Falstaff

By Giuseppe Verdi

March 7, 2014 7:30 pmMarch 9, 2014 2:30 pm

This elegant yet forceful production was directed by OSB’s Jose Maria Condemi and featured a beautiful, nearly surreal production design that originated with Steven Kemp at Opera San Jose. The set, which changed interiors multiple times over the course of Friday evening, placed all of the action within what appeared to be a giant wine cask, a context that was fitting both for Falstaff, that notorious drunkard, and for wine-mad Santa Barbara, circa 2014.Verdi and Shakespeare: the perfect pair!
– Charles Donelon / Santa Barbara Independent

Opera Santa Barbara gave a rousing repertory premiere of the work last weekend at the Granada Theatre, and made clear it is an opera company on the move, with high professional ambitions.
– Dan Kepl / CASA Magazine

Location

The Granada Theatre1214 State StSanta Barbara, CA 93105

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Conductor:

Francesco Milioto

Stage Director:

Jose Maria Condemi

Scenic Designer:

Steven C. Kemp

Steven C. Kemp is a set designer for opera, theatre and events. Originally from Houston, Texas, he received his MFA from UC San Diego. He has designed for 30 opera companies and over 50 productions in NYC as well as for a multitude of regional theatres, cruise ships and international tours.

His design for Candide at Des Moines Metro Opera was recently nominated for the 2021 Golden Trezzini Awards for Architecture and Design.

For Opera San Jose his 20 designs include the acclaimed production of Idomeneo presented by the Packard Humanities Institute as well as the West Coast Premieres of Anna Karenina, Silent Night and the American premiere of Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella.

His opera designs have been presented at: LA Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Arizona Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Des Moines Metro Opera, Central City Opera, Sarasota Opera, Florida Grand Opera, New Orleans Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Omaha, Madison Opera, Kentucky Opera, Tulsa Opera, UrbanArias, Opera Grand Rapids, Merola Opera, Indiana University - Jacobs School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

His regional and international credits include designs at Pasadena Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, Bucks County Playhouse, Royal George Theatre, ReVision Theatre, Stages Repertory Theatre, Hudson Stage Company, Gulfshore Playhouse, Catholic University of America.

He has designed multiple productions for Norwegian Cruise Line, and numerous tours such as Baby Shark Live!, PJ Masks Live! Time to Be a Hero, Time to Save the Day, Dixie’s Tupperware Party and Ain’t Misbehavin’.

Steven also worked extensively as an Associate Designer for Robert Brill and David Gallo on Broadway, national tours, The Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Disney Theatricals, Dreamworks, and a multitude of other regional theatres and companies.

Additional work has included Associate Design credits for Jesse Poleshuck, Walt Spangler, Christopher Acebo, and Assistant Design for Alexander Dodge and exhibit design at Gallagher & Associates and Jack Morton Worldwide.

His opera design for Falstaff was selected as a finalist in the World Stage Design 2017 exhibit in Taipei, Taiwan.

His work was featured in the USA exhibit in the 2007 Prague Quadrennial and he was the 2008 USITT Rose Brand Scenic Design award winner.

Steven has presented lectures at many universities and was the 2013 Live Design Broadway Master Class speaker for associate set design. He specializes in 3D rendering, animation and previsualization.

Scenic Designer /
A Streetcar Named Desire

April 2015

Scenic Designer / Rigoletto

November 2014

Scenic Designer / Falstaff

March 2014 (debut)

Lighting Designer:

Christopher Maravich

Hair & Makeup Designer:

Heather Sterling

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Sir John Falstaff:

Todd Thomas

Alice Ford:

Melody Moore

Ford:

Lee Poulis

Lee Poulis is “virile and heroic in both appearance and vocalism” (Opera News) and has been praised for his “dark baritone, rich in color.” Twice named Best Young Singer by Die Welt, Mr. Poulis has performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden of Berlin, Teatro Real of Madrid, the Opera of Bilbao, and the Teatro Municipal of Santiago. He performed the title role in the national premieres of Doctor Atomic in Germany and at the Finnish National Opera. In the 2017-18 season, he appeared in Handel's Messiah with the Florida Orchestra, Carmina Burana with Long Beach Camerata, Bach's Mass in B Minor with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, and Cantata #82, "Ich habe genug" with the Jacksonville Symphony. Career highlights include Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de perles with Fort Worth Opera and Sarasota Opera, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Dayton Opera and the Belleayre Festival Opera, Marcello in La bohème with Toledo Opera and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Valentin in Faust with Lyric Opera Baltimore and Theater Chemnitz (Germany), the title role of Don Giovanni with Sarasota Opera, and Heathcliff in Herrmann’s Wuthering Heights with Minnesota Opera. He was a member of the ensemble at Theater Bonn, where he performed roles including Wolfram in Tannhäuser, Pantalon in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, Germont in La traviata, Yeletsky in Pique Dame, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, and Michonnet in Adriana Lecouvreur. His frequent appearances at Washington National Opera include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Dandini in La Cenerentola, and Senator Raitcliffe in the world premiere of Scott Wheeler’s Democracy. He has also been on the roster of San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. He made his his Opera Santa Barbara debut as Ford in Falstaff in 2014. Mr. Poulis’ concert engagements include baritone soloist in Handel's Messiah, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and in the Mozart, Fauré, and Brahms Requiem settings with organizations such as the Masterworks Chorale, Kansas City Symphony, American Youth Symphony, Waltham Philharmonic, the Atlantic Union College and the Gemini Youth Orchestra. Mr. Poulis has also appeared in recital with the Marilyn Horne Foundation at Carnegie’s Weill Hall as well as in Washington D.C. with the Washington Vocal Arts Society. Lee Poulis won first prize in the 2008 Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition, the 2008 Francisco Viñas International Voice Competition, and the 2007 Chester Ludgin International Verdi Baritone Competition, as well as an Encouragement Award recipient in the 2008 George London Foundation Awards competition. He is an alumnus of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and Music Academy of the West. Mr. Poulis is a graduate of Harvard University.

Nanetta:

Fenton:

Dame Quickly:

Meg Page:

Bardolfo:

Pistola:

Dr. Caius:

Falstaff

By Giuseppe Verdi

Location

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Falstaff

By Giuseppe Verdi

Location

Francesco Milioto

Conductor / Falstaff

Conductor / Don Pasquale

Jose Maria Condemi

Director / Falstaff

Director / Tosca

Director / Don Pasquale

Director / Orfeo ed Euridice

Director / La traviata

Artistic Director

Steven C. Kemp

Scenic Designer / A Streetcar Named Desire

Scenic Designer / Rigoletto

Scenic Designer / Falstaff

Christopher Maravich

Lighting Designer / Falstaff

Heather Sterling

Hair & Makeup Designer / Tosca

Todd Thomas

Sir John Falstaff / Falstaff

Scarpia / Tosca

Melody Moore

Alice Ford / Falstaff

Lee Poulis

Rebecca Nathanson

Nanetta / Falstaff

Studio Artist

Joshua Kohl

Fenton / Falstaff

Catherine Cook

Dame Quickly / Falstaff

Courtney McKeown

Meg Page / Falstaff

Studio Artist

Tyler Thompson

Bardolfo / Falstaff

Daniel Scofield

Pistola / Falstaff

Studio Artist

Juan José de León

Doctor Caius / Falstaff

Address

Contact

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Follow Us

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Scenic Designer /
A Streetcar Named Desire