Cavalleria Rusticana
Synopsis
Cast & Creative
Librettist
Pietro Mascagni
Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name, and subsequent play by Giovanni Verga.
Place: Nightfall, IN
Time: Easter morning, 1946
In the opening scene, Turiddu is heard praising Lola. Santuzza witnesses Lola’s joy upon hearing Turiddu’s song. Set on Easter Sunday, 1946, in the quaint coal mining town of Nightfall, IN, in the first weeks of the coal miners’ labor strike that rocked the nation. The people of the town support the strike, and the Salvator Mining Company has all but closed the company town down – no supplies, no electricity, no pay; the people of Nightfall are rallying to get through this time together however they can in the midst of an unseasonal heat wave. Alfio enters, extolling the pleasures of his wandering life as a wagoner and boasting publicly of his love for Lola and of her fidelity.
Santuzza leaves her house to go to Easter Mass, but she is prevented from entering the church. She has been excommunicated for her affair with Turiddu. Santuzza confides in Mamma Lucia, telling her all that has happened. When Turridu arrives, Santuzza accosts him. He tries in vain to deny his affair with Lola, when she purposefully passes in front of them, leading to a caustic exchange between the two women. Santuzza and Turiddu engage in a storm of recriminations, before Santuzza curses him. Horrified and afraid, Turiddu breaks away and goes into church.
Santuzza reveals to Alfio that his wife has been unfaithful to him, before realizing that Alfio’s fury will doom them all. As worshippers emerge from church, Turiddu publicly toasts Lola’s “loves.” Alfio and Turiddu agree to a duel. To shield Santuzza from future recrimination, Turiddu tells everyone that he had promised to marry her to restore her honor. Turiddu bids farewell to his mother and leaves. Santuzza delivers the news that Turiddu has been killed.
Cast & Creative
Cast
SANTUZZA:
Anne Fuchs – Soprano
TURRIDU
Emanuel-Cristian Caraman – Tenor
LOLA
Eleni Taluzek – Mezzo-Soprano
Town's People
Emily Sullivan – Soprano
Brittney Hale – Soprano
Tessa Pauls – Soprano
Jessica Carter – Mezzo-Soprano
Quin Wezeman – Tenor
Ben Ganger – Baritone and Alfio Cover
George Zielke - Baritone
Off Stage Chorus
Vesper Chorale
Creative Team
Justin Amelio-Ashbrook – Stage Director
Jameson Cooper – Conductor
Mariah Boucher – SBLO Music Director
Jeshua Franklin – Vesper Chorale Music Director
Damen Mroczek – Set Designer
Coley Mroczek – Stage Manager
Emily Chidalek – Costume Designer
Tim Hanson - Lights Designer
Mya Piccione - Assistant Stage Director
Juan Carlos Alarcon - Assistant Conductor
Jen Kazmierczak - Supertitles Designer
Hannah Counsellor – Graphic Designer
Rami M. Sadek – Executive Producer
Emanuel-Cristian Caraman – Artistic Director