Fidelio

Heartbeat Opera Company
Movement Directed by Emma Jaster

Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Original libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner & Georg Friedrich Sonnleithner
Adapted and Directed by Ethan Heard
Arranged and Music Directed by Daniel Schlosberg
New English Dialogue Co-Written by Marcus Scott and Ethan Heard

A black activist is wrongfully incarcerated. His wife, Leah, disguises herself to infiltrate the system and free him. But when injustice reigns, one woman's grit may not be enough to save her love. Featuring the voices of imprisoned people, this daring adaptation pits corruption against courage, hate against hope.

PRESS for Fidelio

I nearly missed Heartbeat Opera’s “Fidelio” — reorchestrated, reduced and reimagined for the era of Black Lives Matter — and I’m so glad I didn’t. The production, staged smartlyin a subterranean theater at the Baruch Performing Arts Center that already had the look of a concrete correctional facility, deftly navigated the tricky art of adaptation with new English-language dialogue (alongside Beethoven’s arias in the original German) that felt urgent and powerful without pontificating. Even the moment that most risked heavy-handedness, the Prisoners’ Chorus performed by real American prison choirs on video, turned out to be one of the most poignant. Have a listen, though be warned: The scene left me searching for tissues. 
-The New York Times

Imaginatively deconstructed and reconceived. Ingenious seven-player arrangements...[with] artful transitions. Thoughtfully adapted and directed by Ethan Heard. Precise. The most powerful scene was the prisoners’ chorus, which was performed by 100 incarcerated men and women and 70 volunteers from six prison choirs. They were seen on pre-recorded video as well as heard, and their amateur but committed music-making brought real life into the theater. Kelly Griffin was an imposingly passionate Leah, carrying off “Abscheulicher!” with authority; Malorie Casimir was brightly innocent as Marcy.
-The Wall Street Journal

"High brow and brilliant." 
-New York Magazine, Approval Matrix

Fearless work that was somehow true to the original yet very current. The powerful use of a chorus of prisoners--represented in the production by projected work of actual prison choruses from around the Midwest--was a master stroke. I thought Ethan Heard's production was more successful than the opera's most recent revival at the Met. Kelly Griffin made an incisive Leah, powerful yet warm, and Malorie Casimir was a winning Marcy, using her light voice smartly, while bass-baritone Derrell Acon made a dignified, smart Roc.
-Broadway World

Powerful. Adapted and directed by Ethan Heard, this version peels back the operatic trappings to let the characters emerge. Kelly Griffin jerked tears and kicked butt as Leah, and Derrell Acon gave the compromised flunky Roc some very human ambivalence about doing terrible things to defenseless people. Heartbeat’s Fidelio follows the intertwined grand traditions of miniaturized opera, biting updates, and shoestring spectacle, yet still produced something serious and new.
-Vulture

Both productions [Heartbeat's Fidelio and Don Giovanni] feature stellar young casts in exciting, stripped-down productions that burn brightly both musically and theatrically. But perhaps the strongest vocal performance was given by men who were not actually there in the theater, and who could not be because they are incarcerated in prisons across the country. One of the most famous parts of Beethoven's opera is a prisoners' chorus. In a brilliant theatrical stroke, director Ethan Heard and co-musical director Daniel Schlosberg travelled to prisons in Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, and Minnesota that had mens' choruses, where they taught the singers the chorus, then had it recorded and videotaped. So on the back wall was projected a video of the inmates singing while their voices filled the theater. It was a deeply stirring moment that palpably resonated with the audience. (Letters from these real prisoners to Heartbeat were posted in the lobby of the theater.)"
-Feast of Music

Stunning, moving, and critically important. The adaptation was truly brilliant, in all the different subtle and not-so-subtle ways that it modernized Fidelio, especially along gender and sexuality, racial, and political and ethical dimensions."
-Bernard E. Harcourt, Professor of Law and Political Science at Columbia University, Executive Director of the Eric H. Holder Initiative for Civil and Political Rights

Other press:

The New York Times preview
The New Yorker Goings On About Town 
BBC World Service at 23:12
RTHK Hong Kong Public Radio at 8:30am

Butterfly

Direction by Ethan Heard
Movement Direction by Emma Jaster
About the production and the core artistic team.

New York Times rave review.
New York Times preview piece gets at the heart of our artistic goals and inspirations.
Part of Heartbeat Opera's annual Spring Festival 2017 at Baruch Performing Arts Center, NY

White male artists invented the tragic geisha, Madama Butterfly, and in so doing fueled a stereotype that has dominated Western imagination ever since. This daring new adaptation of Puccini’s iconic romance explodes that legacy of fetishization and exposes the Sorrow left behind.

Photos by Russ Rowland

Press for Butterfly

"This small, adventurous company strives to make opera a visceral, intimate and immediate 'encounter,' as they have said. Their alterations to masterpieces aim to get past dated elements that can mute the raw emotions and the timeless issues coursing within the original works."
– Anthony Tommasini,  ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Carmen,’ in Bold and Vivid Cuts (The New York Times)

"handsome, minimal production ... would make a fine touring Butterfly staging" and "had a compelling anchor".
– Opera News, In Review: Madama Butterfly (5/20/17), Carmen (5/25/17)

"[W]hat’s so pleasing about Heartbeat Opera’s “Butterfly” is how well its artistic intentions dovetail with its limited means."
– Russell Platt, The Trailblazing Efforts of “Indie Opera” (The New Yorker)

Agrippina

Direction by Louisa Proske
Choreography by Emma Jaster
Costumes by Beth Goldenberg
Set design by Kate Knoll
Lighting design by Oliver Wason

by Georg Frideric Handel and Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani

produced by Carnegie Hall/ Juilliard Vocal Arts
part of La Serenissima Festival/ Carnegie Hall
February 2017

Music Director (Tully Hall): Laurence Cummings
Music Director (Willson Theater): Jeffrey Grossman

Press for Agrippina

" ... a fabulous night ... Excellent work ... The scheming Agrippina and all of the opera’s power- and sex-hungry Romans are ready for a bigger audience." - WQXR
"Highly creative direction ...  it was a grand privilege to be among the small audience fortunate enough to get a seat in the intimate Wilson Theater." - Voce di Meche

Cosi Fan Tutti

Direction by Louisa Proske
Choreography by Emma Jaster

Press for Cosi

New York Times calls it "intimate, heartfelt"
Produced by LoftOpera, "New York's most raucous and delightful opera company." -New York Times

Dido and Aeneas

Direction by Ethan Heard
Choreography by Emma Jaster
Set design by Reid Thompson
Part of Heartbeat Opera's Spring Festival 2016. Theater at St. Clements, New York City.

Press for Dido and Aeneas

"a performance that was elegant, boisterous, and melancholy by turns" - Alex Ross, The New Yorker
 

Heartbeat Opera Annual Drag Extravaganza

Direction by Ethan Heard
Choreography & guest appearance by Emma Jaster
Costumes by Jon Carter
Photos by Russ Rowland

We also participated in the Out of Line festival on New York's Highline.  
Makeup generously provided by MAC Cosmetics.  Check their tumblr post about it.
This video is a trailer for the next show, but is primarily shots from our Highline performance.