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CAST

CREATIVE TEAM

The Secret River is Opera Orlando’s first commissioned new work based on the young adult book of the same name by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. A Pulitzer prize- winning author, Ms. Rawlings was well known for her novel, The Yearling, and several other writings that chronicled her experiences living in and around Central Florida. Her young adult book, The Secret River, was published posthumously in 1955 and subsequently awarded a Newbery Honor Book Award.

The world premiere of this one-act chamber opera will be in December 2021 as part of the 2021-22 season. The production will feature musicians from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and members of the Opera Orlando Youth Company under the baton of Everett McCorvey, founder and music director of the American Spiritual Ensemble. The piece will be directed by Dennis Whitehead Darling featuring puppetry created and performed by Michelee Puppets.

SYNOPSIS

A young girl named Calpurnia lives near Cross Creek, Florida, during the Great Depression. When she learns that her community has fallen on hard times and faces starvation and that her father’s livelihood as a fisherman is threatened, she seeks the advice of Mother Albirtha, a wise woman who lives deep in the forest. Albirtha tells Calpurnia about a secret river teeming with fish and that she’ll find it only when she learns to trust her imagination. Calpurnia heeds Mother Albirtha’s advice, saves the community and her father’s business—but in the end, also learns a profound lesson about humility and the true meaning of altruism.

“A secret river,
Flows through us all,
Young and old,
Big and small.”

HAVE A LISTEN

LEARN MORE

To book our studio artists for a special preview performance of this new opera for all audiences, contact Sarah Purser, studio artist program director, at spurser@operaorlando.org.

The commissioning of Stella C.Y. Sung for The Secret River (a new opera for all audiences based on the book by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings) received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Additional funding provided by the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation, The Pabst Steinmetz Foundation, Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.