Santa Cruz: The Girl of the Golden West

To celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the Voice Studio of Thomas Clark presents Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West, in an exciting new translation by Thomas Clark. Originally written in 1905 by playwright David Belasco (who also authored Madame Butterfly), The Girl of the Golden West takes place during the Gold Rush in California around 1849. The original play was used as the basis for the opera La Fanciulla del West by Puccini in 1910, and has enjoyed great success since its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. That production starred Emmy Destinn and Enrico Caruso, with the esteemed Arturo Toscanini conducting. Indeed, Puccini himself declared that La Fanciulla del West was his finest opera. Thomas Clark’s new translation promises to bring contemporary audiences even closer to the essence of the opera, the themes of which involve deception, desire, love, forgiveness, and ultimately, redemption. The opera will be presented complete (i.e., without cuts to the score), a rarity for performances of this work.

This new production stars Jordan Best as Minnie, owner of the Polka Saloon, Xavier Prado as the bandit Dick Johnson (first 6 performances; John Kun Park sings the final 2), and Robert Balonek as Sheriff Jack Rance. The performance is conducted from the piano by Umberto Barisciano and Gary L. Stanford, Jr., is the stage director.

There will be eight performances in Pacifica and Santa Cruz, and it will be the first time this opera will be performed in those cities.

Performance schedule:

Terra Nova Theater, Pacifica:

Friday, August 21 (7:00 pm)
Sunday, August 23 (2:00 pm)
Friday, August 28 (7:00 pm)
Sunday, August 30 (2:00 pm)

Colligan Theater, Santa Cruz:

Friday, September 4 (7:00 pm)
Sunday, September 6 (2:00 pm)
Friday, September 11 (7:00 pm)

Sunday, September 13 (2:00 pm)