October 25, 2018 at 7 p.m.
October 28, 2018 at 2 p.m.
Charleston Heights Arts Center
800 S. Brush St.
702-229-ARTS (2787)
Sin City Opera and the City of Las Vegas come together to present a synoptic, multi-media premiere operatic presentation of Richard Wagner in Nevada, with A Night with The Flying Dutchman.
Various ticket options available:
$25 Standard seating;includes reserved seats.
$50 - VIP Priority seating; includes pre-performance Champagne meet-and-greet with the cast and priority access to the theatre.
$15 - Student discount; enter promo code STUDENT at check out. Valid student ID presented with ticket required for entry into the theatre.
The Dutchman, desperately seeks out love every seven years, now in the little fishing village of leading lady, Senta, who must agree to marry him and break-off with her intended Erik, to lift the curse the Dutchman and his ghostly crew have been under for hundreds of years. The two-act opera will be sung in German with English narration and feature a 16-piece orchestra helmed by Maestro Dean Balan, and staging by Skip Galla, Artistic Director of Sin City Opera. Multi-media video, projections and movies created by Andrew Stephenson Kurcan.
The title role will be sung by bass-baritone, Eugene Richards III. Eugene has spent the last three years studying with dramatic soprano, Luana DeVol and the past three summers as part of Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices in Reno, NV, in the American Wagner Project division. In 2017 this study of Wagner led to his being selected as 1 of 16 finalists in the Lauritz Melchior International Vocal Competition which took place in Aalborg, Denmark. This summer Eugene participated in The Miami Music Festival in their Wagner program where he covered Alan Held as Wotan in Die Walküre & sang King Heinrich in Lohengrin.
“The American Wagner Project has been AMAZING for me. The three weeks I’ve spent there the past few years, allow me to fast forward my progress. I leave every summer a more confident and complete artist. The level of coaching is incredible and the artists it attracts are unparalleled. Luana’s and Dolora's support has opened many doors for me that I know would have remained closed otherwise. I can't thank them enough for what they've done for me,” stated Eugene.
Eugene Richards III was born in South Carolina, and raised in Southern California. The son of San Diego Padres outfielder, Gene Richards. An athlete himself, Eugene attended the University of Hawaii and played for their baseball team. Working as a fashion model after college in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, he was only recently introduced to the world of opera in 2013 and shortly thereafter began studying with world-famous soprano and Las Vegas resident, Luana DeVol. Eugene was 32 when he started studying opera, about 10 years after most singers start their studies, but he never viewed that as a hindrance. His athletic background also gave him, strength, a work ethic, and knowledge of muscle memory in his training that has propelled him to the top. Additionally, his musicality and ability to learn quickly, coupled with a noble, bass baritone voice have won him recognition. Awards include scholarships from New York based Career Bridges as well as the Wagner Society of Washington, D.C.
“Initially I wanted to be the next Luther Vandross. I was always told I had a good voice and I could sing anything on the radio pretty well. Luther, Aretha Franklin, Peabo Bryson etc., were popular in our house growing up so I thought I would give that a shot. The first teacher I ever had knew right away to steer me to "legit music" as she called it. I started studying seriously, which led me to Luana DeVol and the rest is history.” – Eugene Richards III
Institute for Young Dramatic Voices
Born of a desire to train young dramatic singers and help them reach the world stage, the Institute is the brainchild of Dolora Zajick, Rosemary Mathews, and Sarah Agler. It is an innovative 3-week intensive summer program of study for singers with large or unusual voices ages 15–36 at varying levels of vocal development. Students study one-on-one with leading coaches and voice teachers who understand the nature of an adolescent voice unfolding in a growing body. The Institute’s carefully selected experts from across the industry work in close collaboration not only with the students, but also with each other, to provide a solid foundation of skills a professional singer really needs to embark on and survive a successful operatic career.
In 2013, the Institute developed a partnership with the Wagner Society of Washington D.C. The result is the American Wagner Project offering role study, German language diction, and specialized coaching and classes for future Wagnerian singers as well as presenting annual Wagner concerts in Washington and a series of symposia.
Sin City Opera – Opera On The Edge
Sin City Opera is Las Vegas' premier contemporary opera company, dedicated to bringing affordable opera and classical music to our community in fresh and exciting new ways. At the core of everything we do lies our mission to inspire, challenge, and uplift our audiences by celebrating with them the beauty and breadth of opera. We do this by creating productions of high artistic integrity, opening the floor for dialogue about the relevance of the opera arts in our communities. -- Skip Galla, Artistic Director.
Sin City Opera is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Las Vegas that serves the residents and visitors of the Las Vegas area. SCO envisions an interdisciplinary hub of creativity, learning, and professional development for local artists. SCO hopes to provide a nurturing environment in which performers can take chances and flourish in their performances, all the while sharing the excitement and vibrancy of contemporary opera with audiences of the Las Vegas valley, tirelessly working toward a future where our communities embrace and seek out the opera arts.
This program has been funded, in part, by the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.