What would you sacrifice for happily-ever-after?
A water nymph falls in love with a human prince. A witch agrees to make her human – but the spell will break if she ever speaks.
Based on the classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid, Dvořák’s luxurious 1901 masterpiece travels from a mythical forest to a palace and back again. With a world populated by water sprites and royalty, its glorious score includes the famous “Song to the Moon.” Don’t miss the Madison Opera premiere of our first opera in Czech.
Rusalka
Friday, April 26 at 8pm
Sunday, April 28 at 2:30pm
Overture Hall
Sung in Czech with projected English translations
Run time: 3 hours, including 2 intermissions
Meet the Artists
Cast

Emily Birsan
Rusalka
Madison Opera Debut: Barbarina, The Marriage of Figaro (2010)
Recently at MO: Juliet, Romeo & Juliet (2016); Opera in the Park 2016; Musetta, La Bohème (2015)
Recently: Violetta, La Traviata (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Nashville Opera, Indianapolis Opera); Donna Anna, Don Giovanni (Welsh National Opera, Florentine Opera); Susanna, The Marriage of Figaro (Boston Lyric Opera); Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi (Chicago Opera Theater); Musetta, La Bohème (Boston Lyric Opera)

Karin Wolverton
The Foreign Princess
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: Magda, La Rondine (Opera Santa Barbara); Jane Withersteen, Riders of the Purple Sage; Micaëla, Carmen (Arizona Opera); Mother, Hansel and Gretel (Jacksonville Symphony); Freia, Das Rheingold (Minnesota Opera); Mimì, La Bohème (South Dakota Symphony, Tulsa Opera)
Upcoming: Fiordiligi, Cosi fan tutte (Mill City Summer Opera)

Lindsay Ammann
Ježibaba
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: Olga, Eugene Onegin; Erda, Das Rheingold and Siegfried; Schwertleite, Die Walküre; First Norn, Götterdämmerung (Washington National Opera); La Ciesca, Gianni Schicchi; La zia principessa, Sour Angelica (Metropolitan Opera); Azucena, Il Trovatore (Central City Opera); Orfeo, Orfeo ed Euridice (Florida Grand Opera); Mrs. Quickly, Falstaff (Opera Omaha, Opera Saratoga); Rossweisse, Die Walküre (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Upcoming: Maddalena, Rigoletto (Opera Theatre of St. Louis); Amelfa, The Golden Cockerel (Dallas Opera); Flosshilde, Götterdämmerung (Lyric Opera of Chicago)

John Lindsey
The Prince
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2018
Recently: Froh, Das Rheingold (Arizona Opera); Steva, Jenufa (Pacific Opera Victoria); Jonathan Dale, Silent Night (Michigan Opera Theatre); Narraboth, Salome (Minnesota Orchestra); Ben Marco, The Manchurian Candidate (Austin Opera); Don José, Carmen (Opera San Jose); Monostatos, The Magic Flute (Cincinnati Opera, Minnesota Opera); Lloyd, The Shining (Minnesota Opera); Joe, La Fanciulla del West (Des Moines Metro Opera)
Upcoming: Jonathan Dale, Silent Night (Austin Opera)

William Meinert
Vodnik
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: Il Commendatore, Don Giovanni (Baltimore Concert Opera); Uberto, La Serva Padrona (Commonwealth Lyric Theater); Le Philosophe, Chérubin; Dulcamara, The Elixir of Love (Peabody Institute); Aeolus, Cold Genius, King Arthur (American Bach Soloists Academy); Private Willis, Iolanthe (George Mason University)

Emily Secor
Wood Sprite
Madison Opera Debut: Mrs. Nordstrom, A Little Night Music
Madison Opera Studio Artist
Recently: Gretel, Hansel and Gretel; Nightingale, Country Lass, The Enchanted Child (University of Northern Iowa); Valencienne, The Merry Widow; First Lady, The Magic Flute; La Musica, L’Orfeo (Luther College)

Saira Frank
Wood Sprite
Madison Opera Debut: Sagredo / Duchess Christina, Galileo Gallilei
Recently at MO: Kitty Hart, Dead Man Walking
Recently: Tosca, Tosca (Painted Sky Opera, Pacific Opera Project); Sandman/Dew Fairy, Hansel and Gretel; Bloody Bonnie, Paranormal Playhouse; Bella Rose, The Good, The Bad, The Divas (Fresco Opera Theatre); Beauty, Beauty and the Beast (Opera for the Young)

Kirsten Larson
Wood Sprite
Madison Opera Debut: Lola, Cavalleria Rusticana (2018)
Recently at MO: Mrs. Segstrom, A Little Night Music (2019)
Madison Opera Studio Artist
Recently: Johanna, Sweeney Todd; Prince Olofsky, Die Fledermaus (Madison Savoyards); Fox, The Cunning Little Vixen; Meg Page, Falstaff; Baba the Turk, The Rake’s Progress; Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro (Louisiana State University); Carrie, Carousel (Middleton Players Theatre)

Benjamin Liupaogo
Hunter
Madison Opera Studio Artist
Madison Opera Debut: Remendado, Carmen (2017)
Recently at MO: Mr. Erlanson, A Little Night Music (2019); Villager, Pagliacci (2018)
Recently: Rodolfo, La Bohème (UW-Madison); Sam Kaplan, Street Scene; Pastore I, L’Orfeo (DePaul Opera Theatre); Tamino, Die Zauberflöte (German for Singers Middlebury); Candide, Candide (Opera Notre Dame); Ferrando, Così fan tutte (San Francisco State University)

John DeMain
Conductor
Madison Opera Debut: The Magic Flute (1994)
Recently with MO: A Little Night Music, Florencia en el Amazonas, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Carmen
Recently: Candide (Gran Teatre del Liceu); Porgy and Bess (Seattle Opera); Porgy and Bess, Sweeney Todd (Glimmerglass Festival); Lost in the Stars (Washington National Opera); Show Boat (San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera)
Upcoming: Blue (Glimmerglass Festival)

Keturah Stickann
Stage Director
Madison Opera Debut
Recently: Pelléas et Mélisande (West Edge Opera); Orfeo ed Euridice (Florida Grand Opera); Turandot (San Diego Opera); Norma (Opera Southwest); Cold Mountain (North Carolina Opera); Orfeo, La Traviata (Chautauqua Opera); Lucia di Lammermoor (Opera Colorado); The Elixir of Love (Opera Birmingham); Moby-Dick (Dallas Opera, L.A. Opera)
Upcoming: It’s a Wonderful Life (San Francisco Opera); La Traviata (Washington National Opera)
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