Tsar's Bride

Independent Opera Company concludes it's third season with dramatic opera by Russian composer Rimskiy Korsakov. Friday July 10th at 7:30 and Saturday July 11th at 7:30 St. Andrews Lutheran Church 11555 National Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Friday July 17th at 7:30 and Saturday July 18th at 3:00 10931 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 Tsar's Bride has always been a very popular opera in Russia and Ukraine, yet it is rarely performed in the West. Though Rimsky-Korsakov is familiar to many music lovers for his brilliantly orchestrated concert music including the popular symphonic poem Scheherazade he also wrote a dozen or so operas. Many of them are showy concoctions based on fantastic stories from Russian folklore and legend. But his 1899 opera The Tsar's Bride is something else altogether. It's a complex, psychological drama, steeped in history and driven by the real historic figure: the 16th-century Tsar Ivan IV (better known in the English-speaking world as Ivan the Terrible). The story of The Tsar's Bride speculates about a single, mysterious event during Ivan's long reign his brief marriage to Marfa Sobakin, his third wife, who died just days after their wedding in 1571. In the opera, Ivan himself never utters a word.Yet the tsar is a looming presence throughout the drama. Like so many great operas, this one has a dramatic story which includes love, betrayal, murder and above all great music! IOC production will be set in modern times while maintaining the integrity of the plot.

Cast: Vasily Stepanovich Sobakin: Misha Barsky Marfa, his daughter: Erica Lazerow(7/11 and 7/18), Karen Hogle Brown (7/10 and 7/17), Urfa Zakarian (cover, ensemble) Grigory Grigoryevich Gryaznoy, oprichnik : Ken Simms Grigory Lukyanovich Malyuta Skuratov, oprichnik: Michael Margulies (7/10 and 7/17) Chris Jones (7/11 and 7/18) Ivan Sergeyevich Lykov : Christian Quilici (7/10 and 7/17), Andrew Bennett (7/11 and 7/18) Lyubasha : Jessica Mirshak (7/10 and 7/17), Megan Gillespie (7/11 and 7/18) ,Amber Alarcon (cover), Alexis Wesley (cover) Yelisey Bomelius, tsar's doctor : David Connors Domna Ivanovna Saburova, merchant's wife : Candace Bogan, Cynthia Leigh (cover) Dunyasha, her dauhter, Marfa's friend : Amber Alarcon (7/10 and 7/17) Alexis Wesley (7/11 amd 7/18) Petrovna, housekeeper of the Sobakin Family : Katherine Karapetian (also ensemble) Tsar Ioann Vasilyevich (Ivan The Terrible) : Eric Castro Royal Stoker : Stephen Picciano (also ensemble) Maid : Janice Batsdorff (also ensemble) Young maid servant: Amanda Benjamin (also ensemble)

Stage Director: Megan Gillespie Assistant Stage Director : Amber Alarcon Choreography and Publicity: Anica Petrovic Dancer : Liza Barskaya Music Director : Galina Barskaya.