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Creative Team:Stage Director: Mark Ross Clark
Conductor: Codrut Birsan
Assistant Stage Director: Erica Ferguson
Assistant Conductor: Spencer Domer
It’s spring of 1900 in the town of Loxford, where Lady Billows has proposed a revival of the May Day festival. To combat immorality in the town’s young population, a May Queen will be crowned as an example of virtue. However, Florence Pike, Lady Billows’s put-upon housekeeper, is aware of all the town scandals. As each young woman is nominated by the committee, Florence reveals that none meet Lady Billows’s exacting standards. Aware of at least one model of virtue in the town, Superintendent Budd suggests an innovative solution: the town’s first May King. The lucky man? Albert Herring, a timid and socially awkward fellow controlled by an oppressive, teetotaling mother. Lady Billows agrees, eager to teach the promiscuous girls of the town a lesson, and the committee ventures forth to inform Albert of the honor.
At the Herrings’ shop, ladies’ man Sid pokes fun at Albert before being joined by his girlfriend Nancy. Sid and Nancy’s flirtations make Albert uncomfortable and jealous as he reflects on his loneliness. When the committee arrives to announce that virtuous Albert will be crowned May King, he strongly objects, but his mother overrules after learning of the cash prize.On the day of the festival, Sid and Nancy conspire to play a prank on Albert, hoping to loosen him up. Their plan works, but upon overhearing Sid and Nancy talking that evening, Albert is sharply reminded that he remains an object of pity. Albert resolves to enjoy one night of adventure and debauchery in defiance of the town’s expectations, leading to the opera’s hilarious conclusion.
Following The Rape of Lucretia, Britten sought the tonal shift of a comic opera. His longtime librettist, Eric Crozier, suggested a Suffolk-based adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s novella, Le Rosier de Madame Husson. Thus, Albert Herring was born and premiered at Glyndebourne in 1947.
Credits: Kate Shirley
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
430 South Michigan Avenue,Chicago,60605,US, United States
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