Karole Lewis Inspires Eastern Opera's Upcoming Otello
Warren, NJ (PRWEB) July 10, 2013 -- Karole Lewis of Warren, New Jersey, and formerly of New York and Northern California, is the General Director and Founder of Eastern Opera. Moreover, Ms. Lewis is singing the role of Desdemona in the upcoming production of Otello. Karole Lewis is a most extraordinary person in that she also is preparing, building, constructing and conceiving all the sets, costumes, publicity, stage direction, chorus rehearsals, and anything else that is part of a full-scale opera production.
Described as “petite but powerful” by Janice Rieser of the Times Tribune, Ms. Lewis considers herself “mini but mighty”. We asked her what allows her to accomplish so much in such a short time and she replied: “In my mind, I am able to visualize the big picture. Once I have the vision, I begin working on the required components. When an element is completed, I celebrate and start the next.”
For over 25 years, Karole Lewis has maintained a full career as an operatic soprano in New Jersey, New York and California. While in California, Ms. Lewis co-founded with her husband and lead tenor, Peter Lewis, the highly regarded Santa Cruz Bay City Opera Company located in Santa Cruz, California, a small beach town located 75 miles south of San Francisco. Over a span of nearly ten years, “Bay City Opera” produced scores of concerts and most notably, fully-staged operas with orchestra, including productions of Carmen, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Die Fledermaus, Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Magic Flute, Elixir of Love and Tosca, as well as many one-act operas and operettas. In addition, Karole Lewis successfully marshaled the combined forces of local soloists, instrumentalists, choristers and school-aged children so that each opera provided opportunities for all in the community to perform, collaborate with others and learn. Moving to New York and then New Jersey, Karole Lewis has continued her quest to build an opera company that sets high professional standards and provides special opportunities to the many talented and appreciative musicians in the local communities.
“The most important thing is that we produce quality opera.” Ms. Lewis continued. “All my efforts are focused on creating sets and costumes that are beautiful and believable. When I stage direct, I am always thinking of the drama and I constantly ask myself and the performers: why did Verdi write this and what should we do with it as actors. Ultimately it is up to the cast to bring the vision to life and the cast of Otello is awesome.”
Karole Lewis has built alliances with Dr. Robert Butts and the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey and with the committed Board members of the Brook Theatre in Bound Brook, New Jersey in order to realize her dreams of building and sustaining an opera company that will serve artists and audiences in northern and central New Jersey. “Dr. Butts and I have a wonderful relationship.” Ms. Lewis said. “We share a common vision that allows our collaboration to achieve high standards.”
Karole Lewis is peripatetic and multi-dimensional in her approach to leading an opera company. Indeed, today on July 4th, she has already measured her husband, Peter, who will sing the role of Otello in the upcoming August production, for his Act II caftan costume which she will also design and sew together herself. Yesterday, while in New York City, Ms. Lewis did what she loves to do: she purchased special material from the garment district! And also today, Ms. Lewis has worked on her own preparation for the role of Desdemona, and with her husband, Peter Lewis, has vocalized and practiced several demanding parts from the opera Otello. All this before the July 4th barbeque even begins!
In the end, once Karole Lewis hits the stage, audiences will be mesmerized by a singular talent with exceptional vocal range and dynamic abilities, accompanied by an artistic and noble assumption of a role that demands vocal and theatrical range, subtlety and vocal heft. If anything, witnessing a Karole Lewis production is an event in itself and one cannot fail to see the talent and the glorious majesty within this beautiful, poised and entirely professional artist. As we move to the end of the July 4th holiday, Karole Lewis remains hard at work at: completing Otello’s Act II costume; finalizing staging details of the emotional violence of the Act IV death scene; and even finding the time to do some vocalizing in preparation of an all-day Saturday staging rehearsal. Karole concludes: “opera is my passion and leading an opera company is my dream fulfilled. I invite our potential patrons to share the excitement and the grandeur of New Jersey’s 'new' Eastern Opera Company.”
Eastern Opera Corp. is a nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. Specifically, Eastern Opera has been formed to encourage and instruct individuals for the purpose of improving and developing their capabilities, to educate the public on subjects useful to the individual and beneficial to the community, and to promote the arts and culture to the local communities. The first opera performance, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (May, 2013) was met with standing ovations. For more information contact Lou Kersey at loukersey(at)easternopera(dot)org or visit http://www.easternopera.org.
Lou Kersey, Eastern Opera Inc, http://www.easternopera.org, 908-566-5708, [email protected]
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