CREATIVE TEAM
James Conlon
Conductor
From: New York City, New York.
LA Opera: La Traviata (2006, debut); 67 different operas and over 455 performances to date. He has been Richard Seaver Music Director since 2006. Later this season, he will conduct La Traviata and Turandot.
About: James Conlon, one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. He has led virtually every major North American and European orchestra and over 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and filmography, numerous writings, television appearances, and guest speaking engagements, he is one of classical music’s most recognized and prolific figures.He has been Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the RAI in Torino (2016-20), Music Director of the Ravinia Festival (2005-15), Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera (1995-2004), General Music Director of the City of Cologne (1989-2002), Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983-91) and Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival (1979-2016), where is now Music Director Laureate. He has won three Grammy Awards and was awarded France’s Légion d’Honneur.
JamesConlon.com
Kaneza Schaal
Director (Highway 1, USA)
From: New York City, New York.
LA Opera: Omar (2022, debut).
About: Based in New York, she works in theater, opera and film. Her work has shown in divergent contexts from courtyards in Vietnam, to East African amphitheaters, to European opera houses, to U.S. public housing. By creating performances that speak many formal, cultural, historical, aesthetic and experiential languages, she seeks expansive audiences. Domestically, her work has been shown at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Kennedy Center, Detroit Opera, The Shed, Walker Arts Center and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, United States Artist Fellowship, SOROS Art Migration and Public Space Fellowship, Ford Foundation Art for Justice Bearing Witness Award and Creative Capital Award.
KanezaSchaal.com
Darko Tresnjak
Director (The Dwarf)
From: Zemun, Serbia.
LA Opera: The Broken Jug / The Dwarf (2008, debut); The Birds (2009); The Ghosts of Versailles (2015); Macbeth (2016).
About: He won the 2014 Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his direction of the Broadway musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. He won the Obie Award in 2015 for his direction of The Killer starring Michael Shannon. He was the artistic director of the Old Globe Shakespeare Festival (2004-09) and Hartford Stage Company (2011-19). After a two-year Broadway run, his production of Anastasia has been seen in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Japan. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2018 with Samson et Dalila. Favorite productions include Rear Window with Kevin Bacon, The Merchant of Venice with F. Murray Abraham and Kate Forbes, and The Winter’s Tale with Kandis Chappell. He is writing a musical comedy, Ask for the Moon, with composer Oran Eldor.
Christopher Myers
Production Design (Highway 1, USA)
From: New York City, New York.
LA Opera: Omar (2022, debut).
About: An artist and writer widely acclaimed for his work with literature for young people, he is also an accomplished fine artist who has lectured and exhibited internationally. He is interested in the aesthetic bridges that have been built organically across cultures, classes and geographies, and has been creating work in those in-between spaces for years. He has curated shows in Vietnam; worked with traditional shadow puppet makers in Jogjakata, young musicians in New Orleans, and weavers in Luxor; designed theater that has travelled from PS122 in New York City to the Genocide Memorial Theater in Kigali, Rwanda; and collaborated with Hank Willis Thomas on a short film Am I Going Too Fast, which premiered at Sundance. He participated in the Whitney Independent Studio Program and has written essays that have been published by The New York Times.
Amy Rubin
Co-Scenic Designer (Highway 1, USA)
From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
LA Opera: Omar (2022, debut).
About: She designs environments for theater, opera, dance and live events. Recent credits include Paola Prestini’s Aging Magician for San Diego Opera, Joel Thompson’s Snowy Day for Houston Grand Opera, Jeannine Tesori’s Blue for Detroit Opera, Dave Malloy’s Octet for Signature Theatre and Berkeley Rep, and Cyrano for the New Group starring Peter Dinklage.
AmyCRubin.com
Cheyanne Williams
Co-Scenic Designer / Hare (Highway 1, USA)
From: Los Angeles, California.
LA Opera: debut.
About: Cheyanne Williams (she/ they) is an NYC-based theater artist whose longstanding collaboration with Kaneza Schaal has seen her as technical director for Omar (Carolina Performing Arts, Boston Lyric Opera) and Jack & (BAM, Seattle, Chicago), among others. Cheyanne is resident technical director and designer for Towards a New Collectivity, a summer residency program hosted at NYC’s Performing Garage.
Ralph Funicello
Scenic Designer (The Dward)
From: Portchester, New York.
LA Opera: The Broken Jug / The Dwarf (2008, debut).
About: He has designed the scenery for over 300 productions of plays and operas throughout the world including Broadway productions of Julius Caesar, Brooklyn Boy, Henry IV (Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Tony nominations), King Lear, QED and Division Street, and Off-Broadway productions including Saturn Returns, Ten Unknowns (Lortel nomination), Pride’s Crossing and Labor Day. He is an Associate Artist at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. He has designed for companies including the American Conservatory Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, Lincoln Center Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Guthrie Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Royal Bath, Stratford Festival of Canada and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He holds the position of Powell Chair in Set Design at San Diego State University.
Charlese Antoinette Jones
Costume Designer (Highway 1, USA)
From: Germantown, Maryland.
LA Opera: debut.
About: She has designed costumes for feature films starting with Newlyweeds, which won an Independent Spirit Award and premiered as part of 2013 Sundance NEXT. She then designed George Tillman’s Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete with Anthony Mackie and Jennifer Hudson, which also premiered at Sundance in 2013. Her most recent film work includes the Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) with Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, and Air (2023), directed by Ben Affleck. Television credits include the Macro/Netflix Original Raising Dion with Michael B. Jordan and the Netflix Original sketch comedy show Astronomy Club. She has worked on projects with Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, NBC, ABC, Fox, Showtime, Sony and Hulu. She is the creator of Black Designer Database and of her lifestyle brand Char Ant Gold.
CharleseAntoinette.com
Linda Cho
Costume Designer (The Dwarf)
From: New York City, New York.
LA Opera: The Broken Jug / The Dwarf (2008; debut); The Birds (2009); The Ghosts of Versailles (2015).
About: She received the Tony Award and Henry Hewes Design Award for the Broadway musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and was nominated for a Tony, Outer Critic’s Circle and Drama Desk Award for the Broadway production of Anastasia. She was part of Broadway’s first all-female creative team for Lifespan of a Fact. She has worked extensively across the U.S. and her work has been seen in Europe, Asia and South America. Her work in ballet and opera can be seen at the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, American Ballet Theater, and others. She is the recipient of the Theatre Development Fund’s Irene Sharaff Young Master Award and the Ruth Morely Design Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women and is currently serving on the Advisory Committee of the American Theatre Wing.
LindaCho.com
Pablo Santiago
Lighting Designer
From: Chiapas, Mexico.
LA Opera: prism (2018, debut); The Anonymous Lover (2020, LAO On Now); Breaking the Waves (2021, LAO On Now); Omar (2022); Pelléas et Mélisande (2023); The Barber of Seville (2023).
About: He is a winner of the Richard Sherwood Award, Stage Raw Award and multiple Ovation nominations. He has worked at Santa Fe Opera, Opera Omaha, Boston Lyric Opera, Detroit Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Long Beach Opera, Prototype Festival, The Industry, Opera Columbus, LA Philharmonic, SF Symphony, LA Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Music Academy of the West, Opera Santa Barbara, Kennedy Center, Teatro Municipal São Paulo, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theater, Arena Stage, BAM-Harvey Theater, Geffen Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, Broad Museum, Kirk Douglas Theater, Majestic Theater Boston, Broad Theater and Hollywood Bowl.
PabloSantiagoDesign.com
Jeremy Frank
Chorus Director
From: Los Angeles, California.
LA Opera: Glendive, Montana.
About: He became Chorus Director in 2022, after working on over 75 productions as associate chorus director and/or assistant conductor. He is a coach for the Domingo-ColburnStein Young Artist Program. About: He has collaborated with major opera houses throughout the United States and has prepared operas and vocal chamber music at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, working with Gustavo Dudamel, Esa Pekka Salonen, Phillipe Jordan, Grant Gershon, Barbara Hannigan and Pablo Heras-Casado. A pianist and vocal coach, he is an Adjunct Lecturer in Vocal Arts and Opera at the University of Southern California. As a pianist, he has partnered with Sondra Radvanovsky, Eric Owens, Brandon Jovanovich, J’nai Bridges, Dolora Zajick, Kate Lindsey and Susan Graham. He helped prepare Seattle Opera’s Ring cycle in 2013 and has been a guest faculty member for young artist programs at Utah Opera and Seattle Opera.
JeremyMFrank.com
Bill Burns
Choreographer (The Dwarf)
From: Los Angeles and New York City.
LA Opera: debut.
About: He was tour choreographer for the North American productions of Anastasia. He has directed and choreographed U.S. and international companies of The Producers, Japanese productions of On the Town, Curtains, My One and Only, and was resident choreographer for the U.S. premiere of Dirty Dancing. He began in nightclubs, dancing with Juliet Prowse, and was selected by director Arthur Laurents to play Hanna in La Cage Aux Folles and by Jerome Robbins for several roles in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. Additional Broadway and touring credits include Fosse, Guys and Dolls, Chita & All That Jazz, Beauty and the Beast and Victor/Victoria. On television, film and stage, he has performed with the likes of Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli, Ann Miller, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, Gregory Hines, Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul. Currently, he can be seen in Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.
Andrew Kenneth Moss
Fight Director (Highway 1, USA)
From: Corning, New York.
LA Opera: Il Trovatore (2021, debut); Aida (2022); Lucia di Lammermoor (2022); Tosca (2022); Otello (2023); Don Giovanni (2023).
About: He has worked on productions including Armida at the Metropolitan Opera, SAFE at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival, A Little Night Music at the Huntington Theatre Company, Cold Mountain at Music Academy of the West and Carmen, Don Giovanni, I Puritani and Greek at Boston Lyric Opera. New York credits include Forever Dusty for New World Stages and Pinocchio’s Ashes for Theater for a New City. He staged combat for Dead Man Walking, West Side Story, The Seven Deadly Sins and Oklahoma! as resident fight director at Central City Opera.
