American Opera Projects and the NYU tisch School of the Arts’ Graduate musical theatre writing program & department of design for stage & film:

AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab Spring 2025
The woodlawn operas

Friday, May 16 & Saturday, May 17, 2025, 7:30 PM
the African Grove Theatre in New York University’s Paulson Center
38 W Houston Street, New York, NY 10012

Tuesday, May 20, 2025, 7:00 PM
Woolworth Chapel, Woodlawn Cemetery
3800 Jerome Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467

Established in 1863, Woodlawn is an active, 400-acre non-sectarian cemetery and conservancy — an oasis in an urban setting. More than 310,000 individuals are interred on its grounds and it attracts over 100,000 visitors from around the world each year.

AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab presents THE WOODLAWN OPERAS: Three 30-minute new operas inspired by the lives and histories of the residents at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx

Opera Lab Co-Directors

Randall Eng, Associate Arts Professor, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Sam Helfrich, Associate Arts Professor, Design for Stage & Film, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Directors – Kathleen Capdesuñer, Fernando Parra Bortí, and Martavius Parrish

Music Director – Chérie Roe

Assistant Music Director — Andrea DeVito

Production Stage Manager – W. Wilson Jones

Assistant Stage Manager — Katie Cherven

Production Manager – Tyler (TJ) Rubin

THE WOODLAWN OPERAS are written by alums of NYU/Tisch's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program & designed by students in NYU/Tisch’s Department of Design for Stage and Film

Produced by American Opera Projects

Special thanks to Meg Ventrudo, Executive Director for the Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy, and the Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy Staff.

Additional special thanks to Dean Allyson Green, Robert Lee, Justin Townsend, Rubén Polendo, Amy Burgess, Makayla McDonald, Brittany Fowler, Esther Yi-An Tien, Eliza Bonet, Denisha Ballew, Susan Li, Joan Omofomah, Lynnesha Crump

Visions in drag
MUSIC by ZIYAN YANG / LIBRETTO by ANDI LEE CARTER
DIRECTION by FERNANDO PARRA BORTÍ

The Queen of Liberation; Ensemble — Gileann Tan
Angie Xtravaganza; Ensemble — Ilene Pabon
RuPaul; Ensemble — Lindell O. Carter
Bert Savoy — Eliam Ramos

Bert Savoy is the Queen of Vaudeville, but he is about to get fatally zapped by a bolt of lightning. In the seconds before his death, he receives a vision from three fabulous queens who show him the future of drag. Bert sees the work of his own life reflected through the three different queens as each vision builds on the last, drawing Bert--and the audience--toward the realization that the struggle for visibility and acceptance is evolving but ongoing.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?
MUSIC by ANDY LI / LIBRETTO by SRAVYA SARASWATULA
DIRECTION by MARTAVIUS PARRISH

Anna Hyatt Huntington — Kelly Glyptis
Audella Beebe Huntington; Ensemble — Ilene Pabon
Harriet Randolph Hyatt; Ensemble — Yoojin Lee
Alexander Archipenko — Eliam Ramos

Woodlawn Cemetery. A day away from now. Restless spirits stirring in sculptures of Anna Huntington and Alexander Archipenko find each other awake in the middle of the journey to eternal sleep. They talk to each other about their art and their beliefs. They argue about and criticize each other's aesthetic.

STYX & STONES
MUSIC by KAT CARTUSCIELLO / LIBRETTO by JESSIE FIELD
DIRECTION by KATHLEEN CAPDESUÑER

Donna; Stones — Kelly Glyptis
Penelope; Stones — Gileann Tan
Charon — Yoojin Lee
Brandon; Stones — Lindell O. Carter

Every day is the same for Charon, who ferries newly deceased souls across the River Styx (if they can pay, that is). Until Penelope and Donna, an old married couple, wash up on the shore of the Styx together. When they realize only Donna is able to pay the fare to cross, they attempt to move death itself with their love so that they may cross together. Inspired by Patricia Cronin's Woodlawn Cemetery monument "Memorial to a Marriage," "Styx & Stones" mourns time, celebrates love & marriage equality, and existentially investigates death.

CREATORs

**Andi Lee Carter** (he/they) writes in all media for the stage including plays, comedy sketches, musicals, and operas. He holds an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He has been a member of the Theatre Now NY Writers Lab since 2019. He is currently a librettist in American Opera Projects’ Composers & the Voice fellowship and the NYU Advanced Opera Lab. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Fish out of Water Productions, a cross-cultural theatre collective created in Beijing, China in 2008. He is also a founding board member of Musical Theatre Factory in NYC. He co-produces a monthly cabaret series featuring emerging musical theatre writers at Soho Playhouse. He loves outer space and he writes a blog about sci-fi musicals. @andileecarter

**Kat Cartusciello** is a queer NYC-based composer, sound-designer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has assisted Jason Robert Brown’s since 2023 on numerous projects, including *The Connector*, *Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil*, *Less*, and *The Last Five Years*. She is a proud member of the TheatreNOW writing lab and has three musicals in development: *Nima and the Jenn* (w/Thalia Ranjbar,) which appeared on Ramin Karimloo’s podcast *The Hang*, and received the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat *(7/23)*; *Hard Tack* (w/Jessie Field), which has an upcoming reading with Forager Theater Company this July, and received the Catwalk Writers Retreat *(8/23)*; and *Then She Ran* w/ Alex Becker: (Theater Accelerator *(5/23)* Scranton Fringe Festival performance *(10/22*) Feinstein’s 54 Below concert *(2/22)* New Studio on Broadway workshop *(11/21)* AMDA reading *(8/21)*). She received her MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts (May 2021), and her BA (Music) from Columbia University (Departmental Honors) in 2016.

**Jessie Field** (she/her) is an award-winning queer NYC playwright, lyricist, and librettist. Jessie’s short play, *Too Much Lesbian Drama: One Star* won the 47th Annual Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival. Jessie has written book and/or lyrics for numerous musicals including *Ziggy, Stardust, and Me* (Workshopped at Diversionary Theatre in 2024 and at SDSU in 2022, produced in the Prebys Theatre in 2023), *Charlotte Lucas is 27 and Not Dead* (2024 NAMT Finalist & Festival Committee Recommendation, 2023 NAMT Finalist, 2024 Kleban Prize Finalist for Libretto, WINNER: 2022 Musicals Now Competition, 2022 O’Neill NMTC Semi-Finalist, 2022 SDSU Semi-Finalist), *Fat Girl Starving* (Songs performed at 54 Below, New Musicals Mixtape, & Soho Playhouse), and *Hard Tack* (Upcoming Forager Theatre Reading, 2023 Catwalk Writer’s Retreat Recipient). Jessie earned her MFA at NYU Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and is a member of Theatre Now New York’s Musical Writers Lab. Jessiefield.com

**Andy Li** is a composer based in NYC. He is a winner of the 2025 GCNA Franco Proposal Contest. His operas, written for the AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab, include *What Do You See?* (lib. Sravya Saraswatula) and *Tesserae* (lib. Patrick Thompson). His works for theatre, written with librettist Jill Ohayon, include *The Garden Bridge* (Classic Stage Company (Off-Broadway debut, upcoming), NYFA Queens Arts Fund, Casa Uno, Aubrey and Marla Dan Fund (Finalist), Lab Series at MSM (Finalist), CreateTheater (Semifinalist)), which has been developed at The BringAbout with Jennifer Jancuska, Resident Choreographer of *Hamilton*, and *Birthday Presence* (Prospect Musical Theater Lab). Film scores include *Pasta* (dir. Janey Feingold), *Blank Canvas* (dir. Xuecong Zhao) and *Her Summer* (dir. Yunye Chen). His audio drama Intrusive Thot, written with Sarah Rossman, was broadcasted across Glasgow by RADIOPHRENIA. Li holds degrees from NYU (Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program), Johns Hopkins University, and the Peabody Institute.

**Sravya Saraswatula** is a multi-hyphenate writer, designer and musician from Hyderabad, India. She has a master's in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch. And a Bachelor's in Animation and Graphic Design from Manipal University, India.
Sravya has written:
A 30-minute opera WHAT DO YOU SEE performed in May 2025 in collaboration with American Opera Project, NYU and the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.
A 15-minute opera THIRD LOUISE OF THE GALLERY about the residents of Chelsea’s public housing in collaboration with the American Opera Project which has had 2 performances in New York.
She is writing a full-length musical, LOTUS & JASMINE, that had a workshop with Dev Janki, a Broadway director and 2 readings.
Her work’s been performed at Joe's Pub at The Public, MTF salons, Hudson Guild Theater, Markers’ Ensemble in Brooklyn, and Breaking Sound, New York.
She's a member of Opera America, The Dramatist Guild and Maestra.

**Ziyan Yang** (he/him) is a composer, vocalist, and playwright originally from Yunnan, China. His musical Ti'Mon, with book and lyrics by Ashlee K. Thomas, premiered at the Detroit Opera House as the sole musical of the 4th Obsidian Theatre Festival. Another of his works, The Song of the Earth (book and lyrics by Briana W. Harris), was a semi-finalist at the 2024 Eugene O'Neill National Music Theatre Conference. His short opera Chips! (libretto by Alecia Baxter) premiered at The Hudson Guild Theatre, written as a tribute to the historic neighborhood. Additionally, his play Burning Clouds had two off-off Broadway runs at the New York Theatre Festival and The Chain Theatre and is currently in development. As an art administrator, Ziyan serves at American Opera Projects and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

performers

A native of The Bronx, NY, **Lindell Carter** is a versatile tenor celebrated for his dynamic performances across opera and concert stages. He has brought powerful portrayals to leading roles such as Il Duca in *Rigoletto*, Manrico in *Il Trovatore*, Radames in *Aida*, and Don José in *Carmen*. His repertoire also includes standout roles like Hoffmann in *Les Contes d’Hoffmann* and Pinkerton in *Madama Butterfly*. Carter joined the company of The Metropolitan Opera, beginning with the 2019 Grammy Award winning production of *Porgy and Bess* with The Metropolitan . His concert credits include Beethoven’s *Symphony No. 9* with the Litha Symphony and solo appearances in projects like the Argento New Music Project and the American Association of Arts and Letters' Vocal Awards Winners Concert. A graduate of UNC Greensboro, Carter continues to captivate audiences with his expressive tenor voice and commanding stage presence.

**Kelly Glyptis** (Soprano) is a critically acclaimed London based international performer and is thrilled to be performing her fourth career world premiere. Operatic credits include performances with: Lithuanian National Opera, Atlanta Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Saratoga , Shreveport Opera, Fargo-Moorehead Opera, On Location Opera, Her Day Opera, Surrey Opera.
Musical Theatre credits include: Phantom of the Opera West End, Fiddler on the Roof N. American Nat’l Tour, Sound of Music N. American Nat’l Tour , The Prizery Theatre, Opera Saratoga.
Concert credits include: Opera Idaho, Eclectic Voices, Opera Delaware, Baltimore Concert Opera, Maryland Lyric Opera, Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra. Thanks to Donna, Anne, Don, Caitie, Rob, Cassondra. Kellyglyptis.com

**Yoojin Lee**, a Korean-born mezzo-soprano, captivates audiences with her rich voice and compelling stage presence. In April 2025, she performed Suzuki in a concert version of *Madama Butterfly* with Amelia Island Opera in Florida. Since 2017, she has been a chorus member at the Metropolitan Opera.
Ms. Lee’s work in contemporary opera includes covering the role of Lady Murasaki in *Murasaki’s Moon* with On Site Opera in 2019. She was an Emerging Artist with Virginia Opera’s Herndon Foundation Program in 2018–2019 and participated in the AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab in 2018 and 2024. She returns to the program in 2025.
Additional training includes the Caramoor Festival Young Artist Program (2016, 2017) and Prelude to Performance with the Martina Arroyo Foundation in 2014. Ms. Lee holds both Master of Music and Professional Studies Diploma degrees from Mannes College.

**Ilene Pabon** is a Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano known for her work in opera and musical theater. A committed advocate for new music, she is the mezzo-soprano for the 2023–2025 Composers & the Voice program at American Opera Projects. She originated the role of Nadia in *The Night Falls*, a dance-driven opera by Karen Russell and Ellis Ludwig-Leone, named one of *The New York Times*’ best dance performances of 2023. She also premiered the role of Andromache in *The Trojan Women* by Sarah Taylor Ellis. Favorite opera and concert credits include Nicklausse/Muse (*The Tales of Hoffmann*), Laura (*Iolanta*), Mercedes (*Carmen*), and a featured performance on the soundtrack for Christian Siriano’s NY Fashion Week show inspired by Russian opera. Her musical theater work includes *Gershwin’s Real Magic*, *West Side Story*, *Into the Woods*, and the national tour of *Cirque Dreams Holidaze*. She holds a Master of Music from the Maryland Opera Studio.

**Eliam Ramos** is a Puerto Rican singer with a rich bass-baritone voice who has performed opera and concert works with companies in the United States, Spain, Israel, Puerto Rico and Mexico. His artistic engagements range from traditional opera and symphonic concerts, to zarzuelas and modern compositions. The Metropolitan Opera Guild featured Mr. Ramos in their Verdi’s Baritones Serie in their 2022-2023 season.
Mr. Ramos engagements for 2024-2025 include Alfio from Cavalleria Rusticana with Regina Opera, the Doctor in the world premiere of The Extinctionist with Heartbeat Opera, Hayden’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Pap (Fannie Lou Hammer’s husband) in the world premier of Is This America with White Snake Projects, Scarpia in Tosca and Silvio in I Pagliacci both with Regina Opera and Bach’s Cantata 82 with Bach in Baltimore, soloist in the world premier of Paul Aiken’s Missa Pro Terra at Carnegie Hall and Beethoven’s 9th with the New Britain Symphony Society.

**Gileann Tan** is a Filipino-American soprano based in the New York metropolitan area. Her past roles include Gretel in Humperdinck’s *Hänsel und Gretel*, Amore in Glück's *Orfeo ed Euridice*, the Baker's Wife in Sondheim's *Into the Woods*, and Amina in scenes from Bellini's *La sonnambula*. She competed in the Vassar College Concerto Competition where she received the Lucia V. Torian '69 Prize, the Kneisel German Lieder Competition (finalist), and the Friends of Eastman Opera Theater Competition (finalist). Sacred works include Handel’s *Messiah* and *Dixit Dominus*, Mendelssohn’s *Elijah*, Haydn's *Lord Nelson Mass*, *BWV 199*, *BWV 78*, and Bach’s *Mass in B Minor*. Gileann made her professional operatic debut as Dormouse and Alice cover in City Lyric Opera's production of The Garden of Alice by Elizabeth Raum. She is ecstatic to be working with NYU for her third collaboration with American Opera Projects.
Gileann studies with The Haus of Shmizzay and is the Soprano I Section Leader at Church of the Epiphany in NYC.

STAGE DIRECTORS

**Fernando Parra Bortí** is a director and visual artist working in Opera, Theatre and Film. He has participated as an Apprentice Stage Director at The Merola Opera Program and completed a two year internship with The Wooster Group. As assistant director he has worked with Tony Award winner Michael Mayer on A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical (Broadway Debut), La Traviata (Metropolitan Opera) and Like Water For Chocolate (NY Stage & Film). He is a graduate of École Jacques Lecoq in Paris and Jan Pappelbaum’s Scenography Workshop at the Venice Biennale.

**Kathleen Capdesuñer** is an immigrant raised and Florida grown, Cuban-American director & producer collaborating in English, Español y Spanglish. She’s deeply committed to democratizing modes of creation, increasing accessibility and representation in the industry, and championing the work of living writers. Select credits include: “Two Sisters and A Piano” (Director/Juilliard), “DEADCLASS, OH” (Producer/The Tank), “The Irrepressible Magic of the Tropics” (Director/INTAR), “SUNSET BLVD.” (SDCF Observer/Broadway), “The Detour Plays” (Director/Playwrights Horizons & The Parsnip Ship), “True West” (Assistant Director/Broadway), and “SHAME” (Director/Orlando & Edinburgh International Fringe Festivals). Kathleen is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Grant for their community project, Fefu y Sus Amigas, a Fulbright Finalist, and BroadwayWorld Regional Award winner. They’re a past director in residence with The Civilians Research & Development Group, and a previous directing fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company and McCarter Theatre Center. She’s is currently in residence at The Tank, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and Colt Coeur. www.kcapdesuner.com

Martavius Parrish is a New York City-based Broadway Director, Performer, Teaching Artist, & Creative Entrepreneur. He most recently worked on the Broadway and Limited Engagements for Once Upon A Mattress (starring Sutton Foster and Michael Urie) and the Tony-nominated Into the Woods (originally starring Sara Bareilles, Gavin Creel, Joshua Henry, Phillipa Soo, Brian D’Arcy James, and Patina Miller). Off-Broadway credits include the New York City Center productions of Ragtime, Once Upon A Mattress, Oliver!, and Into the Woods as well as Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine at the historic Billie Holiday Theatre (which received several AUDELCO nominations, including Best Revival of a Play). He’s a 2024 Drama League Fellow and currently works as the right-hand to Lincoln Center Theater’s incoming Artistic Director, Lear deBessonet. Upcoming projects include Letters to Joan at the Edinburgh Fringe and continued work building the next chapter of Lincoln Center Theater.

MUSIC DIRECTORS

Ohio farm girl, NYC resident, collaborative pianist, and vocal coach, **Chérie Roe** (Music Director) has performed in concert all over including Carnegie and Merkin Hall in NYC, The Greene Space/WQXR Live, as well as the Czech Republic, Belarus, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Singapore.
Chérie’s extensive coaching background includes serving as music director and coach of the opera programs at Virginia, Cleveland, and Charlottesville Opera companies as well as at University Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Akron.
She has also played and coached for great organizations such as Juilliard Global, Classic Lyric Arts: Italy and France, Classical Singer NY, Quisisana, and MRL International Festival in collaboration with Beijing Conservatory.
Ms. Roe is currently on musical staff at Mannes School of Music/New School and National Children’s Chorus. She is currently directing the off-Broadway production of The Garden Bridge by Andy Li for the SHE Festival NYC this July. She is thrilled to be back for her second season directing at AOP. Chérie holds a graduate diploma in Collaborative Piano from The Juilliard School, and a master’s from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

**Andrea DeVito** is a collaborative pianist and coach completing her master's degree in Opera Coaching at Temple University in Philadelphia. She earned her degree in Keyboard Performance & Psychology from the University of Miami in 2018. At Miami Music Festival, Andrea was the Répétiteur for their Baroque Institute and became the Music Director for their inaugural Advanced Young Musicians program in 2023, where her students have won national competitions and full scholarships to leading undergraduate programs.
Andrea served as a Young Artist at Palm Beach Opera. She has also been featured as a pianist/coach at various institutions including Florida Grand Opera, Gulf Shore Opera, and the American Vocal Academy. Her private studio offers a wide range of impressive singers, including winners of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont competition at the semi-finalist level, as well as celebrity clientele and pageant competitors such as finalists in the Miss America & Miss Universe Competitions.

DESIGNERS

**Alex Nuñez Caba** is a Filmmaker, Photographer, Scenic Artist, & Production Designer from New York City. He's currently an MFA student at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in the Department of Design for Stage & Film. He's a Local 829 member and was a Scenic Artist on Law & Order: SVU for many years before returning to school. Through Scenic & Production Design, Alex hope's to become another strong voice among the talented pool of film and theater industry visual artists.

**RJ Craig** is a lighting designer and programmer based in NYC. Currently an MFA lighting design student at NYU. See more at rjcraig.com

**Dani Jeannette Draper** (she/her) is currently a MFA Lighting Design student at NYU Tisch. She graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts from Westmont College. Dani’s professional endeavors have taken her around the globe to Macedonia, Poland, and Armenia. In 2018 she co-founded Roaming Theatre Collaborative, with the idea for young, scrappy, and mobile storytelling. Dani's most recent productions include *Top Girls, King Lear, Uncle Vanya*, and *Richard III*.

**Rodrigo Hernandez Martinez** (they/them) is a Scenic and Costume designer from Cancun and Mexico City currently based in NYC. Previous works include: SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING GREEN commissioned performance piece at Park Ave. Armory, NYC. Scenic and Costume designer for I’M GONNA MARRY YOU TOBEY MAGUIRE at Nancy Manocherian's The Cell, NYC and Southwark Playhouse, London. Scenic Designer for *LA LIBERAZIONE DI RUGGIERO DALL’ISOLA D’ALCINA* at Manhattan School of Music, NYC.
Proud member of “Wingspace Theatrical Design”, “La Gente: The Latine Theatre Design Network” and “Colegio Mexicano de Diseño Escénico”
Graduate Applicant for NYU Tisch- MFA Design for Stage and Film

**Genevieve McCormick** (they/ them) is a New York based Costume Designer and native North Carolinian. Their work as a professional costumer largely consists of theater and a smattering of dance with both Design and Technology executions.
Genevieve graduated with a BFA in Painting and Drawing with a minor in Theater Production with an emphasis in Costume Design from East Carolina University. They are currently Attending New York University Tisch School of the Arts for their MFA in Costume Design.

**Xorlali Plange** is a Ghanaian costume designer and recent MFA graduate in Design for Stage and Film from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. With a background in Theatre Arts from the University of Ghana (First Class Honors), his work spans theatre, opera, dance, and film, with over 25 productions across Ghana and New York. His opera credits include Aging Gracefully, It’s Noon, and Windy (American Opera Lab, 2024). Xorlali’s design philosophy draws from African material culture, blending storytelling, structure, and craft to create emotionally resonant garments. He is known for detailed research, hands-on construction, and a collaborative spirit. His work has been featured at the Ghana National Theatre, Hudson Guild Theatre, and NYU’s Paulson Center. Xorlali is also the founder of a fashion training initiative that has empowered over 1,400 women across Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, the UK, and the US.

**Steven Smith** (Costume Designer) is a rising 3rd year costume design student at NYU Tisch Design for Stage and Film. Find out more @ www.stevensmith.work

PRODUCTION STAFF

**Randall Eng** (Lab Co-Director) founded and leads the AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab with Sam Helfrich. Under their guidance, students from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program have created more than 70 short operas. As a composer, Randall’s music lies at the intersection of opera, music-theatre, and jazz. His short opera Norfolk premiered in 2023 by White Snake Projects, alongside a set of interludes that he composed in collaboration with the hip hop artist Jason Chu. His operas Florida, Before the Night Sky, and Henry’s Wife have been performed at UrbanArias, Lyric Opera Cleveland, New York City Opera’s VOX Festival, American Opera Projects, the Virginia Arts Festival, OPERA America, and the Center for Contemporary Opera.
Non-theatrical works include Harbor, a song for soprano and orchestra created with U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith for the Boston Pops; the choral work Remain, a setting of an immigration rights pamphlet for MasterVoices Chorale; and Miracles, a setting of a Walt Whitman poem for Mirror Visions Ensemble. Randall is a graduate of Harvard University, Cambridge University, and NYU/Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where he is an Associate Arts Professor.

**Sam Helfrich** (Lab Co-Director) BA (Russian Literature), M.F.A. (Theatre Arts) Columbia University. Sam Helfrich is an opera and theater director based in New York. He has directed opera productions at New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Portland Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Spoleto Festival/USA, Virginia Opera, Opera Boston, Pittsburgh Opera, and Wolf Trap, among others. Theater credits include various off-broadway and regional productions. His recent production of Péter Eötvös’ operatic adaptation of Angels in America for New York City Opera was recently remounted at the Salzburg Landestheater.

**TJ Rubin** (Production Manager) is a composer and music educator who tells stories onstage that reflect the wide variety of queer experiences and narratives the world holds. TJ’s music lives at the intersection of opera and musical theatre, with melodies that are “torquing, and probing, quizzical and wonderstruck” (San Francisco Classical Voice). His compositions have been performed at Opera America, West Edge Opera, Lowbrow Opera, York! N.E.O., New York University, and more. Alongside Sam Helfrich, TJ co-directed the AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab for the 2021-2022 season as a sabbatical replacement and remained on as production manager. TJ is also an accomplished music copyist, having worked with many award-winning composers and writing teams including Maltby & Shire, Will Aronson, Adam Gwon, Anthony Davis, Diedre Murray, Mel Marvin, and others. He is on the faculty at Kean University, William Paterson University, and Montclair State University, where he co-directs *New Works*, a cross-departmental course in which musical theatre students workshop new songs composed by music composition students. He obtained his M.F.A. from NYU/Tisch in musical theatre writing and is part of the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop.

Becca Carter Freeman (Intimacy Coordinator, she/her) is an actor, writer, and intimacy coordinator raised in Seoul, Korea and is currently based in NYC. Intimacy Credits include: Spring Awakening (ART NY), The Village (Lin Manuel Miranda Fellowship Showcase), Must Win (The Chain Theatre), Constellations (The Wild Project), Man of My Dreams (The Tank), Isle Child (based on HBO Short Si). She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts from Boston University and is an alumna of Interlochen Arts Academy and the Atlantic Acting School. Becca is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and associated with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. Becca is also a current MFA candidate at NYU for Dramatic Writing.

W. Wilson Jones (Production Stage Manager) has staged managed the world premieres of AOP developed operas - AS ONE, HARRIET TUBMAN: WHEN I CROSSED THAT LINE TO FREEDOM, OUT COLD, PATIENCE & SARAH, ROMULUS and more than three dozen operas created in the NYU/Tisch opera lab since 2016, as well as AOP workshops of HEART OF DARKNESS, SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, DARKLING, TONE TEST, PAUL’S CASE, and SUMMER KING, among many others. Among the over 100 productions stage managed with the AVA Opera Theater, Opera Company of Philadelphia, and other Philadelphia area companies, are several PBS telecasts. Mr. Jones is a lifetime member of the Stage Managers' Association and a retired Associate Curator on the faculty of the New York University Libraries.

Katie Cherven (Assistant Stage Manager) is happy to be here! Select Off-Broadway: Amerikin (ASM, Primary Stages), Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes/Creditors (PA), Cafe Utopia (PSM, Notch Theater Company), Short Stack Playfest (PSM, Ma-Yi Theater Company), A Class Act (ASM, J2 Musical Theatre Company) Broadway: Mary Jane (PA, MTC), Prayer for the French Republic (PA, MTC). Barnard College ’23. Love to my friends and family.

About the NYU Tisch School of the Arts

For over 50 years, the NYU Tisch School of the Arts has drawn on the vast artistic and cultural resources of New York City and New York University to create an extraordinary training ground for the individual artist and scholar of the arts. Today, students learn their craft in a spirited, risk-taking environment that combines the professional training of a conservatory with the liberal arts education of a premier global university with campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, and 11 academic centers around the world. www.tisch.nyu.edu

ABOUT WOODLAWN CEMETERY

Recognized as one of America’s most historically significant properties, Woodlawn was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011, joining a rarified roster of 2,500 sites nationwide. Described by the National Parks Service as “a popular final resting place for the famous and powerful,” the cemetery is distinguished by memorials that “represent the largest and finest collection of funerary art in the country.”

About american opera projects

Founded in 1988, American Opera Projects (AOP) has been at the forefront of contemporary opera for over 30 years. The Brooklyn-based producing organization commissions, develops and produces lyric theater projects, trains emerging composers and librettists, and creates personal connections within its community. Its works have received critical acclaim at opera companies and venues around the world, establishing a new musical canon that recognizes the operatic story in every life. AOP further expands the operatic field through its training programs The NYU Opera Lab, in partnership with NYU and for students and alumni in The NYU/Tisch Opera Lab; and Composers & the Voice, AOP’s in-house, two-year fellowship program for emerging composers and librettists.

AOP Staff:
Charles Jarden – Interim General Director
Joel Kalow – General Manager
W. Wilson Jones – Resident Stage Manager
Ziyan Yang – Program Associate
Steven Osgood – Composers & the Voice Artistic Director
Naomi Ramirez – Accounting Consultant
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP – Legal Counsel

AOP Board:
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Sarah Moulton Faux
David Gordon
J. David Jackson
Charles Jarden
W. Wilson Jones
Cassondra E. Joseph
Mark Kalow
Norman Ryan

Productions of the AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab are made possible by the NYU Tisch Institute of Performing Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the New York Community Trust Witherspoon Fund, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

AOP’s programs are made possible in part by the Howard Gilman Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Amphion Foundation, BMI, and the contributions of many individuals.