Spring Production 2006

Hudson Chamber Opera
and Basilica Industriapresent
THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR
by Henry Mollicone
and a saloon* cabaret show
Friday, May 26 at 8pm
Saturday, May 27 at 8pm
Sunday, May 28 at 2pm
at Basilica Industria
110 South Front Street, Hudson, NY
*saloon opens 1/2 hour before each performance

Director: Dean Anthony
Guest Music Director: Uel Wade
Production Director: J.Patrick Doyle
Stage Manager/Lighting: Deena Pewtherer
Assistant Stage Manager: Grace Fay
Costumes: Mary Hack
Set: Max Freund

Cast:
Isabelle/Madeline – Nancy Allen Lundy
(Amanda Boyd understudy)
Larry/Matt – Dean Anthony
Tom/John – Mark Gargiulo

Saloon Singers:
Alaina Warren Zachary, soprano
Nina Fine, mezzo-soprano
Mary Hack, mezzo-soprano
John Davey, tenor
Keith Spencer, baritone

Saloon Musicians:
Uel Wade, piano
Yvonne Hansbrough, flute
Lucy Bardo, cello

Synopsis:
The opera “The Face on the Barroom Floor” tells two tales, separated in time but parallel in characters and theme. In present day Central City, CO, Isabel, a member of the opera chorus, and her friend Larry visit the Teller House bar. Larry orders champagne and asks about the face painted on the floor. Tom, the bartender, tells the story, which is enacted as he becomes a 19th century bartender named John, who welcomes the bargirl Madeline (played by Isabel) as they toast to the future.

A disheveled traveler, Matt (played by Larry), enters and orders drinks for all while Madeline is asked to sing. Unable to pay for the drinks, Matt offers instead to paint a portrait on the barroom floor of the only woman he ever loved. John discovers the portrait is of Madeline. The two men fight until Madeline throws herself between them, with tragic consequences. Larry, now back in the twentieth century, laughs drunkenly at the old legend and forces Isabel to dance with him. Tom now reveals his past romantic relationship with Isabel, and challenges Larry. Events in the past repeat themselves in the present, continuing the legend of the face on the barroom floor.

The one-act opera, with a cast of three professional singers and musicians, many from the Hudson Valley, will be incorporated into a recreation of an old-fashioned saloon, open one half an hour before each of three performances. The saloon cabaret show will precede each performance.

Tickets are $25
to order online click here
Call 518-828-7042
or e-mail info@hudsonchamberopera.org

This event is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Decentralization Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered through the Twin Counties Cultural Fund in Columbia County by the Columbia County Council on the Arts.