New York Opera Fest 2017: Vertical Player Repertory Presents ‘Phaedra’

By Katharine Baran

As part of the New York Opera Fest in alliance with the New York Opera Alliance, Vertical Player Repertory Opera will debut “Phaedra” this Saturday, June 10, 2017. This fully staged production will start at 8:00 pm EDT at 334 South 5th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The plot of the opera revolves around Phaedra, the main character, stumbling under Aphrodite’s curse. Wife to Theseus, she longs for his son Hippolytus, but he denies her and she ends up destroying him and herself.

Mezzo-soprano Judith Barnes will perform and direct the production and will accompany the chamber ensemble. Barnes has worked all over the New York City area for different operatic shows.  The numerous schools and companies that she has worked with include PEN World Voices Festival, the Extremely Hungary Festival, The Invisible Symposium, Opera of the Hamptons, Manhattan School of Music, La Guardia High School, Citywide Youth Opera and elsewhere, and of course the VPR Opera since 1998.

Her work with VPR has been known to take place on unique urban settings like the 1940s oil tanker The Mary Whalen, docks at Red Hook, and in the banks of the Gowanus Canal.

Doug Han will play the piano for the performance, Charlotte Nicholas will play the violin, Brian Sanders will be on the cello, Irena Romendik is the costume designer for the whole show.

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