Jake Heggie's "The End of the Affair" comes to Berkeley

Carrie Hennessey and Keith Phares (Photo: Mellopix)

The West Edge Opera in Berkeley, California, is following up their critically-acclaimed production of Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox with another 20th Century work, as they open Jake Heggie's The End of the Affair this Sunday, August 3rd.

The End of the Affair premiered ten years ago at the Houston Grand Opera with barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes in the lead role of Maurice. The West Edge Opera has hired barihunk Keith Phares for the role of the writer writer Maurice Bendrix. The libretto's last ten minutes were revised to alter the ending for performances at the Seattle Opera and the Madison Opera (with barihunk Philip Cutlip).

Carrie Hennessey and Keith Phares (Photo: Mellopix)

Based on the Graham Greene novel of the same title, it is set in London in 1944 and 1946 and focuses on Maurice and Sarah, who vows to end their illicit affair if his life is spared in a bombing. His survival leads to Sarah's religious conversion and Maurice's railing against God for it. After returning to her husband, Maurice hires a private detective to investigate her under direction of her cuckholded husband Henry. 

For those unfamiliar with the work, there is a quartet for lovers of the male voice that includes three baritones and a tenor. In the quartet the four men share their feelings about how Sarah has changed their lives.

Keith Phares in The End of the Affair (Photo: Mellopix)

Performances are on Sunday, August 3 at 3:00 p.m.. Thursday, August 7 at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, August 9 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are available online. There are also two performance of Hydrogen Jukebox remaining on August 2 and 8, as well as performance of Puccini's La bohème on August 1 and 10. 

Barihunky season at innovative West Edge Opera

Hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock and barihunks Kenneth Kellogg and Efraín Solis

The innovative West Edge Opera in Berkeley, California is once again challenging audiences with a performance of Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox in an alternative space. The opera will take place in the foyer of the Ed Roberts Campus, which is an internationally recognized center dedicated to disability rights and universal access.

The cast includes some eye candy, as well, with hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock and barihunks Kenneth Kellogg and Efraín Solis. The female side of the cast is rounded out by Sara Duchovnay, Molly Mahoney and Nicole Takesono. Performances are on July 27, August 2 and August 8, and tickets are available online.

The interior of the Ed Roberts Campus and V. Savoy McIlwain

Philip Glass' opera set to the poetry of counter-culture poet Allen Ginsberg. The text deals with a variety of topics from the 1950's through the 1980's ranging from the sexual revolution, eastern philosophy, drugs, the environment, the threat of nuclear destruction, Iran-Contra scandal and meditation. The six vocal parts were thought to represent six archetypal American characters- a waitress, a policeman, a businessman, a cheerleader, a priest, and a mechanic.

Unlike other Glass operas that deal with social issues, Hydrogen Jukebox is sung in English. In other operas, he has used languages unfamiliar to most opera-goers, including Sanskrit for Satyagraha, ancient Egyptian for Akhnaten, Latin for the CIVIL warS, or just numbers and syllables in Einstein on the Beach.

The rest of the West Edge Opera season includes Puccini's La bohème and Jake Heggie's The End of the Affair, cast with an abundance of barihunks. La bohème features casting appropriate to a venue dedicated disability rights, as blind barihunk Brandon Keith Biggs will sing Colline in a cast that also includes Jordan Eldredge as Schaunard and V. Savoy McIlwain as Marcello. Biggs sight impairment is due to having Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life, and affects around 1 in 80,000 of the population. Performances are on July 26, August 1st and 10th. Tickets are available online.

Jake Heggie, who is one of the world's premiere composers for the baritone voice, rounds out the season with his The End of the Affair, based  on Graham Greene’s novel. It will feature Keith Phares in the key role of Maurice Bendrix. Performances are on August 3, 7 and 9 and tickets are available online.