Barihunks featured in new Kurt Weill adaptation

Philip Cutlip and Justin Hopkins

The Collegiate Chorale concludes its 2014-15 season with the U.S. Premiere of Kurt Weill’s The Road of Promise featuring barihunks Philip Cutlip and Justin Hopkins. Performances are on May 6 and 7 at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.  The May 7 performance will feature a special pre-concert talk about the background, historical context, and musical content of the piece.

The Road of Promise is a new concert adaptation of Kurt Weill and Franz Werfel’s epic 1937 stage spectacle, The Eternal Road, led by Tony Award-winning conductor/director Ted Sperling and a 200-voice chorus and symphony orchestra. Like the original stage work, The Road of Promise combines a story about a synagogue under threat of persecution with defining stories from the Old Testament. As the congregation awaits their fate, a 13-year old boy appears who knows nothing of his Jewish heritage or faith. The Rabbi enlightens him and gives the community strength by recounting the stories of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Miriam, Moses, Ruth, Isaiah, and more, all of which come alive through Weill’s magnificent musical score. The young boy listens to the stories unfold and emerges as the new hope for his people.

Also featured in the cast are Anthony Dean Griffey, Mark Delavan, AJ Glueckert, Lauren Michelle, Megan Marino, Ron Rifkin, and Eli Tokash. You can watch a trailer about the piece HERE.