WNO: Cardwell Dawson Jan. 22, 2023 Digital Program

The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson

Fri. Jan. 20, 2023 7:30p.m.

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Sun. Jan. 22, 2023 2p.m.

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Sun. Jan. 22, 2023 5p.m.

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A black woman in a 1950s style purple dress walks down a staircase while singing — Denyce Graves in *The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson* (photo by Karli Cadel)

Terrace Theater

Runtime

70 Minutes
Presenting Sponsor
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Patrons are requested to silence cell phones and other electronic devices during performances.

The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in this venue.
Program order and artists are subject to change.

Timothy O’Leary, General Director Francesca Zambello, Artistic Director

Presents

The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson

Play by Sandra Seaton
Original music by Carlos Simon
Text for original music by Sandra Seaton
Commissioned by the Glimmerglass Festival

Directed by Kimille Howard
Music Direction by Marvin Mills
Scenery designed by James F. Rotondo III
Costumes designed by Jessica Jahn
The scenery and costumes were originally created for the Glimmerglass Festival.

#MaryCardwellDawsonDC

In English with projected English titles
This performance is approximately 70 minutes, with no intermission.

The Passion of Mary Caldwell Dawson, Copyright��ݮ��Ƶ��Ѱ�app © 2022 All rights reserved.
Produced by arrangement with Sandra Seaton, The Barbara Hogenson Agency, Inc., and Bill Holab Music
The Play and Text for the original music of The Passion of Mary Caldwell Dawson, Copyright��ݮ��Ƶ��Ѱ�app © 2022 Sandra Seaton
The Original music, The Passion of Mary Caldwell Dawson, Copyright��ݮ��Ƶ��Ѱ�app © 2022 Carlos Simon All rights reserved.

Welcome Letter from the General Director

Dear Friends,

In 2019, the seeds for The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson were planted when Carlos Simon, now our Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence, was an emerging composer applying to be part of WNO’s 2020 American Opera Initiative. Carlos and Sandra Seaton, each creating opera for the first time, wrote Night Trip. It was a haunting piece that gained attention from all corners of the American opera world.

Many commissions have followed, including Carlos’ collaboration with Marc Bamuthi Joseph in last season’s Written in Stone, an extraordinary piece called it all falls down. When Francesca Zambello commissioned Carlos and Sandra again, it was to tell the story of Mary Cardwell Dawson, whose name should have already been known to all of us in the opera world, but was not.

When the great Denyce Graves got to know the story so intimately by portraying Mary Cardwell Dawson for the Glimmerglass Festival premiere, she was inspired to go further. She founded the Denyce Graves Foundation that not only champions the next generation of diverse talent, but also tells the stories of “hidden voices” in our cultural history.

It is a privilege to work with people of such talent as all those named above. For WNO, it is particularly meaningful that this performance features a collaboration between Denyce, who is one of the great artists of our era, and WNO’s own Cafritz Young Artists. Their relationship mirrors those in the true story of Mary Cardwell Dawson, who believed so deeply in the talents of the young people around her, and worked fearlessly to make sure their voices were heard.

Thank you for being part of the WNO family and making this possible.

Timothy O’Leary
General Director of WNO

Welcome Letter from the Artistic Director

Dear Friends of WNO,

Welcome to The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson by Sandra Seaton and Carlos Simon.

This play with music grew out of the quiet moments during the pandemic, when I was doing a lot of reading about unsung Black American performing artists. Our dramaturg, Kelley Rourke, brought Mary Cardwell Dawson to my attention. The hurdles she faced as a Black female impresaria of an opera company in the 1940s are almost unimaginable. I was tremendously moved and inspired by her dedication to her artists and to the art form.

The play unfolds as members of the National Negro Opera Company are in rehearsal for a performance of Carmen, scheduled to be held that evening at an outdoor performance facility in Washington, D.C. Fearing that rain will keep the audience away, Madame Dawson inquires about renting a concert hall, but the hall manager informs her that the venue has a policy of segregated seating. The future of the company hangs in the balance: according to the Union agreement, the artists and other personnel must be paid, whether the concert takes place or not. An outdoor performance in the rain is sure to be a financial disaster, but an indoor performance with segregated seating is unacceptable. The young singers in her charge, desperate to perform, question her stubbornness, but she puts herself on the line, proving to them that, in some areas, compromise is not an option.

This is the third incarnation of this play with music, which premiered at Glimmerglass in 2021, and with each revival, the team has deepened the story. The collaboration between Sandra Seaton and Carlos Simon began with our 2020 American Opera Initiative, when WNO brought Carlos and Sandra together for their first opera, Night Trip. It has been a thrill for all of us to watch their careers grow in the wake of that experience. We believe strongly in investing in artists, and we couldn’t be prouder that Carlos now serves as Composer-in-Residence for the Kennedy Center.

Celebrating American artists and American stories is an important part of call to artistic citizenship. I hope you will find everything about The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson as inspiring as I do.

Warmly,

Francesca Zambello
Artistic Director of WNO

Playwright's Note

I knew, from my own family, that there were stories that had not been told. After speaking with Dr. Karen Bryan, Mary Cardwell Dawson’s biographer, and delving into the life of this remarkable woman, I was fired with the ambition to write a play that would dramatize this world of “unrecorded history,” the world of Mary Cardwell Dawson, a woman whose life story challenges generally held assumptions about African Americans of her era, assumptions about gender roles, and the contributions of African Americans to the arts. This play is my tribute to a woman who would not allow herself to be defined by racism but who would instead live fully, dedicated to her art, whatever the obstacles.

During the era of segregation, middle-class white people would rarely come in contact with African Americans who were teachers, doctors, morticians, businesspeople, or even more rarely an artistic director of an opera company. Typically, only maids and servants would come to a white family’s home. My family, and many others like them, lived behind the veil in a whole society hidden from view.

In The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson, I was channeling my mother, my grandmother, and their friends in order to create a world of real people, not bound by racial stereotype, but portrayed in their actual circumstances, a way of life entirely different from views held about African Americans during that era. I ask the audience to help me pull the veil aside, take my hand and enter the world of Mary Cardwell Dawson.

By Sandra Seaton

Cast

Mary Cardwell Dawson

Denyce Graves
Isabelle

Amber Monroe‡
Frank

Jonathan Pierce Rhodes*‡
Phoebe

Taylor-Alexis DuPont*

Creative Team

Music Director/Pianist

Marvin Mills
Director

Kimille Howard
Assistant Director

Dustin Z West
Surtitles

Kelley Rourke
Stage Manager

Laura R. Krause ▲
Scenery Designer

James F. Rotondo III
Costume Designer

Jessica Jahn
Lighting Designer

A.J. Guban
Sound Designer

Andrew Harper
Hair and Makeup Designer

Anika Seitu

* Washington National Opera Debut
‡ Current member of the Cafritz Young Artist Program

▲Washington National Opera AGMA production staff member with 10 or more seasons of service

Meet the Artists

Meet the Creative Team

Staff

Production Staff

Assistant Stage Manager

Sean Corcoran ▲
Titles Coordinator

Corinne Hayes
Titles Operator

Isabel Martin

▲ Washington National Opera AGMA production staff member with 10 or more seasons of service

Washington National Opera Staff

General DirectorTimothy O’Leary

Artistic DirectorFrancesca Zambello

Artistic and Production Operations

Acting Director of Artistic and Production OperationsPaul Horpedahl

Manager of Rehearsal Planning and Artist ServicesElizabeth Ventura

Artistic Operations ManagerCayley Carroll

Orchestra Manager, KCOHO/WNOOAshley Stonebraker

Head of Music StaffMichael Baitzer

Chorus MasterSteven Gathman

Music AdministratorKen Weiss

Music Librarian Shelley Friedman

Orchestra Assistant Manager, KCOHO/WNOOMolly Jackson

Artistic Operations Assistant ManagerBeth Griffin

Rehearsal Planning CoordinatorLee Cromwell

Artist Services CoordinatorCharlotte Cugnini

Rehearsal Planning and Artist Services AssistantKeely Fravel

Artistic Operations InternSarah Harnden

Artistic Planning

Director of Artistic PlanningSamuel Gelber

Costumes

Costume DirectorMarsha M. LeBoeuf

Associate Costume DirectorMark Hamberger

Costume CoordinatorTimm Burrow

Assistant Costume CoordinatorMegan Repetski

Costume Stock CoordinatorTessa D. Grippaudo

DraperWilliam Nelson

First HandStella Pivnik

StitcherRose Peele

Development

Chief Development OfficerBecca Kitelinger

Major Gifts OfficerPhoebe Gor

Development Operations CoordinatorKatie Laakso

Director of Foundation RelationsMaryvonne Neptune

Director of Corporate RelationsEllen Palmer

Major Gifts OfficerKate Sainer

Assistant Manager, CirclesHannah Sparrow

Assistant Manager, StewardshipAmelia Wingard

Director, Individual Giving and OperationsNicole Woods

Cafritz Young Artist Program

Director of the Cafritz Young Artist Program and the American Opera InitiativeChristopher Cano

Cafritz Young Artist Program CoordinatorCaitlin Oldham

American Opera Initiative Artistic Advisor Kelley Rourke

Education

Director of EducationWarren Williams

Manager, Music and WNO EducationAshi Day

Marketing

Vice President of MarketingDerek A. Johnson

Marketing ManagerBritney Brewington

Senior Manager, Social MediaChristopher George

Assistant Manager, Social MediaChenay Newton

Advertising

Director, Creative and Brand StrategyScott Bushnell

Director, Advertising and ProductionSuanne Hall

Manager, Advertising CommunicationsBecca Kraybill

Manager, Advertising DesignFreeman Robinson

Assistant Manager, Advertising CommunicationsLily Maroni

Assistant Manager, Advertising DesignDana Cohen

Copywriter/CoordinatorJessica Sensenig

Senior Graphic DesignerGloria Roh

Advertising CoordinatorLizzie Stoltz

Office of the General Director

Strategy and Governance ManagerKathleen Dean

Executive Assistant to the General DirectorMelanie Leinbach

Public Relations

Director of Public Relations, ClassicalJen Luzzo

Public Relations Coordinator, ClassicalPaige Wearmouth

Technical

Technical DirectorPaul Taylor

Associate Technical DirectorChristy Blackham

Assistant Technical DirectorSean Miller

Lighting Director A.J. Guban

Properties CoordinatorRachel Witt

Washington National Opera warmly acknowledges the work of the following Kennedy Center partners and their teams:

Vice President of Dance and International ProgrammingAlicia Adams

Vice President of Public RelationsEileen Andrews

Vice President of DigitalAndrew Cary

Vice President of FacilitiesDarren Comedy

Vice President of Institutional GivingDonna Cutro

Vice President of Theater Producing and ProgrammingJeffrey Finn

Vice President of Campus PlanningMelvin Gerald, Jr.

Senior Vice President of Marketing and Chief Strategy OfficerKevin Giglinto

Interim Senior Vice President of Artistic PlanningMonica Holt

Vice President and Artistic Director of Social ImpactMarc Bamuthi Joseph

Senior Vice President of EducationJordan LaSalle

Vice President of Government RelationsLaurie McKay

Senior Vice President of DevelopmentLeslie Miller

Chief Human Resources OfficerBarbara Polk

Vice President of ProductionGlenn Turner

Acting Senior Vice President of OperationsTom Whitaker

Staff for the Terrace Theater

Theater Manager Xiomara Mercado*

Head Usher Randy Howes

Production Manager Rich Ching

Master Technicians Dustin Dunsmore and Susan Kelleher

Box Office Treasurer Ron Payne

*Represented by ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers.

Steinway Piano Gallery is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston pianos, the official pianos of the Kennedy Center.

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The box office at the Kennedy Center is represented by I.A.T.S.E, Local #868.

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The technicians at the Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E., AFL-CIO-CLC, the professional union of theatrical technicians.