice (Pacific Opera Victoria); Little Bat in Susannah (Opera Omaha, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Delbert Grady and Stuart Ullman in The Shining (Utah Opera); Sellem in The Rake’s Progress (Des Moines Metro Opera); Loge in Das Rheingold (Dayton Opera); Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Philip Hirschkop in Loving V. Virginia (Virginia Opera); Snake in The Little Prince (Pacific Opera Victoria); Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd (Utah Opera, Dayton Opera, Austin Opera); Sam Kaplan in Street Scene (Central City Opera); Rodolfo in La bohème (Minnesota Opera); Alfred in Die Fledermaus (Pensacola Opera, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera).
Luretta Bybee
Mrs. McLean
“Bybee manages to convey love and jealousy with complete believability.”
~ The Tennessean
Luretta Bybee
Mrs. McLean
San Diego Opera Highlights: Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance; Mrs. Sedley in Peter Grimes; Praskowia/Dodo in The Merry Widow.
Recent and Upcoming: Old Lady/Blair Daniels in Sunday in the Park with George (Glimmerglass Festival); Mary in The Flying Dutchman (Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, The Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera); Emilia in Otello (Pacific Symphony); Maria in Man of La Mancha (Shreveport Opera); Golde in Fiddler on the Roof (Shreveport Opera); Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (New Orleans Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Vancouver Opera).
MORE CAST »
Joseph Dennis
Sam Polk
Joseph Dennis
Sam Polk
San Diego Opera Debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Opera Colorado, Austin Opera, Opera San Antonio, Israeli Opera); Erik in The Flying Dutchman (Des Moines Metro Opera); Boris in Katya Kabanova (Seattle Opera); Alfredo in La traviata (Memphis Opera, Israeli Opera); the Duke in Rigoletto (North Carolina Opera); Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (Virginia Opera); Tamino in The Magic Flute (Central City Opera).
Christian Sanders
Little Bat McLean
Christian Sanders
Little Bat McLean
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice (Pacific Opera Victoria); Little Bat in Susannah (Opera Omaha, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Delbert Grady and Stuart Ullman in The Shining (Utah Opera); Sellem in The Rake’s Progress (Des Moines Metro Opera); Loge in Das Rheingold (Dayton Opera); Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Philip Hirschkop in Loving V. Virginia (Virginia Opera); Snake in The Little Prince (Pacific Opera Victoria); Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd (Utah Opera, Dayton Opera, Austin Opera); Sam Kaplan in Street Scene (Central City Opera); Rodolfo in La bohème (Minnesota Opera); Alfred in Die Fledermaus (Pensacola Opera, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera).
Luretta Bybee
Mrs. McLean
Luretta Bybee
Mrs. McLean
San Diego Opera Highlights: Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance; Mrs. Sedley in Peter Grimes; Praskowia/Dodo in The Merry Widow.
Recent and Upcoming: Old Lady/Blair Daniels in Sunday in the Park with George (Glimmerglass Festival); Mary in The Flying Dutchman (Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, The Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera); Emilia in Otello (Pacific Symphony); Maria in Man of La Mancha (Shreveport Opera); Golde in Fiddler on the Roof (Shreveport Opera); Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (New Orleans Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Vancouver Opera).
Yves Abel
Conductor
"Things get better through time, especially when accompanied by Yves Abel’s consistently exceptional blend of orchestral parlance."
~Times of San Diego
Yves Abel
Conductor
San Diego Opera Highlights:
San Diego Opera Principal Conductor, 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, The Barber of Seville.
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).
Patricia Racette
Director
“Susannah got an excellent production, sensitively directed by Patricia Racette.”
~ The Wall Street Journal
Patricia Racette
Director
San Diego Opera directorial debut. Singer highlights: Mimì in La bohème; Love Simpson in Cold Sassy Tree; Title role in Katya Kabanova; Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly; Soloist in Diva on Detour Concert;
Recent and Upcoming: Stage Director – A Streetcar Named Desire (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); Susannah (Opera Omaha, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); The Ghosts of Versailles (Shepherd School of Music); Don Giovanni (Merola Program, San Francisco Opera); Rising Stars Concert (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Roméo et Juliette (Arizona Opera); The Consul (San Francisco Conservatory); La Voix Humaine (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis); La traviata (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis).
Scenic Design
Tim Wallace
Lighting Design
Jason Bieber
Costume Design
Mathew LeFebvre
Hair and Makeup Design
Peter Herman
Resident Conductor/Chorus Master
Bruce Stasyna
Assistant Director
Nicolas Garcia
Costume Director
Christine Joly de Lotbiniere
Intimacy Director
Sierra Pia
Fight Director
Ben Cole
Diction Coach
Emanuela Patroncini
Stage Manager
Peter Nictakis
Supertitle Caller
Abigail Allwein
Assistant Stage Managers
Laurel McIntyre
Emily Holter
Musical Preparation
Bruce Stasyna
Production Assistant
Lia Bernhardi
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