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MICHAEL CAPASSO General Director of Dicapo Opera Theatre Michael Capasso founded the company in 1981. Dubbed "New York's third opera company," Dicapo is the only professional, non-profit opera company aside from the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera, producing a year-round, annual season of opera and other musical theater presentations in New York City. Its productions range from crowd-pleasing traditional repertoire to rarely performed operas, innovative music and dance presentations, family productions, and at least one 20th-century work each season. Among the highlights of Dicapo's 2005-06 season were a rare double bill of Rachmaninoff's The Bells and Francisca da Rimini, which was highly praised by both The New York Times and Opera News; the world premiere of "Puccini Passion!", a music and dance program with New York City Ballet dancer Nilas Martins, the New York premiere of Oscar Straus's 1906 operetta The Merry Niebelungs; and new Dicapo productions of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah and Puccini's La Bohème. The 2006-07 season opens with a new production of Lehár's The Merry Widow with English translation by Wendy Wasserstein and is highlighted by the much anticipated New York premiere of Tobias Picker's Thérèse Raquin. Mr. Capasso, who is dedicated to the music of Giacomo Puccini, has also programmed Le Villi and the Messa di Gloria, three evenings of opera and dance in a co-production with Nilas Martins, and Manon Lescaut. By 2008, the 150th anniversary of Puccini's birth, Dicapo Opera Theatre will have presented all major works by the great Italian composer. Michael Capasso grew up in a nonmusical family of contractors in Great Neck, Long Island, but from the age of seven, when he saw Mario Lanza in "The Great Caruso," he knew music would always be a part of his life. By the age of nine, he was a regular at the Metropolitan Opera and had struck up a friendship with Francis Robinson. However, the combination of Mr. Capasso's love of music and family responsibilities led to a bifurcated life. At the same time that he produced his first operas—Il Tabarro on a barge in Manhasset followed by Cavalleria Rusticana—he was also forging a career in the family business, first, as a heavy equipment operator and, later, a field supervisor responsible for constructing sewers, water mains, and highway improvements. His two careers converged when Mr. Capasso obtained a 40,000-square-foot space in the lower level of St. Jean Baptiste Church. Using his skills and connections in the industry, he managed to build a permanent theater in 100 days. The 204-seat Dicapo Opera Theatre remains among the best and most perfectly equipped off-Broadway theaters in New York, complete with state-of-the-art computerized lighting and supertitling systems. To date, Mr. Capasso has produced and/or directed over 100 opera productions by more than two dozen composers, among them Puccini's La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La Rondine, Edgar, and Trittico; Verdi's La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, and Falstaff; Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, L'elisir d'amore, Il Campanello, and La fille du regiment, as well as Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Norma, La Cenerentola, Die Fledermaus, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cosi fanTutte, Hansel and Gretel, The Threepenny Opera, Il Segreto di Susanna and Le voix humaine not only for Dicapo Opera Theatre, but also for Orlando Opera, Toledo Opera, Connecticut Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Opera at Florham, Augusta Opera, Opera Carolina, and L'opera de Montreal. In 2003-04 Mr. Capasso directed the entire Dicapo Opera season, including Faust; Side by Side by Sondheim; and all three versions of Madama Butterfly (Milan, Brescia, Paris) in one weekend, the first time such a project was ever presented. This past season he directed Aida at Orlando Opera and Opera Tampa, and this summer will direct Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Le Villi at the Calvia Festival in Mallorca, Spain. In Europe he also produced a series of concerts with orchestra and soloists in Venice, Italy. In order to subsidize the costs of his love of opera, four years ago Mr. Capasso established Dicapo Scenic, where he builds sets for Dicapo productions in a former creamery in Orange County. Following performances, the sets, as well as costumes and accessories, are rented to midsized opera companies all over the country. In 1997, Mr. Capasso formed National Lyric Opera, which each season tours throughout the Northeast, bringing fully staged operas to thousands who would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience opera live. This season the company will take Manon Lescaut and The Merry Widow on the road. In order to nurture future generations of singers, Dicapo Opera Theatre established a Resident Artists program to bridge the gap between singers' musical training and their professional careers, as well as the Dicapo Childrens Chorus comprising children from seven to 17. The chorus gives several performances throughout the season and appears in Dicapo operas that require children's voices. Last season Dicapo began to bring opera into New York City schools and will continue this season with a reduced version of Carmen and Beauty and the Beast. As a writer, Michael Capasso's credits include an adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which the Today Show called, "the best Christmas Carol in New York"; Opera Senza Rancor, a satirical revue of the world of opera; a new libretto for La Perichole; translation librettos for Die Fledermaus and The Daughter of the Regiment; as well as a concert/lecture series for the New York Historical Society. Mr. Capasso's film on the life and career of Enrico Caruso, which he wrote and produced, aired on the A&E network's "Biography" series and is available on DVD. In other film credits, Mr. Capasso directed scenes from Nabucco for the feature film "The Secret Lives of Dentists," also available on DVD. Michael Capasso has received numerous awards, including The Licia Albanese/Puccini Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, a proclamation from the City of New York in conjunction with Italian Heritage and Culture Month, and the Leonardo Da Vinci Award for Cultural Achievement. Mr. Capasso is a member of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, a culinary group appointed by the Italian government to certify restaurants serving truly authentic Italian food. Most recently, Mr. Capasso was named "Man of the Year 2004" by the Italian Welfare League. |