Heartbeat Opera will mark the 10th anniversary of its annual drag opera tradition with “ORGY & BESS: Deep Throats & High Notes,” running Oct. 30–31 and Nov. 1, 4, 6–8, 2025, at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. The production, created by Co-Founder Ethan Heard and Artistic Director Jacob Ashworth, takes inspiration from “Porgy & Bess” while skewering the broader {…}
New York’s Heartbeat Opera is set to present a new adaptation of Samuel Barber’s rarely performed opera “Vanessa” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF). The production, which will be directed by visionary R.B. Schlather, will be the first-ever opera presented at WTF. The work will be performed nine times between July 17 and August 3, 2025. Of the adaptation, Schlather {…}
New York’s Heartbeat Opera is set to present a new adaptation of Charles Gounod’s “Faust.” The new production will be showcased for seven performances between May 13 and 25, 2025 at Baruch Performing Arts Center. Co-adapted by Heartbeat Opera Artistic Director Jacob Ashworth and director Sara Holdren, Faust is reimagined into something new with a surprising twist ending. Inspired by {…}
The Public Theater presents the new experimental work by Christian De Gré Cárdenas,”LUCINE! or birdshit: a human concerto with string & void.” While not an operetta in the traditional sense, “LUCINE!” draws on operatic logic, musical structure, and character-driven theatricality. Bethany Geraghty and Eric Eaton perform in the work scored for voice and cello. Gama Valle directs. De Gré Cárdenas, {…}
Heartbeat Opera has announced two upcoming productions for 2025. First up is “Salome” this February at the Irondale in Brooklyn. The Strauss work will be presented in an adaptation by Jacob Ashworth and Elizabeth Dinkova for seven singers and an arrangement by Dan Schlosberg for eight clarinetists and two percussionists. It will star Summer Hassan, Patrick Cook, Nathaniel Sullivan, Manna {…}
Heartbeat Opera is set to present “Slaylem: The Witch Trials” this October. The original drag opera created by Nico Krell and Jacob Ashworth features arrangements by Dan Schlosberg of music by Britten, Ponchielli, Adams, Copland, Floyd Pedeerecki, Mozart, Donizetti, and Bellini, featuring newly written English Lyrics. The work is a gothic comedy that “dances on the grave of early American {…}
Heartbeat Opera is set to present two new works as part of its Spring Fest. First up is “Eugene Onegin” in a brand-new 100-minute adaptation. The opera aims to explore the seminal opera through “the lens of Tchaikovsky’s suppressed queerness.” “This reimagining of ‘Eugene Onegin’ comes at a time in which many Russian artists are being forced to flee the {…}
Heartbeat Opera will present “The Golden Cock” at Roulette in Brooklyn on Nov. 9 at 7:30 PM and Nov. 10 at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM. Heartbeat Opera’s adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Golden Cockerel” takes the original story and transforms it into a drag show with costumes by celebrated New York designer David Quinn. The drag extravaganza is Heartbeat’s most {…}
Heartbeat Opera has unveiled its 2023-24 season, the 10th in the company’s history. First up is “The Golden Cock.” The opera is a riff on Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Golden Cockerel.” The work was created by Nico Krell and Jacob Ashworth with arrangements by Daniel Schlosberg. The opera stars Ariana Wehr, Sara Couden, Daniel Moody, Elliott Paige, and John Taylor Ward. Performance {…}
New York’s Heartbeat Opera has announced its 2022-23 Season, which includes a video premiere and the company’s Spring Festival, featuring significant adaptions of Puccini’s “Tosca” and Verdi’s “Macbeth.” The Season kicks off with a free video premiere of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” featuring over 100 incarcerated singers from six prison choirs. Ethan Heard adapted and directed this re-imagining of the opera in {…}
Heartbeat Opera has announced the departure of Co-Founder and Artistic Director Ethan Heard. In an official statement, the company revealed that Heard, who will depart the New York based company on June 30, 2022, is set to be the Associate Artistic Director of Signature Theatre in DC where he will commence on August 1, 2022. Throughout his career with Heartbeat {…}
