Staging WorKhshop, June 2022
Staging workshop
Penelope and the Geese, a new chamber opera by Milica Paranosic (composer) and Cheri Magid (librettist), is a retelling of the Penelope story from The Odyssey in which Penelope, rather than chastely waiting twenty years for Odysseus' return, explores her sexuality and her self. The opera is scored for harp, flute and cello and those instruments' ancient twins, Greek lyre, aulos and Serbian gusle, and is performed by an all female cast. Co-produced by ShoutOut Saugerties and The Theoria Foundation Penelope will be presented at the Broken Wing Barn, Saugerties, NY directed by Mo Zhou, conducted by Mila Henry, and will feature performances by Hai-Ting Chinn, Joy Jan Jones and Lynne Procope and a chorus of regional singers. They will be accompanied by musicians Jennifer DeVore, Margaret Lancester, and Mia Theodoratus. A public presentation will take place June 24th at 7 PM. For more information: Shoutoutsaugerties.org.
Public Presentation
Friday, June 24, 2022 7:00 PM 8:30 PM
Broken Wing Barn at White Feather Farm
1389 New York 212 Saugerties, NY, 12477
Particaipants
Hai-Ting Chinn, Joy Jan Jones, Lynne Procope, Margaret Lancaster, Liann Cline, Jennifer DeVore, Mo Zhou, Mila Henri, Millicent Young, Cheri Magid, Milica Paranosic and the community chorus: Amy Jane Steiner, Elena Batt and Lyndsay von Miller. Produced by Carmela Marner.
Presented by Shout Our Saugerties and Theoria Foundation.
Support
Text Penelope to 707070 to be taken to the donation page. Any amount, any platform.
Photo Credit: Charise Isis
We did it for penelope
The week of August 10th, Penelope and the Geese was supposed to be performed live in front of an audience. However, in the age of COVID, that could not happen safely. But that did not deter our team.
Twelve miraculous women safely gathered in Saugerties, NY, a magical artistic oasis upstate, to rehearse, record, and create a long-form trailer for Penelope. While it was not the originally intended iteration by any means, Penelope’s story is still being told.
See below for a teaser, as well as behind the scenes pictures from our week of creation and camaraderie. And keep close watch of this page as we continue to add more.
Remember: it’s not an opera - it’s a manifesto.
Photo Credit: Charise Isis
Composer- co-producer: Milica Paranosic (IG: @mparanosic) (FB: Milica Paranosic)
Librettist - co-producer: Cheri Magid (IG: @cherimagid) (FB: Cheri Magid)
Conductor: Mila Henry (IG: @myohmyitsmila) (FB: Mila Henry)
Penelope: Hai-Ting Chinn (IG: @ahaiting)
Cello/Gusle: Jennifer Devore (FB: Jennifer Devore)
Harp/Lyre: Mia Theodoratus (IG: @mia_harpgrrl) (FB: Mia Theodoratus)
Flutes/Aulos: Margaret Lancaster (IG: @magcaster1) (FB: Margaret Lancaster)
Calypso: Sharon Harms
Athena: Joy Jan Jones
Circe: Nicole Cherecwich
Aphrodite: Kimberly Chaterjee
The Sirens: Lynne Procope
Nausicaa: Camille Harris
Recording Engineer: Dave Cook (IG: @area52studios) (FB: area52studios)
Producer: Suzanne Bennett/ShoutOut Saugerties (IG: @suzannebennett4490) (IG: @shoutoutsaugerties) (FB: Suzanne Bennett) (FB: Shout Out Saugerties)
Producer: Paracademia and Cheri Magid (IG: @paracademia) (FB: Paracademia LLC)
Videographer/Video Editor: Lara St. John (IG: @stjohnlara) (FB: Lara St. John)
Set Designer: Millicent Young (IG: @millicent.young) (FB: Millicent Young)
Photographer: Cherise Isis (IG: @charise.photography) (FB: Charise Isis)
Production Manager: Erin Cass
Production Assistant: Kelsey Sullivan (IG: @kelsey_sullivan__)
Special Thanks to Josepha Gutelius and Benno Schmidbauer for access to their picturesque home.
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Suzanne Bennett and Shout Out Saugerties for co-producing this project.
Paracademia and Cheri Magid for co-producing this project.
Opera America for their Opera Grant for Female Composers program supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
The Society of Classical Studies for their Classics Everywhere grant.
NYU Tisch for their Dean’s Grant, gifted by Dean Allyson Green.
New Music USA for their grant, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Helen F. Whitaker fund, The Aaron Copland fund for Music, Inc., New York State Council on the Arts.