Saratoga Springs, NY (February 18, 2025) – “This summer’s festival will transport audiences around the world for two sensational classics which give young singers a chance to shine” says General and Artistic Director Mary Birnbaum, “and two new operas which challenge audiences’ notions of what opera means today. We’ll go on an exhilarating, romantic journey from Saratoga Springs and back again.”

Offenbach, Meilhac & Halévy’s sparkling, witty, and electric La Vie Parisienne will be conducted by Juliane Gallant in her US debut, directed by Mary Birnbaum, this production will be sung in French with new english dialogue by Tim Drucker (Trixie and Katya). The cast will be led by Randy Ho (Raoul de Gardefeu), Michael Hawk (Bobinet), Tivoli Treloar (Metella), Chase Sanders (La Baronne de Gondremarck), Geoffrey Schmelzer (Le Baron de Gondremarck) and Sung-yeun Kim (Gabrielle). With scenic design by Krit Robinson and lighting design by Anshuman Bhatia.
With four performances at Universal Preservation Hall:
June 20, 26 & 28 at 7:30 pm and June 22 at 2:00 pm. 

Offenbach’s romp runs in repertory with Bock, Harnick & Masteroff’s jewel-box musical She Loves Me. Directed by John Giampietro and conducted by Steven Jamail, the cast features Jarrett Porter (Georg Nowack), Christine Taylor Price (Amalia Balash), Shavon Lloyd (Steven Kodaly), Kate Morton (Ilona Ritter), Michael Segura (Ladislav Sipos), Jack O’Leary (Arpad Lazlo) and Peter Kazaras (Mr. Maraczek). With scenic design by Krit Robinson and lighting design by Anshuman Bhatia.
With five performances at Universal Preservation Hall:
June 21, 25, 27 at 7:30 pm and June 28 & 29 at 2:00 pm

Earlier in the month, the company will produce a site-specific installation of In a Grove composed by Chris Cerrone with libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann. This operatic adaptation of Akutagawa’s classic short story “In a Grove” which inspired the plot of Kurosawa’s renowned film Rashomon, offers a searing investigation into the impossibility and elusiveness of truth. The New York Times deemed the opera: “A vividly immersive thriller about the nature of truth and memory. Not a word or note is without dramaturgical purpose.” The outdoor performance will be conducted by Luke Poeppel, and feature Sadie Spivey, Geoffrey Schmelzer, Wagner Mauricio Pastor, Shavon Lloyd, Randy Ho, Chase Sanders and Chuanyuan Liu. Sound design by Sam Torres.
With four performances at the Ferndell Pavilion in Saratoga Spa State Park:
May 28 at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, and May 29 at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm
Rain date: May 31 at 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm

Finally, the company will produce a work-in-progress presentation of composer Emma O’Halloran and librettist Naomi O’Connell’s A Mass for Women in Bathrooms. This opera-theater work for three singers, an actress and electronic sound design by Alex Dowling reframes the structure of the Irish Catholic Mass to tell an intimate family story of three sisters and their mother. A story born from personal experience, A Mass for Women in Bathrooms examines themes of infertility, reproductive rights, and dementia, while reclaiming bodily autonomy for women in a historically violent space. Featuring Chase Sanders, Sadie Spivey and Brennan Martinez. This project is funded in part by the Arts Council of Ireland.
With two work-in-progress performances at Universal Preservation Hall:
June 22 at 7:30 pm and June 27 at 2:00 pm.