Les Huguenots G. Meyerbeer Bard Summerscape Summer 2008

Conductor	Leon Botstein
Director	Thaddeus Strassberger
Scenic Design	Eugenio Recuenco
Costume Design	Mattie Ullrich
Lighting Design	Aaron Black
Raoul	Michael Spyres
Valentine	Alexandra Deshorties
Marcel	Peter Volpe
Nevers	Andrew Schroeder
Marguerite de Valois	Erin Morley
Urbain	Marie Lenormand
St. Bris	John Marcus Bindel
de Retz	Alexander Dobson
Cosse	Tracy Wise
Tavannes	Jason Ferrante
Meru	Jason Switzer
Thore	Andrew Garland

A Triumphant Massacre Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal by Heidi Waleson "Mr. Strassberger directed intimate moments and crowd scenes with equal skill, making smooth segues from the personal into the political. Act IV, for example, went from the plotting of Saint-Bris and his Catholic friends to a huge chorus scene in which three robed priests, backed up by a mass of robed enthusiasts carrying large black crosses, blessed the undertaking and stabbed a Christ figure with the tip of a processional cross. It then concluded with a ferocious love scene, with Valentine attempting to keep Raoul with her and the conflicted Raoul tearing off her dress before running off to join his fellow Protestants. Painting and dance also played a role: Aided by skillful lighting, the director created some striking tableaux that looked like Old Master paintings, and his choreographic style with crowds made the final massacre, with cassocked men slitting the throats of women, into a horrific dance of death." “Let’s be grateful that Bard has resurrected this stupendous, seminal opera ... Les Huguenots in Bard's staging is a thriller from beginning to end." — Excerpt from Financial Times by George Loomis
Production Stills