On January 26, 2018, the Teatro Real presented the Spanish premiere of Dead Man Walking, the first opera by composer Jake Heggie, based on a non-fiction book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean. Dead Man Walking - slang in American prisons for a prisoner on death row as he walks from his cell to the electric chair - is a reflection on the death penalty, and at the same time, a study in the redemptive power of love.
At the Teatro Real, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato gave life to Sister Helen Prejean, protagonist of the drama, while the musical direction was in the hands of Mark Wigglesworth, and the stage direction, by Leonardo Foglia.
Opera in two acts
Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Terrence McNally
Based on the novel by Sister Helen Prejean
Opera commissioned by the San Francisco Opera
Premiere at the Teatro Real
Production of the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Principal Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real
Pequeños Cantores of the ORCAM
Artistic team
Conductor | Mark Wigglesworth
Stage director | Leonard Foglia
Set designer | Michael McGarty
Costume designer | Jess Goldstein
Lighting designer | Brian Nason
Video | Elaine J. McCarthy
Chorus master | Andrés Máspero
Children's chorus master | Ana González
Cast
Sister Helen | Joyce DiDonato
Joseph DeRocher | Michael Mayes
Mrs. DeRocher | Maria Zifchak
Sister Rose | Measha Brueggergosman
George Benton | Damián del Castillo
Father Grenville | Roger Padullés
Kitty Hart | María Hinojosa
Owen Hart | Toni Marsol
Jade Boucher | Marta de Castro
Howard Boucher | Vicenç Esteve
A motorbike policeman | Enric Martínez-Castignani
Sister Catherine | Celia Alcedo
Sister Lillianne | Marifé Nogales
First guard | Enric Martínez-Castignani
Second guard | Tomeu Bibiloni
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