Stage Director

Steinbeck’s timeless novella Of Mice and Men becomes a superbly crafted opera of great beauty and power. George and Lennie are two migrant ranch workers who dream of owning an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. But George cannot guard Lennie, a childlike giant of a man with a love for soft things, from the bullying of the ranch boss and his flirtatious yet unhappy young wife. Steinbeck’s timeless story—in the hands of the Dean of American Opera, Carlisle Floyd—becomes a superbly crafted opera of great beauty and power.

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Of Mice and Men

Simpson College

We end our season with a powerful adaptation of Steinbeck's classic novella by the father of American opera, Carlisle Floyd. Of Mice and Men delves deep into the American psyche and experience of the 1930s and brings to life the unbreakable bond between George and Lennie, migrant farm workers, striving for the American Dream. Directed by Kristine McIntyre, our production uses projections to immerse the audience in Lennie's perspective, blending intimate humanity with cinematic scope in a gripping, tragic journey.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City

There can be no more fitting way for HGO to celebrate the centennial of the birth of composer Carlisle Floyd—who founded the company’s Butler Studio program with then-General Director David Gockley in 1977—than a special staging of his evocative opera Of Mice and Men, performed by a cast of artists from the 2025-26 class of the Butler Studio. Based on John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella of the same name, the acclaimed 1970 opera will be presented by the Butler Studio in the Wortham’s intimate Cullen Theater.

Wortham Theater Center

Set against the backdrop of 1830’s Paris, La Bohème follows four impoverished artists surviving with little more than friendship, passion, and their love for art.

When Roldolfo, a poet, and Mimì, a young seamstress, meet, the two are drawn into a tumultuous and passionate affair with a love that can only be broken by death.
La Bohème will make you laugh, and bring you to tears, with its timeless story and captivating music.

La Bohème

Benedum Center for the Performing Arts

The tale of a quick-witted fox and her escape from confinement for a life in the forest is by turns joyful, witty, romantic and tragic. The Cunning Little Vixen follows the cycle of death and rebirth through the instinctive and immediate world of nature—animal and human, which Janáček loved so dearly. In this celebrated score, singers and orchestra embody the sounds of the forest, the feel of sunshine on your face and the thrill of a starlit sky.

The Cunning Little Vixen

When Mona finds a mysterious suitcase filled with stolen masterpieces, she must grapple with a choice to save these priceless paintings or save her son—the thief. Burning the paintings would destroy the evidence of her son’s crime, but one of the paintings—Lucien Freud’s “Woman With Eyes Closed”—looks just like her own mother, a painter who died when Mona was still young. The uncanny resemblance unlocks long-buried memories that fuel the fires of three different possible endings.

Woman With Eyes Closed

Pittsburgh Opera

In an attic in the Parisian Latin Quarter, the chateau is petite, but the personalities are grand. A group of artists live the bohemian lifestyle full of complicated relationships and nights at the café on a starving artist’s budget. Through the tumultuous relationships between Mimì and Rodolfo, and Marcello and Musetta, Puccini’s best-known opera encourages you to fully appreciate the fragility of life and love.

Puccini’s La bohème

Denver Performing Arts Complex

Step into a world of seduction and vengeance with Mozart's timeless masterpiece, Don Giovanni. The famous libertine Don Giovanni leaves lovers, friends, and enemies in his wake with no regard for the consequences. His heartless deceptions invite us to ask ourselves: do we get what we deserve in the end? Don Giovanni resonates in your soul long after the final note.

Don Giovanni

Orpheum Theater

A courtesan among the decadent elite, Violetta Valéry knows that she will die soon so she lives life to the fullest. Only the love of the doting Alfredo can sweep her away from these sensual delights. But while she is a trophy to be won amongst the balls and frivolities of Paris, she is nothing but a scandalous “fallen woman” to genteel society. Violetta and Alfredo’s love threatens to bring shame to his family and ruin his sister's marriage prospects. In secret, Alfredo’s father presses Violetta to shun Alfredo and save the family’s reputation. Heartbroken and health failing, Violetta retreats to her old life of empty pleasures. As her illness worsens, will love slip away as well?

La Traviata

The mysterious Bluebeard welcomes his new bride Judith into his ominous castle, where rumors have been swirling concerning one question: what happened to his previous three wives? Shrouded in the secrecy of seven forbidden rooms, Judith desperately tries to uncover the terrifying secrets that Bluebeard had hoped to keep locked away forever. 

Bluebeard's Castle

The murderous Don Giovanni deceives women with impunity, leaving destruction in his wake. This Don Juan is not just a rakish cad but someone much more sinister. Mozart and Da Ponte’s masterwork explores vengeance and unsatiable desire. Glamour, grit, and the glow of neon infuse this film noir production.

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

Rusalka is the Czech version of the popular fairy tale The Little Mermaid. While it has many similarities to both the familiar Disney® movie and the Hans Christian Andersen story, they are not exactly the same. First of all, her name is Rusalka, not Ariel. Secondly, Rusalka is not a mermaid per se, but a water sprite, also called a water nymph. However, like in The Little Mermaid, Rusalka falls in love with a human Prince. She has a witch turn her into a human in exchange for her voice. Rusalka must win and keep the Prince’s love, or else there will be disastrous consequences for them both.
Will a jealous Princess ruin Rusalka’s plan? Will Rusalka’s father be able to bail her out if things go awry? Will true love triumph?
Rusalka premiered in 1901 and has become one of the most beloved lyric fairy tales of all time. We are proud to be producing Rusalka for the first time in our 82-year history.

Rusalka

A Moroccan train station in 1914 becomes a crossroad of dreams in this witty and touching entertainment about strangers, secrets, and stories. Argento’s sparkling score is by turns romantic, mysterious, dramatic, and delightfully unhinged in a 90-minute work that is richly human and thoroughly theatrical.

Postcard from Morocco

Overture Center for the Arts

Philip Glass’s Orphée transforms Jean Cocteau’s celebrated reimagining of the Orpheus myth into a luminous meditation on art, love, and mortality. The poet Orphée, disillusioned by fame and estranged from those closest to him, is drawn into an enigmatic realm where the boundaries between life and death begin to dissolve. As he encounters a young poet, a mysterious Princess, and the ghostly forces that shape his destiny, Orphée embarks on a journey of self-discovery and artistic renewal. Set to Glass’s hypnotic score, Orphée is a haunting exploration of creativity, transcendence, and the enduring search for meaning. This striking new production once again showcases the artistry and imagination of visual composer Oyoram (Bluebeard’s Castle, 2023; The Cunning Little Vixen, 2025).

Orphée

Charismatic, good-hearted, and beloved by his fellow sailors, Billy Budd is pressed into service aboard a British warship during the Napoleonic Wars. His innocence and integrity inspire the crew, but also awaken jealousy and obsession in those around him. Based on Herman Melville’s classic novella, Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd is a gripping drama that explores the moral grey zones between innocence and corruption, justice and mercy, duty and conscience. At its center stands Captain Vere, forced to make an impossible choice that will alter the lives of everyone aboard his ship. Featuring one of opera’s most powerful scores, this searing tale of morality and fate returns to Des Moines Metro Opera in Kristine McIntyre’s acclaimed production ten years after its celebrated premiere.

Stage Director

Kristine McIntyre

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 5, 2027

Postcard from Morocco · Madison Opera

3 - 24 Jul, 2027

Orphée · Des Moines Metro Opera

10 - 23 Jul, 2027

Billy Budd · Des Moines Metro Opera

Past events

Jun 27 - Jul 18, 2026

Of Mice and Men · Des Moines Metro Opera

1 - 3 May, 2026

Of Mice and Men · Lyric Opera of Kansas City

About

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