The Chronicle - May 2022
Happy Spring and Super Summer to you all. 
Seagle Festival in Schroon Lake will be full of memorable and magnificent musicals and operas, as well as performances for children. For questions and tickets contact Seagle Festival at 518-532-7875. Buy season tickets now for the best seating and receive a discount.
Summer 2022
The traditional Old Friends and New concert launches the season on June 25 and will fill the Oscar Seagle Memorial Theater almost to the rafters. Hearing the fine development of last year’s singers who have returned and the superb singing of the new singers is a special occasion. Featured are excerpts from favorite operas and musicals. Afterwards there will be a reception in the Shames Rehearsal Studio with the opportunity to meet the emerging artists. 
Meaghan Deiter in Dolly - 2010
Hello, Dolly! by Jerry Herman on July 6-9 is a lively musical perfect for entertaining your 4th of July guests and family. The lead character, Dolly Gallagher from Yonkers NY, is a widowed matchmaker and dance teacher who is trying to marry off the half-millionaire Horace Vandergelder. Lively dancing and humor abound. Carol Channing portrayed Dolly in several Broadway runs. She attended nearby Bennington College in Vermont and was the first celebrity to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. The musical was the winner of ten Tony awards. Stage director for Seagle’s production, Meaghan Deiter, portrayed Dolly when she was a singer a Seagle a few years ago.

The Three Bears on July 9 will be held at the Boathouse Theater. Who can resist bringing children and grandchildren to this wonderful children’s opera by the dynamic and prolific composer and performer, Jonathan Stinson? The opera is loaded with laughs and good fun. This children’s opera will be performed throughout the North Country in the summer and fall.

Seagle Festival Gala Cabaret, the largest event of the summer, will take place in a giant tent on July 16. This fun, memorable evening is the highlight of the season. Gala honorees are Michael Adams and Joel Friedman. Musical goers recently went by bus from Schroon Lake to Cooperstown to hear Michael Adams perform the lead in Showboat at Glimmerglass Opera Festival. He has a distinguished opera career in Europe and the USA. Joel Friedman has been a dedicated supporter of Seagle Festival in volunteering for the Gala, the nominating committee and helping wherever needed. He also leads the Adirondack Marathon Distance Festival, a major regional event in Schroon Lake. Heidi Kelly, Gala Chair, has been devoted in spearheading this popular event, filled with delicious catered food from the Lily and the Rose, live music, dancing, and performances.

Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi by Puccini will take place on July 20-23. Both one-act operas will be sung in Italian with English supertitles. Suor Angelica is rarely performed and is also the composer’s only all-female opera. The broad humor in Gianni Schicchi makes it one of Puccini’s most popular works.

Fellow Travelers, a modern opera, takes place in the 1950’s during the lavender scare of the McCarthy era. The opera holds forth August 3-6, and debuted in Cincinnati Opera in 2016. The work is full of drama in its sixteen scenes set in Washington D.C. Gregory Spears’ music is described as a mix of styles, of minimalism, romanticism, and according to the NY Times, is “astonishingly beautiful.” Librettist Greg Pierce, is from Vermont and earned a BA from Oberlin and MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College, plus a fellowship at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs.
 
The musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress by Mary Rodgers concludes the main season on August 17-20. The musical is set in a fictional medieval kingdom in 15th century Europe. The play was written as a humorous adaptation of the 1835 Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Princess and the Pea.” It is happy and funny during the right moments and serious when necessary.

A Labor Day spectacular will take place on Monday, September 5. The grand finale of the season is Happily Ever After featuring well-known and lesser-known songs of Stephen Sondheim. The late beloved Sondheim was described that he in a way “reinvented the American musical” and used unexpected themes. He was a magna cum laude graduate of Williams College and first fell in love with theater at the age of nine when he saw A Warm Day in May on Broadway.

Other 2022 Happenings
New Faculty Arrive to join the distinguished staff at the Seagle Festival. Laurie Vivon Bunn, graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, will be a pianist/vocal coach. She currently lives in Indian Lake in the Adirondacks after leaving the Washington D.C. area, where she taught at area universities and churches. Her performances have also included California, New York City, China, New Zealand and Ireland. Lindsay Woodward from North Carolina also joins the piano/vocal coach faculty. She is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Utah. She has served on the faculty at Brevard Music Center and will be on the staff of Utah Opera and Sarasota Opera. Ms. Woodward has also had positions at Wolf Trap Opera, Aspen Music Festival and Minnesota Opera.

The Alumni Association is also planning another Alumni Weekend over the weekend of the Gala, July 15-17. It is a great chance to reminisce with one another.

The Annual Meeting of Seagle Music Colony, Inc. DBA Seagle Festival (for many years known as the Oscar Seagle Association), will be scheduled by President Seth Bader in August. This brief meeting is an opportunity to hear about season highlights and to learn about future activities of Seagle Festival.
 
Many Thanks: The named scholarships and recipients will be listed in the season program booklet. You are welcome to create a scholarship as a lasting tribute to honor or commemorate a loved one.
 
The Seagle Festival Guild provides a welcoming atmosphere for the audience and a supportive presence for the singers. Guild members usher, serve refreshments for your pleasure and to benefit the Guild scholarship fund, and serve as host families in cheering on the emerging artists in their roles. The annual luncheon to raise money for guild scholarships will be held in Glens Falls at the Queensberry Hotel on August 9. The guild is led by President Sharon Hieber. (518-597-3797). New members are always welcome.
Sympathy
We offer our deep sympathy to the family of Ruth Breen, a loyal supporter of Seagle Festival. Memorial contributions may be given to Seagle Festival. We offer our deep sympathy to the family and friends of Fran Filshie. She was a long-time supporter of Seagle Festival and the annual Gala. We offer our deep sympathy to the family and friends of Tamara Lehew Whitty. She loved her time singing at Seagle Colony and her father wrote, “She put into 50 years and did more in those years than a lot do at 80.” The entire Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus sang at her memorial. 
Alumni News Notes
Please send any alumni news to Chronicle editor, Dodie Seagle. Friends from near and far enjoy hearing about your happenings and will continue to cheer you on in your performances and other endeavors.

One of the returning singers wrote, “I am excited to announce that I’ll be spending the summer at Seagle Festival as an emerging artist. I can’t wait to get together with these fantastic artists and crew members. Eileen Carnahan saw Christopher Humbert and Meghan Callahan perform in Palm Beach Opera. She sold her house in Niskayuna and will hopefully visit Schroon Lake next summer. Liz Cass leads an active musical life as producer, educator, arts leader, operatic performer and serves as president of the Seagle Festival Alumni Association Board. She also studies voice with Inci Bashar, former teacher at Seagle Festival. We look forward to the visit of Seagle alumnus Warner North this June. Darren Woods and Tony Kostecki heard from Dana Deer, a Seagle singer in the 1950’s. Logan Dell’Acqua sang recently the role of Marullo in Rigoletto at Nashville Opera.  Eric Ferring will be in several productions at the Metropolitan Opera. Anna Laurenzo was a finalist in the Artist Presentation Society Competition and placed second in the 2021 Schubert Club Competition. Anna will perform in December at Lincoln Center in the World Premiere of Intimate Apparel. We rejoice in the happy news of Sean and Jane Panikkar. Their twins Michael and Margaret Panikkar were born in March. 
Seagle Singers 2021-2022 Worldwide
Metropolitan Opera in principal roles
Vanessa Becerra*
David Blalock
Terrence Chin-Loy*
Eric Ferring
Jeni Houser
Sean Panikkar
Reggie Smith, Jr.
Wm. Clay Thompson*
 *Debut season
 
Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Ned Hanlon
Remy Martin
Nathaniel Mattingly
Tyler Simpson
Liz Wentworth
 
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Eric Ferring
Anthony Reed
Wm. Clay Thompson
 
Santa Fe Opera
Eric Ferring (principal)
Emily Richter (app)
Jack Swanson (principal)
 
Florida Grand Opera
David Margulis
Michael Miller
Michael Pandolfo
Amanda Sheriff
 
Palm Beach Opera
Megan Callahan
Christopher Humbert
Maria Vasilevskaya
Kyle White
 
Virginia Opera
Lauren Cook
Catherine Goode
Eric McConnell
Kyle White
 
Opera Theater of Saint Louis
Patrick Bessenbacher
Jayden Goldberg
Jesús Murillo
Arizona Opera
Vanessa Becerra
Terrence Chin-Loy
Lauren Cook
Wm. Clay Thompson
Matthew White
Mack Wolz 

Florentine Opera
Zachary Crowle
Laura McCauley
 
Washington National Opera
Michael Adams
Vanessa Becerra
 
Opera Saratoga
Maria DeConzo
Blake Jennings
Raphaella Medina
Eric McConnell
 
Central City Opera
Catherine Goode
Timothy Lupia
Francesca Mehrotra
Jacob O’Shea
 
Dallas Opera
Michael Adams
Seth Carico
 
Opera Colorado
Francesca Mehrotra
Thomas Lynch
Matthew White 
 
Wolf Trap
Michael Pandolfo
Thomas Petrushka
 
In Europe
Seth Carico – Berlin
Andrea Carroll – Vienna
Hailey Clark – Hanover
Eric Ferring – Paris
Michael Porter – Frankfurt
Parting Greeting
What a great opportunity to be able to hear beautiful songs, immerse in dramatic characterization, colorful costumes and, observe the singers’ continual growth in talent. Show your fandom by inviting friends and neighbors to experience the performances with you.

Your generous gifts in honor or memory of dear friends or family truly help the singers excel. If you would like to be listed in the program booklet, please make your tax-deductible contributions before the end of May. Continuing thanks go to you all for your devoted support.

With warm greetings, 

Dodie Seagle
Editor of the The Chronicle
(518-788-8824) dpseagle@verizon.net
Follow us on our Social Media Platforms