Cleveland Opera Theater Presents: Bernstein @ Bop Stop

• Saturday, March 30, 7:00pm
• $40 General Admission Tickets
• Eat, Drink and Enjoy the music of Leonard Bernstein!

Celebrating the centennial of musical icon, Leonard Bernstein. This Opera UpClose performance features favorites from West Side Story, Candide, Trouble in Tahiti, On The Town, and Wonderful Town, plus a preview of La Traviata, Cleveland Opera Theater's upcoming spring main stage production.

BOP STOP food and drink menu will be available for purchase à la carte with service at the bar.

Featuring:
Gillian Hollis, soprano: American Soprano Gillian Hollis has been described as “bright voiced…with remarkably clear diction and a strong sense of drama” (Star-Ledger), “simply outstanding” (Encore Michigan), and possessing “great flexibility and poise-filled musicality” (Sequenza21). Gillian Hollis spent the 2018 summer with Central City Opera, where she covered and performed Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and starred in Mollicone's The Face on the Barroom Floor. While there, she presented a recital featuring works by Poulenc and Trumbore, and was awarded the Lew Cady Memorial Award. This fall, she rejoined Cleveland Opera Theater as Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Last season, Ms. Hollis returned to Chicago's CHAI Collaborative Ensemble to sing the world premier of Dale Trumbore's stunning chamberwork, The Gleam. In March of 2017, Ms. Hollis made her Skylight Music Theater debut in Milwaukee as Zémire in Grétry's Zémire et Azor (Beauty and the Beast), and was named a finalist for Best Actress by the Footlights Performing Arts Awards for Greater Milwaukee for her work there. She then returned to her adoptive hometown to join Cleveland Opera Theater as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. Last season she toured with Opera for the Young as Adina in The Elixir of Love. That summer, Ms. Hollis made her Ohio Light Opera debut as Kathie in Romberg’s The Student Prince, a role she first sang with Opera Grand Rapids in 2016, where her performance gained her a Best Actress nod from broadway.com.

Benjamin Bunsold, tenor: Recent engagements include the roles of Ralph Rackstraw (HMS Pinafore) and Frederick (Pirates of Penzance) for Cleveland Opera Theater, and Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) with Center Stage Opera in Los Angeles. He created the leading male role of Emil Bergson in the World Premiere of Philip Westin's Marie's Orchard for Center Stage Opera and returned to LA as Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia). Benjamin also recently sang the role of Romualdo in the premiere of Frédéric Chaslin's new opera, Clarimonde, a co-production with On-Site Opera of NYC and Cleveland Opera Theater where he was described as “Outstanding, with his full tone and fine diction, he fully conveyed his character’s anguish as he is torn between faith and desire” (Satola, Cleveland Plain Dealer). Other notable roles include: Fenton (Falstaff) with Fort Worth Opera and Opera Idaho, Alfredo (La traviata) with Asheville Lyric Opera, Ferrando (Così fan tutte) at Shreveport Opera and St. Petersburg Opera,Camille (Merry Widow) and Frederick (Pirates of Penzance) for Opera New Jersey, Theodore Lawrence (Little Women) with Opera Delaware, and Il Duca (Rigoletto) for Opera in the Heights in Houston, TX. An active concert soloist, Benjamin has performed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, the Kalamazoo Orchestra, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. He was the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and in Mozart’s Requiem at Virginia Tech University. Benjamin has been a Young Artist with Fort Worth Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Utah Festival Opera, and Opera Tampa.

Marge Adler, piano: From the spiritual to the playful, from button-down Classical to barrelhouse blues (often in the same show!), from soloist to accompanist/arranger, to orchestral keyboardist, Marge handles it all with great energy, sensitivity and joy. As organist for the Cleveland Indians baseball team, during an April game, Marge saw snow falling on the field and immediately began playing Christmas carols. All 50,000 in attendance sang. There were days that season when, on the freeway between Progressive Field and Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival, Marge literally changed hats for her next gig as harpsichordist. Marge is an experienced and sought-after collaborator with notable artists such as Gary Briggle (opera director), David Cangelosi (tenor, Metropolitian Opera), Anton Coppola (opera and film music conductor), Dee Hoty (Tony award-winning Broadway performer), and David Lockington (Musical Director, Grand Rapids Symphony). Her extensive credits include performances with: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Masquers Cabaret, Los Angleles, CA, Playhouse Square Center, Cleveland, OH, Jimmy's Cabaret, Toronto, Canada, Hotel Eden, Arosa, Switzerland, Many radio and TV appearances including ESPN (live interview on baseball music), WCPN-FM (National Public Radio) and WCLV-FM (Classical music), Birdland, NYC ("Cast Party" cabaret series), O'Neill Theater, Waterford, CT, Historic St. Phillip's Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC, Palace Theatre, Louisville, KY, and The Duplex, NYC. Marge’s numerous corporate clients include: The American Red Cross, Cleveland Clinic, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, March of Dimes, Sherwin Williams, Continental Airlines, Harley Davidson Motorcycles, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, and music direction for benefits for Verb Ballet and Ohio Chamber Orchestra. Her awards include: Unsigned Recording Artist of the Month, KEYBOARD magazine, Roy Berko Times Theatre Tribute Award, Outstanding Musical Direction, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY:SVU, Bronze Medal, American Traditions Competition, Savannah, GA (duo with Phillip Lamar Boykin, bass-baritone), and Critics Circle Award, and Outstanding Musical Direction, SWEENEY TODD.

www.clevelandoperatheater.org/upclose-bop-stop