Curtis Opera Theatre Launches 2026–27 Series with Carlisle Floyd’s Poignant Tragedy Susannah
Curtis Opera Theatre launches its 2026–27 series with Susannah, Carlisle Floyd’s poignant American tragedy, at Mainstage Theater, Philadelphia Film Center on Thursday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 21 at 2:00 p.m.
Led by multi-disciplinary director Mikhaela Mahony, Susannah features a cast of rising young stars of Curtis Opera Theatre, including soprano Jennifer Robinson as Susannah Polk, tenor Jack Hicks as Sam Polk, bass Theo Harrah as Olin Blitch, and tenor Harun Ellis Tekin as Little Bat. The production also features soprano Abigail Arnold as Mrs. Hayes, soprano Juliet Renée Rand as Mrs. Gleaton, mezzo-soprano Maisy Parker as Mrs. Ott, mezzo-soprano Carlyle Quinn as Mrs. McLean, tenor Brett Michael Hunter as Elder Gleaton, tenor Henry Drangel as Elder Hayes, baritone Ethan Elsbernd as Elder McLean, and bass-baritone Sebastian Wittmoser Herrera as Elder Ott.
Additionally, the cast includes a chorus of Curtis Opera Theatre young artists, joined by members of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of third-year Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow Mariana Corichi Gómez.
Susannah marks a milestone for Curtis’ conducting program: Corichi Gómez is the first conducting fellow to lead a mainstage opera performance, helping set a new precedent for the student experience. This is part of Curtis’ newly expanded, three-year conducing curriculum that incorporates training in orchestral, chamber, and opera conducting, which Corichi Gómez will be the first student to complete.
“Conducting as music director for Susannah is the culmination of my training, in both opera and symphonic traditions,” Corichi Gómez says. “It’s such a privilege working with our stellar cast who are 100% committed to their complex roles and finding their own versions of each character through Floyd’s lyric writing. As a conductor, whether young or seasoned, the greatest experiences emerge from rehearsal rooms where colleagues inspire and collaborate with us. In Curtis’ production of Susannah, all of these elements are very much there.”
Director Mikhaela Mahony (left) and conductor Mariana Corichi Gómez (right).
Written during the McCarthy era, Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah draws loosely on the Apocryphal tale of Susannah and the Elders to explore the destructive power of religious hypocrisy, prejudice, and small-town suspicion. Reimagined in rural New Hope Valley, Tennessee, the opera follows a young woman whose beauty and independence make her the target of jealousy and judgment within her church community.
When the church elders discover Susannah bathing innocently in a nearby creek, they conceal their lust with outrage, turning the community against her. And when Reverend Blitch visits Susannah alone, his professed concern for her salvation gives way to a devastating betrayal of her trust. Refusing to confess to a sin she has not committed, she ultimately finds herself forced to confront the very people who have sought to destroy her.
Premiered in 1955, this landmark American opera remains a powerful and deeply moving exploration of faith, injustice, and the resilience of the human spirit.
“It is a common trope in opera that the hero, if she’s a woman, dies. Susannah gives us a heroine who survives. Without compromising her values, without wavering in her beliefs, she survives. Susannah, and the opera that bears her name, stands alone.” –Mikhaela Mahony
Susannah is realized by the creative team of stage director Mikhaela Mahony, scenic designer Brendan Gonzalez Boston, costume designer Amanda Gladu, lighting designer Abigail Hoke-Brady, and makeup designer Brittany Rappise. Choreographer Zoe Scofield shapes the production’s physical storytelling through movement and dance.
Content advisory: This production contains mature themes—including coercive sex and implied sexual violence—which may not be suitable for younger audiences. There is also a loud gunshot sound effect.
Curtis is committed to maintaining a community free from violence, discrimination, harassment, hate, and bias. To learn more about this commitment and our resources, visit curtis.edu/CampusWellbeing.
Curtis Opera Theatre is generously supported by the Ernestine Bacon Cairns Trust and the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.
Curtis received funding from Pennsylvania Creative Industries, powered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tickets for both performances of Susannah are currently sold out. To be notified when additional tickets become available, join the wait list for the November 19 and November 21 performances.
