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"Visually and musically stunning.
A wild, sexy bacchanal."

Observer

 
 

Hot Mama: Singing Gays Saving Gaia

Heartbeat Opera's annual Halloween Drag Extravaganza is back for its 6th year running!

Heartbeat’s beloved tradition of mixing opera, drag, and pastiche returns to Roulette. This year, we celebrate Mother Earth in all her beauty and biodiversity. Costume designer Miodrag Guberinic, who created last year’s jaw-dropping Medusa look, envisions flaunting flora and fabulous fauna. What will happen when Gaia herself confronts the terrifying Monster of Climate Collapse? Meltdown or salvation? Through virtuosic renditions of arias by Wagner, Vivaldi, Bernstein, Adams, and more, this extravaganza confronts the ultimate drama of our day. Expect operatic emissions, high “C’s”, and polar baritones!

 

Wednesday, October 30 at 8:00pm – Benefit Performance
Thursday, October 31 at 7:00pm
Thursday, October 31 at 9:30pm

Roulette, Brooklyn
509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Tickets from $30

Bring your own cup for eco-friendly drinking!

Dress to impress: Costume Category is "Sustainable Drag"

See the press release here

 
 
 

FEATURING

Patrick Kilbride // Tenor, Flower
John Taylor Ward
// Bass, Monster of Climate Collapse
Ariana Wehr
// Soprano, Polar Bear
Clinton Edward
// Dancer, Bird
Brendan Henderson
// Dancer, Bird
Dustin Ceithamer // Mother Nature

BAND

Jacob Ashworth // violin
Daniel Schlosberg
// piano/harpsichord
Michaël Attias
// saxophone
Hannah Levinson
// viola
Madeline Fayette // cello

TEAM

Directed by Ethan Heard
Music directed by Jacob Ashworth and Daniel Schlosberg
Arranged by Daniel Schlosberg
Choreographed by Eamon Foley
Costumes designed by Miodrag Guberinic
Lighting designed by Masha Tsimring
Projections designed by Nick Hussong
Props designed by Corinne Gologursky
Makeup designed by Maiko Ando
Production managed and stage managed by Colin JB

 
 

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”

— Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring (1962)

Heartbeat's drag extravaganzas have always been celebrations of queerness – in and through opera. Every Halloween, we relish the opportunity to dress up in fabulous finery and explode the gender binary, and this year, we're thrilled to be partnering with The LGBT Community Center where we'll present a special open rehearsal on October 24. But while our past drag shows have been organized around a composer (Purcell, Handel, Mozart) or a playful theme (Shakespeare, Greco-Roman mythology), HOT MAMA confronts the most urgent crisis of our time: climate collapse. For us, opera is not an escape from the world, but a way to live in it more fully. HOT MAMA is our joyful - and terrified - attempt to deal with our transforming planet, to honor Mother Earth, to revel in her beauty, to combat despair with humor, and to envision a brighter future.

— Ethan Heard, Director

 
 
 

Meet the cast

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Patrick Kilbride

Tenor, Flower

Patrick Kilbride received degrees from Northwestern University, University of Maryland Opera Studio, and fellowships from the Aspen Opera Theater Center and Tanglewood Music Festival. He made his U.S. debut in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria with the Boston Early Music Festival. Winning the 24th International Concours de Chant in Clermont-Ferrand, France, he made his European debut in a French national tour of Handel’s Acis and Galatea in 2015-2016. He has sung roles with Festival Aix-en-Provence, The Britten-Pears Aldeburgh Festival, Opera Lafayette and Heartbeat Opera, debuting at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, Théâtre Gérard Philippe, Paris, Grand Théâtre Luxembourg, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, The Kennedy Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. His debut with Heartbeat Opera was in the critically acclaimed production of La Susanna as Secondo Giudice. Upcoming performances include a new production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis with Opera Lafayette, and his debut at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon, Portugal. www.PatrickKilbride.com @thehandeltenor

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John Taylor Ward

Bass, Monster of Climate Collapse

John Taylor Ward (1986-) has been objectified for decades. He is tall and thin.

“a tall, wiry baritone, willowy and piteous one moment, bug-eyed and frothing the next”
–New York Times

“John Taylor Ward wielded his lanky height”
–Opera News

“The arrestingly tall and thin American bass John Taylor Ward”
–Parterre Box

“tall skinny American John Taylor Ward”
–Opera Britannia

“Bass John Taylor Ward with his tall lankiness was a most unlikely looking bass singer”
–Artshub

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Ariana Wehr

Soprano, Polar Bear

Brazilian-born soprano Ariana Wehr is a recent graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program with Washington National Opera at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Highlights of the 2018-19 season include a debut with the Naples Philharmonic singing Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Micäela in Carmen with Opera Louisiane, and a return to The Glimmerglass Festival for Girlfriend #1/Nurse/Congregant in the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s Blue. She also competed in the 2019 International Music Competition Harbin in Harbin, China. Ariana was a 2018 National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

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Clinton Edward

Dancer, Bird

A native of Oklahoma, Clinton Edward has been working in the dance and theatre world since receiving his BFA from Marymount Manhattan College. Favorite credits include performing at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Off-Broadway in Queen of the Night, and creating as a core member of LubDub Theatre Co. since it’s inception. He is a co-founder and Resident Artist of MinuteZero, an immersive events company based in NYC whose list of clients have included Brooklyn Museum, Rag & Bone, and Under Armour. Clinton is also a choreographer and collaborator with queer pop artist PRIMME. www.clintonedward.com

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Brendan Henderson

Dancer, Bird

Brendan Henderson is a New York based, multidisciplinary artist specializing in choreography, contemporary dance performance, and writing. Presenting work under the pseudonym of “August & Company”, he has performed his work for local organizations such as Movement Research, Arts on Site, and other downtown dance associations. Along with creating, his recent performance credits include the queer-immersive musical Oscar at the Crown and Off-Broadway’s Cleopatra which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Male Dancer at the 2019 Chita Rivera Awards. He thanks the creative team for including him in this project and his family/ partner Nicholas for their never ending support.

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Dustin Ceithamer

Mother Nature

Heartbeat Opera debut. This spring Dustin will be originating the villainous role of the Smile Man in the Disney/20th Century Fox feature film "X-men: The New Mutants.” He is a choreographer for CBS’s “The Bold And The Beautiful”, a project manager for Todrick Hall, and a proud co-producer, writer, director of the Off B’way show “Revelation: The Musical”. Thanks to Ethan for this opportunity, COTC, and the HangNYC for all the support: spiritual and creative. Insta: @that_dapper_d

Meet the Team

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Ethan Heard

Director

As Founding Co-Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera, Ethan Heard has directed La Susanna, Fidelio, Butterfly, Dido & Aeneas, Kafka-Fragments, The Seven Deadly Sins, five Drag Extravaganzas, and a special performance on the High Line. Other opera: Michelson’s Desire|Divinity (Judson), Orth and Campbell’s Empty the House (Curtis), and Sisyphus (Experiments in Opera), L’Orfeo (Yale), and Poppea (Princeton). Musical theater includes Little Shop of Horrors, Bells Are Ringing, and A Little Night Music (Berkshire Theatre Group), The Other Room (Inner Voices), and Into the Woods (Princeton). He received his BA and MFA from Yale, and now teaches at Yale and Princeton. ethanheard.com

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Jacob Ashworth

Co-Music Director

Jacob Ashworth is the “impressive Artistic Director” (New York Times) of Heartbeat's sister company Cantata Profana, and has been Co-Music Director of Heartbeat Opera since the beginning. Equally at home on modern or period instruments, Jacob has been called a “lithe and nimble” (New York Times) baroque violinist, an “exacting and sensitive” (Boston Globe) new music player, a “richly detailed” (New York Times) conductor, and “a flat-out triumph” (Opera News) on stage. Jacob’s vision for crafting rarely-heard masterpieces into theatrical, genre-bending shows led Cantata Profana to receive the 2016 CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. www.JacobAshworth.com

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Daniel Schlosberg

Co-Music Director, New Arrangements

The music of Brooklyn-based composer-pianist Daniel Schlosberg has been performed by the Dover Quartet, Minnesota Orchestra, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Nashville Symphony, and Lorelei Ensemble, at venues including Carnegie Hall, (le) poisson rouge, Royal Albert Hall, and David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption, and has been featured in the New York Times and WNYC’s Soundcheck. Daniel received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. As a performer, Daniel has collaborated with such luminaries as David Shifrin, Yura Lee, and the Imani Winds, and this spring, Daniel was the pianist for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film West Side Story. Daniel is a core member of Cantata Profana, and rotating principal pianist of NOVUS NY. Daniel’s work has been described as “richly detailed yet delicate” by the New York Times and “ingenious” by the Wall Street Journal. www.danschlosberg.com

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Eamon Foley

Choreographer

Eamon Foley is the Artistic Director of Grind Arts Company. He has choreographed productions for Michael Arden such as Merrily We Roll Along (NAACP Theater Award Nomination) and Annie at the Hollywood Bowl, and most recently David Cromer’s Next to Normal at Writers' Theatre. Directing and choreography credits include Nine, Sweeney Todd, The Last Five Years, Cyrano, Paradise Lost, Hero (Author), along with films Sinnerman, Color + Light, Small Talk, and Brown Rice (Queerty Award Nomination). As a performer, he was in the original Broadway casts of Gypsy, Assassins, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, 13! The Musical, and Everyday Rapture. 

Miodrag Guberinic

Costume Design

Miodrag Guberinic is a New York-based designer and artisan. He grew up in Serbia and graduated from the FPU in Belgrade with a BFA in costume design, and graduated with an MFA in costume design from the NU in Chicago. His designs have been worn by Katy Perry, Scarlett Johansson, B Akerlund and Bianca Del Rio among others. His costume artisan work has been featured on numerous Broadway productions including ones currently on Broadway: Frozen, Head Over Heels, Mean Girls, Pretty Woman; TV shows: Mrs. Maisel, The Tick and last season of Gotham. He created accessories for fashion campaigns for Estee Lauder & Shiseido and small-scale costumes, crafts, and puppetry work for the iconic retailers' windows of Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Tiffany & Co., Macy's, Lord & Taylor and Prada. Mio was also responsible for the creation of the iconic headpieces & armor for Madonna's  World Rebel Heart Tour and has collaborated with luminary designers including Anne Roth, Gregg Barnes, Arianne Phillips, and Michael Wilkinson. Today, Mio resides in Brooklyn where he owns the design company Mio Design NYC focusing on the highly innovative artisan projects, using the newest cutting-edge materials and technology on a wide range of Costume and Wearable Art projects.Most recently he started sharing his experiences as a lecturer and guest designer with students of Carnegie Mellon University, Long Island University, Parsons School of Design, Princeton University and Rutgers University. You can see the body of his work at miodragguberinic.com, miodesignstudio.com and follow his work on Instagram @miodesignnyc

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Masha Tsimring

Lighting Design

Masha Tsimring is a NYC based lighting designer for performance. Recently: Sunday (Atlantic Theatre Co); The Christians (Chautauqua Theatre Co.); The Diary of John Rabe (Berlin Staatsoper/NCPA Beijing); Pride & Prejudice (Kansas City Rep); The Appointment (Lightning Rod Special); Kleptocracy (Arena Stage); Minor Character (Under the Radar/New Saloon); Noura (Playwrights Horizons); Intractable Woman (PlayCo); Electric Lucifer (The Kitchen); Sarabande (LA Dance Project); The Garden of Forking Paths (Nichole Canuso Dance Co); Frontieres Sans Frontieres (Bushwick Starr); Ultimate Beauty Bible (Page73); The Marriage of Figaro (Charlottesville Opera); As You Like It (CalShakes); My Fair Lady (Playmakers Rep); MFA - Yale School of Drama. www.mashald.com

Corinne Gologursky

Props Design

Corinne Gologursky (she/they) is a prop master, artisan, and designer based in New York. Recent credits include Ain’t No Mo’ (Public Theater); Sea Wall/A Life (Public Theater); Much Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus, and Hercules (Shakespeare in the Park); Once (Bucks County Playhouse). Corinne is very excited to make art with Heartbeat again (past: Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Dragus Maximus, Hot Mama). They received their BFA in Scenic Design from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts. www.gologurskyprops.com

Nicholas Hussong

Projections Design

Heartbeat: Fidelio and Kafka Fragments. Off Broadway: These Paper Bullets-Drama Desk Nomination (Atlantic Theater Company, Geffen Playhouse, Yale Rep), Until the Flood (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Goodman, Milwaukee Rep, St.Louis Rep, ACT Seattle), White Guy On The Bus (59E59, Delaware Theatre Company), Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company), Chix 6 (LaMama). Some other designs include: Kleptocracy (Arena Stage), Grounded (Alley Theatre), Two Trains Running (Arden Theater), The Mountaintop (Playmakers Rep), FEAST, Listen&Breathe, Korean Expo, Marc Jacobs, Urban Bush Women, (St. Louis Rep), Esperanza Spaulding (Lantern Theatre Company). More at: Abrons Art Center, Tiny Dynamite, Premieres NYC, Ars Nova, Cantata Profana, Nashville Symphony, Hartford Symphony, as well as international work in Canada, China, London, Edinburgh, Berlin and Ireland. 70th & 71st Tony Awards (CBS). More info at Nickhussong.com.

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Maiko Ando

Makeup Design

New York based makeup artist Maiko Ando grew up in a family with kimono artisan and Ikebana professors, where she never got tired of coloring, painting and drawing during her childhood. She is known for both her natural beauty makeup and creative character makeup, working in theater, film, beauty campaigns and commercials. Maiko has worked on makeup for Heartbeat Opera productions including Butterfly, All The World’s A Drag!, Fidelio and Dragus Maximus. She is an alumni of Make-up Designory (MUD) in NYC and a certified makeup artist formally trained in makeup and hairstyling. www.maikomakeup.com

 
 
 

Made possible with support from The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

Make up provided by MAC Cosmetics.

A portion of ticket proceeds will go toward supporting the work of Earth Justice.