Roméo et Juliette 2016
“If I cannot be his, I’ll let the grave be my wedding-bed!”
Shakespeare’s immortal tale of star-crossed lovers has inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of adaptions. Gounod’s music makes the heart leap and the rest of the world disappear as he immerses us in the sound of youth and of overwhelming love. We invite you to reacquaint yourself with the world’s favorite pair of lovers.
Synopsis
Overture/Prologue
Depiction of the animosity between the Montagues and the Capulets: The Chorus comments on the action that is to follow.
Act I
A masked ball in the Capulets’ palace: Tybalt talks to Pâris about Juliette, who appears with her father. Roméo, Mercutio, Benvolio and their friends enter, disguised, and Mercutio sings a ballad about Queen Mab, after which Juliette sings a joyful waltz song. The first meeting between Roméo and Juliette takes place, and they fall in love. But Tybalt re-appears and suspects that the hastily re-masked Roméo is his rival. While Tybalt wants immediate revenge, Capulet orders that the ball continue.
Act II
The Capulets’ garden: Roméo and Juliette meet illicitly in the garden of the Capulet’s palace. They are interrupted by the servant Grégorio. They swear their love and plan to marry the next day.
Act III
Scene 1. Friar Laurence’s cell: Roméo and Juliette, accompanied by Gertrude, go to the cell, and the wedding takes place. Laurent hopes that reconciliation between the houses of the Montagues and the Capulets may take place.
Scene 2. A street in front of the Capulet palace: Stéphano sings to attract the occupants into the street. Grégorio and Stephano skirmish as men from each family appear. The duel is first between Tybalt and Mercutio, who falls dead, and then between Roméo, determined to avenge his comrade, and Tybalt. Tybalt is killed by Roméo, who is then exiled by the Duke.
Act IV
Juliette’s room at dawn: Roméo and Juliette are together and, after a long duet, Roméo departs for exile. Juliette’s father comes to remind her of Tybalt’s dying wish for Juliette to marry Count Pâris. The friar gives Juliette a potion which will cause her to sleep, so to appear as if dead. After being laid in the family tomb, it is planned that Roméo will awaken her to take her away.
Act V
Juliet’s tomb: Roméo breaks into the tomb after having taken poison because he believes that Juliette is dead. When she awakes from the friar’s potion, the lovers’ last duet is heard before the poison takes effect on Roméo. As he dies Juliette stabs herself, to be united with her lover in death.
Artists
Ailyn Pérez
Soprano
Juliette
Ailyn Pérez
Hometown: Chicago, IL
SFO Debut:
Marguerite, Faust, 2011
Past Seasons:
Rusalka, Rusalka, 2023
Juliette, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Stephen Costello
Tenor
Roméo
Stephen Costello
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
SFO Debut:
Roméo, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Elliot Madore
Baritone
Mercutio
Elliot Madore
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
SFO Debut:
Mercutio, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Raymond Aceto
Bass
Frère Laurent
Raymond Aceto
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
SFO Debut:
Sparafucile, Rigoletto, 2000
Past Seasons:
Arkel, Pelléas et Mélisande, 2023
Ashby, La Fanciulla del West, 2016
Frére Laurent, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Baron Scarpia, Tosca, 2012 (June 29 – August 8)
Tim Mix
Baritone
Capulet
Tim Mix
Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK
SFO Debut:
Count Capulet, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Past Seasons:
Frank Hubbard, Doctor Atomic, 2018
Tsar Dodon, The Golden Cockerel, 2017
Emily Fons
Mezzo-soprano
Stéphano (June 20 - August 16)
Emily Fons
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
SFO Debut:
Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro, 2013
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2008, 2009
Past Seasons:
Rosina, The Barber of Seville, 2022
Stephano, Roméo et Juliette, 2016 (June 20 – August 16)
Ruby Thewes, Cold Mountain, 2015
Flora Bervoix, La traviata, 2009
Alyssa Martin
Mezzo-soprano
Stéphano (August 25)
Alyssa Martin
Hometown: Stokesdale, NC
Past Seasons:
Stephano, Roméo et Juliette, 2016 (August 25)
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2015, 2016
Deborah Nansteel
Mezzo-Soprano
Gertrude
Deborah Nansteel
Hometown: Havelock, NC
SFO Debut:
Lucinda, Cold Mountain, 2015
Past Seasons:
Filippyevna, Eugene Onegin, 2021
Gertrude, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Soloman Howard
Bass
The Duke
Soloman Howard
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
2025 Season:
Colline, La bohème
Hunding, Die Walküre
SFO Debut:
Il Commendatore, Don Giovanni, 2016
Past Seasons:
Il Commendatore, Don Giovanni, 2024
Colline, La bohème, 2019
The Bonze, Madama Butterfly, 2018
Duke of Verona, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Cooper Nolan
Tenor
Tybalt
Cooper Nolan
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Past Seasons:
Tybalt, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2015, 2016
Thaddeus Ennen
Baritone
Paris
Thaddeus Ennen
Hometown: Buffalo Center, IA
Past Seasons:
Count Paris, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2016
Nicholas Davis
Baritone
Grégorio
Nicholas Davis
Hometown: Clarksville, TN
Past Seasons:
Jake Wallace, La Fanciulla del West, 2016
Gregorio, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2015, 2016
Peter Scott Drackley
Tenor
Benvolio
Peter Scott Drackley
Hometown: Lancaster, PA
Past Seasons:
Benvolio, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2016
Adrian N. Smith
Bass-baritone
Frère Jean
Adrian N. Smith
Hometown: Hickory, NC
Past Seasons:
Larkens, La Fanciulla del West, 2016
Frére Jean, Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Major-Domo, Capriccio, 2016
A Corporal, Daughter of the Regiment, 2015
Santa Fe Opera Apprentice: 2015, 2016
Harry Bicket
Conductor
Harry Bicket
Hometown: Liverpool, England
Endowed by Wyncote Foundation, as recommended by Frederick R. Haas & Rafael Gomez
2025 Season:
The Marriage of Figaro
SFO Debut:
Agrippina, 2004
Past Seasons:
Don Giovanni, 2024
Pelléas et Mélisande, 2023
Orfeo, 2023
Carmen, 2022
The Marriage of Figaro, 2021
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2021
Così fan tutte, 2019
Candide, 2018
Alcina, 2017
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
La finta giardiniera, 2015
Fidelio, 2014
Radamisto, 2008
Platée, 2007
Stephen Lawless
Director
Stephen Lawless
Hometown: Warrington, England
SFO Debut:
The Elixir of Love, 2009
Past Seasons:
The Elixir of Love, 2024
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Carmen, 2014
Faust, 2011
Ashley Martin-Davis
Scenic & Costume Designer
Ashley Martin-Davis
Hometown: London, England
SFO Debut:
The Elixir of Love, 2009
Past Seasons:
The Elixir of Love, 2024
Tosca, 2023
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Mimi Jordan Sherin
Lighting Designer
Mimi Jordan Sherin
Hometown: Seattle, WA
SFO Debut:
The Abduction from the Seraglio, 1994
Past Seasons:
La Fanciulla del West, 2016
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Blond Eckbert, 1994
Nicola Bowie
Choreographer
Nicola Bowie
Hometown: Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
SFO Debut:
Faust, 2011
Past Seasons:
Rusalka, 2023
Madama Butterfly, 2018
Don Giovanni, 2016
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Rigoletto, 2015
Carmen, 2014
Rick Sordelet
Fight & Intimacy Director
Fight Director
Rick Sordelet
Hometown: Duluth, MN
SFO Debut:
Salome, 2015
Past Seasons:
Tosca, 2023
The Flying Dutchman, 2023
Pelléas et Mélisande, 2023
Rusalka, 2023
Orfeo, 2023
Carmen, 2022
The Barber of Seville, 2022
Falstaff, 2022
Tristan und Isolde, 2022
M. Butterfly, 2022
Eugene Onegin, 2021
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2021
La Fanciulla del West, 2016
Don Giovanni, 2016
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Cold Mountain, 2015
Christian Kelly-Sordelet
Fight & Intimacy Director
Fight Director
Christian Kelly-Sordelet
Hometown: Montclair, NJ
SFO Debut:
Cold Mountain, 2015
Past Seasons:
Tosca, 2023
The Flying Dutchman, 2023
Pelléas et Mélisande, 2023
Rusalka, 2023
Orfeo, 2023
Carmen, 2022
The Barber of Seville, 2022
Falstaff, 2022
Tristan und Isolde, 2022
M. Butterfly, 2022
La Fanciulla del West, 2016
Don Giovanni, 2016
Roméo et Juliette, 2016
Susanne Sheston
Chorus Master
Susanne Sheston
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
2025 Season
SFO Debut:
2008 Season
Past Seasons:
2024 Season
2023 Season
2022 Season
2021 Season
2019 Season
2018 Season
2017 Season
2016 Season
2015 Season
2014 Season
2013 Season
2012 Season
2011 Season
2010 Season
2009 Season
Roméo et Juliette 2016
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