photo by Gary David Gold
photo by Gary David Gold
Photo by Matt Conti
Photo by Matt Conti
LA TRAVIATA presented by City Lyric Opera
by David Walters | May 5, 2023 | Reviews
creativity and spirit abound in this production with staging, set, and costumes
Tying in themes from the novel about patriarchy and morality and how women are treated, the staging reflected that second-class citizenship in book ending Violetta’s death and dismissal as disposable from a society possessing minimal compunction. The beautiful reveal in act one of a dead Violetta who has made the ultimate sacrifice, immediately drew the audience into the story they were about to see. Her life and love choice, subjugating her own desires, draws all the color out of the purity and morality that society espouses.
There was a tremendous amount of youthful energy and exuberance that poured across the lip of the stage from the leads as well as the smaller characters and chorus.
City Lyric Opera is presenting artistically approachable opera for those of you who may be hesitant, for anyone that may be doubtful if opera could speak to you, affect you, or entertain.
SHOUTOUT LA Interview: “What makes you happy?
Joy is an integral value of my work. Even if the show I am directing is heavy or difficult, we work with a sense of joy and gratitude, which creates trust in the rehearsal room and on stage. And nothing is more joyful than facilitating a healthy rehearsal room and watching a group of actors become an ensemble through the process of making theatre together. Read more>>
Directing Thesis Interview: 'The Trojan Women'
BY LUZ LORENZANA TWIGG, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
For her thesis production, student Rebecca Miller Kratzer directs the thrilling new opera The Trojan Women.
The Trojan Women features a libretto by Barnard faculty member Ellen McLaughlin and music by acclaimed classical composer Sarah Taylor Ellis. Set in both the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 as well as the shores of Troy, Miller Kratzer finds new resonance in McLaughlin’s contemporary language of Euripides’ enduring classic.
Dream of a City: Rebecca Miller Kratzer's MFA Directing Thesis, 'The Trojan Women'
BY EMILY JOHNSON, OCTOBER 14, 2021
“In staging Euripides’ monumental tragedy in an imagined aftermath of the Capitol insurrection, one in which the forces of fascism and white supremacy have won, Kratzer and her team press the trauma of an ancient war against the most potent symbols of contemporary American democracy, allowing fundamental human experience to bleed through new fabric.”
In the Lenfest Center’s ‘The Trojan Women,’ American insurrection breaks out on the Mediterranean shore
BY SOPHIE CRAIG, OCTOBER 2021
“Trojan horses lurk everywhere, cropping up like the symbolic offspring of that giant, wooden party gift. They represent deceit, betrayal, a lack of control over our lives and each other. Perhaps most cruelly, they represent the end of trust.”
Review: Opera Saratoga's outdoor 'Don Quichotte' a charming affair
BY JOSEPH DALTON, JULY 15, 2021
“SARATOGA SPRINGS — Opera Saratoga rounded out its abbreviated season with Telemann’s “Don Quichotte at Camacho’s Wedding,” a light and charming one-act opera performed under a pavilion in Spa State Park. Singing in an English translation, the eight-member cast brought clarity, presence and a touch of melodrama to the proceedings.”
Gifts for Survival
BY TYLER RAVELSON, MAY 2020
I had a fantastic conversation recently with my friend and collaborator Rebecca Miller Kratzer. We were talking under the premise of having a ‘play post-mortem’. The last show that I worked on before lockdown started was The Merchant Of Venice with Rebecca as my director, and it was such a unique, challenging and satisfying creative experience that I wanted to rehash as much of it as I could with her, but the conversation ended up taking on a life of its own as they often do, and it turned to what we’re occupying ourselves with now that our industry is on an indefinite hold. …
Stars Behind The Stars: Rebecca Miller Kratzer '21
BY ROBBIE ARMSTRONG, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
Stars Behind The Stars is a bi-weekly series featuring theatre makers behind the scenes. This week we sat down with current Directing student Rebecca Miller Kratzer and discussed her upcoming production of The Merchant of Venice. Miller Kratzer is a Leo who has directed numerous Operas, plays, and musicals.
Columbia Students Present Immersive Bat Mitzvah
BY ROBBIE ARMSTRONG, NOVEMBER 25, 2019
The Collaboration II class at Columbia inspires innovative, new theatre practices, and productions. Co-taught by Anne Bogart, John Dias, and David Henry Hwang, the class cultivates sustainable partnerships amongst students through the development of short bold pieces of theatre, in a festival style presentation. One of these collaborative partnerships boldy created an immersive Bat Mitzvah. Rachel's Out-of-this-World Bat Mitzvah was conceived, written, and directed by current Playwriting student A.A. Brenner, current Dramaturgy student Danielle Feder, and current Directing student Rebecca Miller Kratzer. The play held a one-night only immersive performance in The Lantern, a massive event space at the Lenfest Center for the Arts last week.
Don’t Wish, Do It Yourself: Women Finding Their Power in Cendrillon
by Shari Caplan, October 17, 2019; Howlround Theatre Commons
“[Miller Kratzer’s] vision for the project used ensemble, intuition, and fairy tale tropes as guides for the design, characterizations, and approach to development. Kratzer drew inspiration from Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ book Women Who Run with Wolves […] Through this lens, Kratzer found ways to enhance and complicate the well-known characters of Cinderella, in part by drawing from other similar archetypes. This Cendrillon alluded to the dark subconscious, the gory aspects of womanhood, and the bone-bright mystery of transformation.”
Hundreds Attend NEMPAC Opera Project’s Production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Faneuil Hall
North End Waterfront - Don Giovanni - June 2018
"Rebecca Miller challenged the concept of a conventional theatre space by reinventing opera at one of the most unique and historic non-traditional performance spaces in the City of Boston."
Beethoven’s Fidelio Opera Performed at Faneuil Hall [Photo Gallery]
North End Waterfront - Fidelio - June 2017
"Rebecca Miller took great care with her staging [...]. Her actors used the space well. Miller had a message and took advantage of the score to express that message. It was easy to find enjoyment even during the depressing bits. [...] Fidelio was imperfect but it took risks. The risks paid off." --Kitty Drexel, New England Theater Geek
Rise of the Small Opera Company: NEMPAC Opera Project
Modern Singer Magazine - November 2016
"History and opera come alive together when the North End Music and Performing Arts Center's Opera Project (NEMPAC) takes the stage in historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. The opera project is now in its sixth season with a production of Fidelio coming in June of 2017. This year, Rebecca Miller takes over as the Artistic Director of the company after previously serving as the Staging Director for last seasons performance. She shares her passion for opera and theater as she creates beautifuly crafted and carefully planned performances that truly tell the stories the composers wrote. She will only continue to share her love and passion for this art form in the new role she takes on this year. Rebecca has so graciously given the time to share her hopes and thoughts with Sexi Soprano."
Rossini’s La Cenerentola Comes to Faneuil Hall [Photo Slideshow]
Put a Ring on It: Bel Canto at Faneuil
by Kate Stringer
"Miller and Music Director Tiffany Chang should both be congratulated on the work of the superb ensemble. Though comprised of only six singers, the chorus sang with great finesse, power and unity. As actors, they were ebullient and energized, seemingly up for anything. They brought an endearing cartoonishness to the proceedings, here lining up and crouching to serve as a human writing desk for the plastered Magnifico (having served him wine from an enormous glass moments previously), there joining together to embody a horse and carriage delivering the Prince to his beloved."
"While wisely restricting the majority of the action to Faneuil’s rostrum, Miller made use of the full space: the stepsisters shrieked for “Cenerentola” from the upper galleries, suggesting the grand scale of their aristocratic manor house, while John Allen Nelson’s Dandini (the prince’s valet) made the most of an exaggeratedly majestic promenade up the Hall’s center aisle."