Tenor Stephen Costello is currently starring as Greenhorn in our production of Moby-Dick on the War Memorial stage. Earlier this month he answered a few questions for stephencostellotenor.com ahead of opening night. The San Jose Mercury News raves that as Greenhorn, the novice seaman "who evolves into the spitting image of Melville's able Ishmael," Stephen Costello "rapturously" sings his soliloquy.

When I found out I was going to be the assistant conductor for Moby-Dick, I knew it meant that I was going to have to read the book. My attitude about that prospect was probably very much like yours. Sigh. But the choice was unflinching: Either I'm going to read Moby-Dick now, when I have every possible motivation and sufficient time, or I'm just never going to read it. Short of actually going on an extreme whaling vacation, I couldn't think of a more obvious circumstance to do something that I've long said I wanted to do. I'm happy I read it, and it made me feel more prepared, but it was unnecessary. Heggie's Moby-Dick does not need a primer to appreciate it, to explain it or even to fill in the blanks, it stands on its own as a thrilling and genuinely dramatic modern opera. But let's back up.

 

How did you come to work on Moby-Dick and what was the early process?

We were getting ready to premiere Three Decembers in Houston (2008) and very close to the end of the process when Jake and Gene approached me about Moby-Dick. It was impossible for me to say no the challenge of staging Moby Dick, but even harder to pass up the opportunity to work with Jake and Gene again. Nothing had been written at that point, so I was part of the project from the very beginning and the three of us worked through it as a team.

I work on a lot of new pieces, and I’m often with them from the start. In this particular process with Moby-Dick, we all found our way through this massive book together, looking at it from three distinct points of view: Gene the words, Jake the music, and me concentrating on the structure of the story.

Our 90th Season is glammed up by Christian Lacroix’s stunning costumes for The Capulets and the Montagues. Born in Arles, France, the designer is known for his lavish, fantasy creations, influenced by his education in historical costumes. His design house may be closed, but Lacroix has far from slowed down. He continues to design for celebrities, collaborates and designs for other companies, and has designed costumes for opera and theater. Lacroix is even a pop culture household name: Absolutely Fabulous’ Edina Monsoon wouldn’t be caught dead in anything but Lacroix, sweetie darling!

On Thursday, September 27th, students from the School of Fashion at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco had a unique and inspiring opportunity to go see the final dress rehearsal for The Capulets and the Montagues at the War Memorial Opera House. The tragic Shakespeare play has such iconic characters but this production was something completely new and like nothing I had ever seen, including the stunning costumes by world-renowned fashion designer Christian Lacroix.