Des Moines Metro Opera Foundation Inc.
04/16/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/16/2026 11:23
DMMO Announces Casting for 2026 Festival Season
2026 Casting Highlights
The season welcomes several major artists in their DMMO mainstage debuts:
Mainstage creative debuts include Christopher James Ray (conductor, Of Mice and Men), Jimmy Stubbs (scenic designer, King Roger) and Kara Harmon (costume designer, Of Mice and Men).
DMMO's Marshall and Judy Flapan Music Director and Principal Conductor, David Neely, returns to lead Tosca and King Roger, while DMMO Artistic Partners Kristine McIntyre and Chas Rader-Shieber direct Of Mice and Men and King Roger, respectively. Joshua Borths returns to the festival following his 2025 directorial debut with The Flying Dutchman to direct Tosca. The Irene Graether Chorus Director and Director of the Apprentice Artist Program, Lisa Hasson, returns as Chorus Director for all three productions.
The season also sees the return of key designers and choreographer: Steven C. Kemp (scenic design, Tosca), Luke Cantarella (scenic design, Of Mice and Men), Robert Perdziola (costume design, Tosca and King Roger), Kate Ashton (lighting design, Tosca and Of Mice and Men), Connie Yun (lighting design, King Roger), Brittany V.A. Rappise (wig/makeup design, Tosca, Of Mice and Men, King Roger) and Isaac Martin Lerner (choreographer, King Roger).
2026 Festival Season Information
All three productions will be presented in rotating repertory at the intimate 467-seat Pote Theatre at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola, Iowa. Each opera features English supertitles projected above the stage. The Des Moines Metro Opera Festival Orchestra, made up of professional musicians from across the country, will perform for all three productions.
[Full casting, performance dates, and production credits for each opera follow]:
TOSCA
Music by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Premiered: January 14, 1900, at Teatro Costanzi, Rome
Seven performances: June 26, June 28, July 3, July 8, July 11, July 16, July 19
Performed in Italian with projected English translations
Previous DMMO productions: 1981, 1998, 2009
PRODUCTION
Conductor: David Neely
Stage Director: Joshua Borths
Scenic Design: Steven C. Kemp
Costume Design: Robert Perdziola
Lighting Design: Kate Ashton
Wig and Makeup Design: Brittany V.A. Rappise
Chorus Director: Lisa Hasson
CAST
Floria Tosca: Laura Wilde
Mario Cavaradossi: Brian Michael Moore *
Baron Scarpia: Norman Garrett
Sacristan: Wei Wu
Angelotti: Alan Williams †
Spoletta: Lucas van Lierop *
Sciarrone: Titus Muzi III ‡
Jailer: Robert Frazier ‡
Shepherd: Liam Chicas *
Returning to our stage for the first time in 17 years, Tosca features Puccini's most memorable melodies and romantic orchestrations. The opera diva Floria Tosca steadfastly lives for art and love. However, when the corrupt Scarpia discovers Tosca's lover, Cavaradossi, aided the escape of a political prisoner, her world comes down to one final, fatal question: how far will she go to protect the man she loves?
Leadership production support is generously provided by Stan and Mary Seidler/The Seidler Foundation.
OF MICE AND MEN
Music and libretto by Carlisle Floyd
Premiered: January 22, 1970, at Seattle Opera
Five performances: June 27, July 5, July 10, July 15, July 18
Performed in English with projected English text
Previous DMMO production: 1985
Of Mice and Men is a Co-Production of Des Moines Metro Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Florida State University and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
PRODUCTION
Conductor: Christopher James Ray *
Stage Director: Kristine McIntyre
Scenic and Projection Design: Luke Cantarella
Costume Design: Kara Harmon *
Lighting Design: Kate Ashton
Wig and Makeup Design: Brittany V.A. Rappise
Chorus Director: Lisa Hasson
CAST
Lennie Small: John Findon *
George Milton: John Moore †
Curley's Wife: Cadie J. Bryan †
Curley: Adrian Kramer *
Candy: Kevin Deas
Slim: Dean Murphy *
Carlson: Ethan E. Burck ‡
Ballad Singer: Luka Tsevelidze ‡
Haygood: Cameron Howard ‡
Luke: Mario Manzo ‡
Pete: Douglas Culclasure ‡
Johnson: Harrison Hancock ‡
1st Man: Shijin Sun ‡
2nd Man: Hunter Warnick ‡
3rd Man: Rick Hale ‡
4th Man: Michael Breaux ‡
John Steinbeck's timeless story Of Mice and Men-in the hands of the Father of American Opera, Carlisle Floyd-becomes a deeply moving opera of great beauty and power.
George and Lennie are two migrant ranch workers who dream of owning a small piece of land and a shack they can call their own. But George cannot always shield Lennie-a childlike giant with a love for soft things-from the dangers around them. As tensions rise on the ranch, the cruelty of the boss, the loneliness of the workers, and the restless unhappiness of the boss's young wife set in motion a chain of events that will change their lives forever.
Presented as part of the Carlisle Floyd Centennial, this masterful adaptation brings Steinbeck's unforgettable characters vividly to life through Floyd's richly expressive score.
Leadership production support is generously provided by Nix and Virginia Lauridsen/Lauridsen Family Foundation.
KING ROGER
Music by Karol Szymanowski
Libretto by Karol Szymanowski and Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz
Premiered: June 19, 1926, at Teatr Wielki, Warsaw
Five performances: July 4, July 9, July 12, July 14, July 17
Performed in Polish with projected English translations
Company Premiere
PRODUCTION
Conductor: David Neely
Stage Director: Chas Rader-Shieber
Scenic Design: Jimmy Stubbs *
Costume Design: Robert Perdziola
Lighting Design: Connie Yun
Wig and Makeup Design: Brittany V.A. Rappise
Chorus Director: Lisa Hasson
Choreographer: Isaac Martin Lerner
CAST
King Roger II: Alexander Birch Elliott †
Roxana: Lydia Katarina *
Shepherd: Christopher Sokolowski
Edrisi: Lucas van Lierop *
Archbishop: Ben Strong ‡
Deaconess: Margaret Macaira Shannon ‡
Tenor Chorus Solo: Cameron Howard ‡
Soprano Chorus Solo: Eliza Lucyna ‡
When an enigmatic Shepherd from the East arrives at the Christian court of King Roger, his presence disrupts the court's established values and view of the world. Do his teachings bring goodness and joy-or destruction and chaos? King Roger himself grapples with questions of self-knowledge, spirituality and his very identity as a monarch and a man.
Leadership production support is generously provided by Nancy Main.
About Des Moines Metro Opera
Lauded by The New York Times in 2025 as "one of the country's most ambitious and successful smaller companies," Des Moines Metro Opera is a professional opera company located in the heart of Iowa that has taken its place among America's leading opera festivals. Founded in 1973, DMMO is one of the largest performing arts organizations in the region, presenting over 100 performances across Iowa every year. Learn more about Des Moines Metro Opera.
The 2026 Festival Season runs June 26-July 19 and includes the return of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, a centennial celebration of composer Carlisle Floyd with Of Mice and Men and a company premiere of Karol Szymanowski's rarely performed Polish masterpiece, King Roger.
The Lauridsen Family Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the 2026 Festival Season
Media Resources
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Des Moines Metro Opera Foundation Inc. published this content on April 16, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 16, 2026 at 17:23 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]