ON STAGE

Caesar and Cleopatra

A new adaptation of Handel’s Giulio Cesare

Lobero Theatre | Friday, February 27 at 7:30 PM & Sunday, March 1st at 2:30 PM

By George Frederick Handel
Genre: Historical drama, set in Egypt around 48 BC
Running time: TBA around 100 minutes
Language: Italian with English supertitles
Venue: Lobero Theatre

Steamy passion, ruthless politics, and vocal pyrotechnics abound in Handel’s best known opera, inspired by antiquity’s notorious power couple.

Think House of Cards in ancient Egypt.

STARRING:

Colin Ramsey as Julius Caesar

Anastasia Malliaras as Queen Cleopatra of Egypt

Tickets

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Location

Lobero Theatre
33 E Canon Perdido St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Cast & Credits

DIRECTION

Director:
Josh Shaw

Conductor:
Emily Senturia

ARTISTS

Julius Caesar:
Colin Ramsey

Queen Cleopatra:
Anastasia Malliaras

direction

Director

Named as one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year in 2023, Josh Shaw is the Founding Artistic Director and CEO of Pacific Opera Project (POP), which has been described as "L.A.'s most exciting opera company." Over the past fourteen seasons, Mr. Shaw has directed over 60 productions at POP, including The Rake’s Progress, Ariadne auf Naxos, La Calisto, Tosca: A Moving Production, and La boheme: AKA “The Hipsters”. A frequent librettist for English updates, his Star Trek inspired Abduction from the Seraglio and Nintendo inspired The Magic Flute AKA #SuperFlute have gained national attention and have been produced at multiple companies, shattering attendance records.

Since turning his attention to directing in 2011, Mr. Shaw has directed over 125 productions at companies including Opera Santa Barbara, New Orleans Opera, Opera Orlando, Festival Opera, Gulfshore Opera, Opera Montana, Salt Marsh Opera, Opera Neo, Queen City Opera, Opera Orlando, and Opera in the Heights.

Recent projects include a new English adaptation of Die Fledermaus, a ground-breaking production of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta starring “The Blind Soprano” Cristina Jones, and the US premiere of Vivaldi’s Ercole su’l Termodonte. One of the busiest directors during Covid, Mr. Shaw directed more than a dozen productions during the pandemic including US staged premieres of Gluck’s La Corona and Il Parnaso Confuso, a drive-in Don Pasquale for Opera Santa Barbara, and an updated Cosi – “Covid fan tutte” set in 2020. Other recent projects include productions of Don Giovanni, La Gazzetta (Rossini), La Traviata, Into the Woods, Rusalka, and Tabasco: A Burlesque Opera, a newly rediscovered operetta by G. W. Chadwick, last performed in 1894, which was described as "delightful, packed with humor, and a feast for all the senses" by The New Orleans Advocate. In addition to directing the production, Mr. Shaw also wrote a new book and additional lyrics for the project that celebrated the McIlhenney Company’s 150th anniversary.

Beyond the rewrite of Tabasco, Mr. Shaw has written several English version libretti including a Wild West setting of Die Lustige Witwe, a contemporary setting of Der Schauspieldirektor, a production of Die Zauberflöteset in the world of 1990s video games, Covid fan tutte, a Star Trek inspired Abduction from the Seraglio, a 1930s Hollywood Fledermaus, Rusalka, and a groundbreaking production of Madama Butterfly sung in Japanese and English, a co-production of POP and Opera in Heights (Houston).

This season Mr. Shaw directs Pagliacci, Fra Diavolo, Abduction from the Seraglio, Turandot, and Zorro, at POP as well as The Pirates of Penzance at Salt Marsh Opera, Carmen at Gulfshore Opera, and Giulio Cesare at Opera Santa Barbara, and Don Pasquale at Opera in the Heights. More at joshshaw.org

Conductor

artists

Julius Caesar

Chinese American Bass-Baritone Colin Ramsey has been lauded for his “majestic, rotund, ravishing bass” (Opera Today). During the 20-21 season, Mr. Ramsey joined San Diego Opera as Colline in La bohème, as well as returning to Pacific Opera Project as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and the Festival Lyrique en Mar as Leporello in Don Giovanni (COVID19). Other recent engagements include returns to Opera Santa Barbara as Frère Laurent in Romèo et Juliette and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, joining the Festival Lyrique en Mar as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor and the bass soloist in Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and multiple productions of La bohème as Colline including Opera Idaho, Gulfshore Opera, and Opera Buffs Inc in Los Angeles. In the 2022 – 2023 seaspm, Mr. Ramsey will return to San Diego Opera, singing The Speaker and 2nd Armored Man in Die Zauberflöte and Betto in Gianni Schicchi.

His 2018-19 season was an exciting one including a return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for performances of John Cage’s Europeras directed by Yuval Sharon. Mr. Ramsey also made his San Diego Opera debut as Marullo in Rigoletto and in the spring of 2019, Mr. Ramsey returned to Opera Santa Barbara for an exciting and timely production of Robert Ward’s The Crucible singing the role of Reverend Hale.

Other recent performances have seen him in role and company debuts singing Le Comte des Grieux in Manon, The Speaker in Die Zauberflöte, and his Santa Fe Opera debut singing the Registrar in Madama Butterfly and covering Edward Teller in John Adam’s Dr. Atomic in a landmark production directed by Peter Sellars. Mr. Ramsey’s unique “smoky” timbre has been well lent to additional roles such as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Father Palmer in Silent Night, Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Collatinus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Mr. Kofner in Menotti’s The Consul, Il Frate in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Angelotti in Tosca, and Cadmus and Somnus in Handel’s Semele.

Mr. Ramsey has a great passion for oratorio and concert repertoire. He has been a soloist at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and La Jolla Symphony. Mr. Ramsey has performed as the bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Dvorâk’s Stabat Mater, Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Handel’s Messiah, Faurè’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and the Brahms Requiem.

Mr. Ramsey has found success in the competition circuit as a winner of the Pasadena Opera Guild Competition, 3rd Prize winner in the Rocky Mountain Region of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and an Encouragement Award winner in the George London Foundation Competition.

Several Apprentice programs have been pivotal in Mr. Ramsey’s growth and training as a singer including those of The Santa Fe Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Santa Barbara and the Crested Butte Music Festival. He is an alumnus of The Manhattan School of Music where he attended as a Presidential, and Presser Foundation Scholar. Upon graduating, he was honored with the Hugh Ross Award, given annually to a “singer of unusual promise.”

Mr. Ramsey holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

Queen Cleopatra

Anastasia Malliaras is a multifaceted soprano and recording artist known for her alluring performances in both traditional opera and innovative modern projects. A true vocal storyteller, her empathetic, imaginative, and expressive nature captivates audiences no matter the performance setting or musical style. Her vocal quality is marked by a pureness in clarity as well a rich and dynamic vocal timbre that seamlessly blends an array of tone colors across her extensive vocal range.

Deeply valuing collaboration amongst fellow artists and unapologetically tapping into different parts of her being have shaped Anastasia’s artistic life in an unconventional yet beautiful manner. Most recently is her collaboration with renowned pianist Eva Schaumkell. The pair teamed up with the acclaimed Norton Simon Museum for their exclusive Goya prints exhibit where they performed a program of Enrique Granados as his work is heavily influenced by the work of Goya. They have since created a program of art song that is influenced by visual art and perform concerts at art museums across the country. The second is a long term project in partnership with classical guitarist Aaron Haas, called Duo Apollon. They are a soprano and guitar duo that performs works in the standard repertoire for voice and guitar, works that are transcribed from piano, pieces by lesser known composers, and new works. In August of 2023, the duo released their first album with the classical music label Parma/Navona Records. The third continuing collaboration was born out of Anastasia’s strong connection to her Greek roots. In the summer of 2024, Anastasia was invited to be the lead singer of the acclaimed Greek Rebetiko Trio alongside guitarist Taso Comanescu and bouzouki player and co-founder of the group Dimitris Mann. The trio performs authentic Greek folk music in the Rebetiko and Laiko styles in settings ranging from cultural festivals to lecture recitals and private parties to traditional concerts.

As for her operatic career, Anastasia has played the roles of Gilda, Nannetta, Susanna, Olympia, Zerbinetta, Marie and Frasquita, to name a few. Previously, Anastasia was an apprentice at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis where she covered the role of Despina in Mozart’s iconic Cosí fan tutte and made her OTSL professional debut as Mrs. Hayes in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. Anastasia has been a Studio Artist at Central City opera where she played Ruth Baldwin in Musto’s Later That Same Evening and has previously participated in the Young Artist Vocal Academy at Houston Grand Opera and the iSing! International Young Artist Festival. Besides roles in the standard repertoire, Anastasia has performed in world premieres and revivals including the female lead role of Marie in Tesla: A Multidisciplinary Opera, Vervaine in Le Dornier Sorcier with Sing for Hope. Accolades include placement in prestigious competitions including the Loren L. Zachary Competition, the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition at Opera San Jose and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Los Angeles District and Western Regionals. She has been featured as the soprano soloist in Messiah with the Dream Orchestra of Los Angeles and Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Saint-Saëns’ Requiem with the Ventura College Orchestra. Anastasia is a graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she earned her Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance and the University of Southern California where she earned her Master’s of Music in Vocal Arts.