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Underworld Productions Opera

Underworld Productions Opera (UPO) “is intent on finding interesting ways to present opera on a microscopic budget while also making a social point or two about the war of the sexes that animates so many plots” (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times). UPO has integrated technology with live performance, utilizing text-messaging to select the final couplings in “Cosi fan Tutte” and Skype to bring an Austrian performance artist into the theatre for Rameau’s “Pygmalion.” Season Information Below.

SHOW MORESeason Information

Don Pasquale’s House Party – May 22-25, 2012 – locations and start times vary.

A new site-specific production. Pasquale is portrayed, not as a confirmed bachelor, but as a successful older man who throws over his long-suffering mate and takes a trophy wife. He invites you into his parlor as honored guests – and Norina beckons you into her bedroom as intimates – to see how it all plays out.

SHOW MOREResident Artist Program

UPO provides training and performance opportunities for emerging singers with the Resident Artist Program. There is no age limit, and singers without the advantage of conservatory training are welcome. Tuition is modest and scholarships are available. The program includes about 40 hours of coaching per semester and workshops with outstanding professionals such as Dr. Robert C. White, Jr. of the Met Lindemann Young Artist Program and Juilliard faculty member; Cori Ellison, long-time NYCO dramaturg; Elena Araoz, NYCO and Glimmerglass director; and Peter Castaldi, Mannes Opera faculty. Next audition: January 18, 2012. Contact us at underworldprod@gmail.com.

SHOW MORECommunity Outreach

Underworld Productions Opera offers its home community of Washington Heights and Inwood free performances in parks, community centers, and historic houses. UPO leads a teen performing arts program and a seniors chorus every week, both free to participants.

SHOW MORECompany History

Underworld Productions Opera, under the artistic direction of Gina Crusco, was created in 2004 and incorporated in 2008. UPO has been recognized for innovation and excellence by Musical America’s “Year in Music 2009,” The New York Times, Opera News, Early Music America, and in the blogosphere (“This is genius!” — Madison Opera Blog). “Music that is first rate and with performances which could be put in any of our important opera houses,” wrote Richard Garmise in Opera L Archives about UP’s 2011 stage premiere of Clarence & Anita by Ben Yarmolinsky. In the 2009-2010 season UP created an “interesting twist” and “inventive solution” to Rameau’s Pygmalion (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times). The 2008-2009 season brought Così fan Tutte: Defining Women, an updating of Mozart’s opera with text-messaging interactivity recognized as a landmark event in Musical America’s “Year in Music 2009.” UP productions include four updated Mozart operas; early works by Handel, Pergolesi, and Rameau; and contemporary works in stylish, inclusive, approachable performances, including two stage premieres.

SHOW MOREAbout the Artistic Director

Gina Crusco, Artistic Director of Underworld Productions Opera, has been praised in The New York Times for her “elegantly simple staging” and in the Italian press as “la bravissima Gina Crusco.” She served as Maestro del Coro of Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto (Italy) for two opera seasons and on the voice faculty of New School University for nine years. She has won awards from NoMAA, Uptown Arts Stroll, Fractured Atlas, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and SPARC (funded in part by the NEA).