National award-winning UNLV Opera presents The Three Feathers at 7:30 p.m. March 14 and at 2 p.m. March 15 in the Judy Bayley Theatre. Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, this family-friendly opera is the creation of composer Lori Laitman and librettist Dana Gioia.
A magic feather leads the shy, bookish Princess Dora to an enchanted underworld ruled by the Frog King. Here she summons her courage and compassion to face a series of mysterious and comic adventures that change her life. Completing her quest, she saves her father's kingdom from the plots of her selfish sisters and earns her right to the crown.
The Three Feathers stars Andreea Cretu and Kelsey Lee as Princess Dora, with Aaron Oberlander as her father the King and Joshua Thomas as the Frog King. Alexia Hamilton and Valeria Dapena Torres play Princess Gilda while Elisabeth Leone and Madelyn Salazar are Princess Tilda. LaVell Thompson Jr. portrays the Frog Prince, with Christian Shelton as Baron de Beaucoup and Chengye Li as Captain Siegfried von Wintersturmen. Magdalena Stoyanova narrates as the Chamberlain.
Rounding out the cast as snakes and courtiers are Nathalie Elizondo Garcia, Dasia Intil, Hongyu Mu, and Danielle Noletto. Members of the Opera Las Vegas Youth Chorus, directed by Athena Mertes, appear as frogs, bats, and rats. The opera will be performed with Laitman’s arrangement for a 16-piece chamber orchestra.
This magical opera is conducted by Darryl Cooper and directed by Linda Lister. The production design is by the talented student designers of the UNLV theatre department and UNLV Entertainment Engineering and Design program: Destiny Titus (scenic designer), Alexis Charbonneau (lighting designer), Josh Anderson, Katherine Gould, Savannah Moore, and Hannah Prochaska (costume designers).
Composer Lori Laitman will give a pre-opera talk at 6:30 p.m. on March 14 in Alta Ham Fine Arts (HFA) 147. Opera Colorado’s world premiere of her opera The Scarlet Letter (to David Mason’s libretto based on the Hawthorne novel) was named an Opera News Critic’s Choice. The Three Feathers was commissioned by the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech in 2014 and has received numerous subsequent presentations. Uncovered (2022), Laitman’s opera with librettist Leah Lax, examines a woman’s right to choose. Maya and the Magic Ring, her second children’s opera with Gioia and a Lyric Opera of Kansas City commission, premieres in March 2025.
The opera is sung in English. For tickets, contact the UNLV PAC Box Office at 702-895-ARTS or pacboxoffice@unlv.edu. Tickets are $25; $15 tickets are available for seniors, military members, the disabled, and UNLV Faculty and Staff. All students may receive one $5 ticket with valid student ID.
About the UNLV College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.
