San Francisco Opera presents Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels' Omar
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4509 USA
7:30 PM, Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:30 PM] {lights down; pre-recorded welcome; concert tuning}
[7:31 PM] {applause for JK entrance}

1. [7:32 PM] Overture
2. [7:37 PM] Scene One: 1806, Futa Toro (a region of West Africa now part of Senegal)
3. [7:53 PM] Scene Two: The Middle Passage
4. [8:05 PM] Scene Three: The Charleston Slave Market
5. [8:22 PM] Scene Four: Johnson plantation
6. [8:32 PM] Scene Five: Johnson plantation, five months later
   [8:41 PM] {Act One ends}

[9:06 PM] {concert tuning; lights down; applause for JK entrance}

1. [9:07 PM] Scene One: Fayetteville County Jail
2. [9:25 PM] Scene Two: Owen plantation
3. [9:47 PM] Scene Three: Owen’s study
4. [9:52 PM] Scene Four (Omar reading under a tree)
5. [10:03 PM] Scene Five (Julie & Omar)
   [10:28 PM] {Act Two ends}
   [10:30 PM] {show ends}

• Barry Banks: Auctioneer, Taylor, tenor vox;
• Norman Garrett: Omar's Brother Abdul, Abe, baritone vox;
• Laura Krumm: Eliza, mezzo-soprano vox;
• Jamez McCorkle: Omar, tenor vox;
• Jermaine McGhee: Ancestral Figure (dancer);
• Daniel Okulitch: Johnson, Owen, bass-baritone vox;
• Taylor Raven: Omar's Mother Fatima, mezzo-soprano vox;
• Brittany Renee: Julie;
• Rehanna Thelwell: Katie Ellen, Caller, mezzo-soprano vox;
• Sydnee Turrentine-Johnson: ?, soprano vox.

• Michael Abels: composer;
• Kiara Benn: choreographer;
• Rhiannon Giddens: composer, librettist;
• April M. Hickman: co-costume designer;
• Joshua Higgason: projection designer;
• John Keene: chorus director;
• John Kennedy: conductor;
• Christopher Myers: production designer;
• Amy Rubin: set designer;
• Micheline Russell-Brown: co-costume designer;
• Pablo Santiago: lighting designer;
• Kaneza Schaal: director.

  ## Notes

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Program Notes or program notes

Joshua Kosman posted a promo/Q&A article with Rhiannon Giddens for the SF Chronicle, and followed it with a lukewarm review once the opera opened.

Lisa Hirsch opted for a more positive review in her critique for SFCV.

Lily O'Brien posted an interview with mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven for SFCV.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!