
Operapalooza
Fall 2024
Mystery on the Docks and Muskrat Lullaby
Children's operas by Edward Barnes
This project was made possible in part with funds from Creative Engagement and UMEZ Arts Engagement, regrant programs supported by the funding agencies DCLA, the Howard Gilman Foundation and the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Corporation (UMEZ). Many thanks to generous support of the Henry and Roxanne Brandt Foundation, Medical Center Neighborhood Fund, the Cassell family, Tonya Law, Jazz Wahi, The Bonnefont, Buunni Coffee, Elegantees, Hudson Pilates, and Pied Piper Theatre.
Cast and Crew
Stage Director – Benjamin Spierman
Music Director/Pianist – Christine Pulliam Melamed
Narrator – Sarah Ziegler
Muskrat/Criminal Rat – Matthew Youngblood
Spider/Criminal Rat – Sara Henry
Bird/Criminal Rat – Joanie Brittingham
Toad/Criminal Rat – Brian Alvarado
Boss Alligator/Criminal Rat – Jonathan Harris
Ralph/Alligator – Shane Brown
Big Al/Alligator – Seth Gilman
Edwina Bombastina/Alligator – Elizabeth Treat
Stage Manager – Holly Thomas
Set Designer – April Bartlett
Costume Director – Eric Lamp
Props Master – Olivia Ronald
Police – Benjamin Spierman, Samantha Bailey, Arlo Blair, Nathan Melamed, Joseph Melamed, Rosa Yamaya
Tech Crew – Ella Dugdale, Charlie Lopez, Johanna Omesuh, Asaph Strickman
Carpenters – Chris Zaborowski and RJ Romeo
Ushers – Leslie Austin, Harry Bleattler, Jared Catalan, Matthew Kaal, AlanaTrimmier
Marketing Designer – Heather Winslow LeFebvre
Videographer/photographer – Jonathan Rothermel/Cursive Films
Website – Sara Henry
Artwork – Laura Winslow
About the operas...
Edward Barnes was born in 1958 and is an award-winning composer, producer and public speaker. His work has been seen on and off-Broadway, in concert halls, opera houses and theaters around the world.
A Muskrat Lullaby is based on the children’s book by Thacher Hurd, Mama Don’t Allow and was commissioned by Los Angeles Opera and premiered in Los Angeles in 1993. Mystery on the Docks was commissioned jointly by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Los Angeles Opera and Opera Columbus, a joint commission funded by the Reader’s Digest/Meet the Composer Fund. Based on the book of the same name by Thacher Hurd, it premiered in Kansas City in 1995.
Edward Barnes is an award-winning producer, composer and public speaker. His work has been seen on and off-Broadway, in concert halls, opera houses and theaters around the
world. A graduate of the Juilliard School, he is the winner of Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships, the Stephen Sondheim Award for “innovative musical theater”, and has been a resident artist at Ucross (Wyoming), Fundación Valparaíso (Spain), and the Instituto Sacatar (Brazil). Edward’s producing credits include Tracy Letts’ play, Superior Donuts, on Broadway, You Are Here for NyLon Fusion Collective off-Broadway, Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie Hall (starring Jane Fonda, Nathan Gunn and Victoria Clark), Gordon’s A Coffin In Egypt (starring Frederica von Stade) for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook, and recordings of Kurt Weill’s Knickerbocker Holiday (Ghostlight/Sh-k-boom Records) and The Road of Promise (Naxos Records).
A leading non-profit administrator, Edward has served as Executive Director of Gotham Chamber Opera, Producing Director of MasterVoices, and Managing Director of American Lyric Theater. He additionally leads sold-out seminars on musical theater, rock-n-roll, jazz and other popular music at RoundTable Cultural Seminars in New York, and is a frequent public speaker at many corporate and private events. www.edwbarnes.com

Artwork by Laura Winslow WatercolorTales