Héctor Alvarez, director
Salmah Beydoun, set designer
Ashley Kae Snyder, costume designer
Claire Chrzan, lighting designer

La hija de Rappaccini
by Daniel Catán and Juan Tovar

A bold new production of Rappaccini’s Daughter offers a chilling parable for the 21^st century. Directed by Héctor Alvarez and designed by Salmah Beydoun (set), Claire Chrzan (lights), and Ashley Kae Snyder (costumes), the production reimagines Dr. Rappaccini as a modern-day Frankenstein presiding over a toxic, bio-engineered garden of Eden. In his quest to develop a race of superhumans, Rappaccini creates Beatriz, a genetically modified woman infused with the poison of venomous flowers. Her very touch brings death, rendering her a prisoner inside her father’s garden. Her tragic love story with the student Giovanni culminates in a visceral spectacle of societal self-destruction, as the production confronts the precarious balance between scientific progress and ethical responsibility in a world teetering on the brink.

Héctor Alvarez, director
Héctor Alvarez is an interdisciplinary artist from Spain working in performance, theater, film, and opera. His directing has been praised as “visually gorgeous and fulsome, so rich and sensitive in detail” (The Chicago Reader). Alvarez is a Princess Grace Award winner, Drama League Directing Fellow, and Watson Fellow, and he was artist in residence at the Antonio Gala Foundation in Spain.Recent directing credits include Kate Soper's opera Here Be Sirens; the plays Roberto Zucco and The Water Station (CalArts, Los Angeles); and We’re Gonna Die, a film re-imagining of Young Jean Lee’s existential cabaret about mortality. The film was created in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and was named one of 2020’s Top Cultural Picks by WDCB’s The Arts Section. Alvarez is the founder of Stupleme, a collective of emerging BIPOC and immigrant artists committed to experimentation, and is assistant professor of theater at Emory University.

Salmah Beydoun, set designer
Salmah Beydoun is a scenic artist, architect, and deviser of collective work based in Los Angeles and Mexico City. Her work includes theatrical, choreographic, and art installation productions. In parallel to her performance-design-focused art practice, she thrives as a motion graphics and 3D artist for multidisciplinary media. Beydoun’s designs have been presented in venues like REDCAT (Los Angeles), Studio Teatr (Warsaw), Boska Komedia International Theater Festival (Krakow), Centro Cultural del Bosque (Mexico), Grotowski Institute (Wroclaw), and Mandeville Gallery (San Diego). She holds an architecture degree from UNAM and an M.F.A. in scenic design from CalArts. Since 2015, she has worked in many plays, operas, ballets, and musicals such as Così fan tutte, Carmen, Constellations, Rent, Le nozze de Figaro, and more. Beydoun is the recipient of the 2019 Princess Grace Award and the Fabergé Theater Honor, and she received second place in the 2022 World Stage Design in the emerging category.

Ashley Kae Snyder, costume designer
Ashley Kae Snyder is interested in gender expression through dress, character development in tiny details, and collaborating to create surrealistic worlds. Recent credits include Florist (short film), Euripides’ Herakles (theater), I Miss the Mom I Once Knew (stop-motion), and Unveiling the Veil (immersive horror-theater). Snyder holds an M.F.A. in experience and production design, specializing in costumes, from California Institute of the Arts and a B.S. in media studies with an emphasis in digital film from Utah Tech University.

Claire Chrzan, lighting designer
Claire Chrzan is a Los Angeles-based lighting designer originally from Chicago. Her work has been seen at the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Manual Cinema, Writers Theatre, Northlight Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, REDCAT, the Joffrey Ballet’s Joffrey Academy, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Public Theater in New York, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, and Centro de Arte Moderna in Lisbon. In addition to designing for live performance, Chrzan is a lighting designer at the architectural lighting firm Banks Landl, where she designs for a range of projects, including hospitality, residential, themed entertainment, and more. Chrzan holds an M.F.A. in experience design from California Institute of the Arts and a B.A. in theatrical design from Columbia College Chicago.

Estefanía Fadul, director
Tanya Orellana, scenic designer
Christopher Vergara, costume designer
Carolina Ortiz Herrera, lighting designer

La hija de Rappaccini
by Daniel Catán and Juan Tovar

This new vision for La hija de Rappaccini leans into the surrealist and Latiné gothic horror of the narrative, where the boundaries between worlds — scientific and organic, dream and reality, old and new — begin to dissolve. The garden will evoke a magical realism, full of seductive, otherworldly beauty, contrasting sharply with the external world. The design will reflect the tension between the sterile, scientific realm and the lush, seductive surrealism of the garden. Drawing subtly from Mexican mythology and the hermetic tradition, we reject moralistic dualism, framing the garden and its “poison” as symbols of alienation and the fractured self, rather than evil. As the opera unfolds, the visual and thematic barriers between these realms will crack, leaving audiences questioning reality and the nature of unity. This haunting yet ambiguous post-colonial vision of Catán/Tovar’s reinterpretation will challenge traditional narratives and frameworks, making it both visually captivating and philosophically thought-provoking.

Estefanía Fadul, director
Estefanía Fadul is a NYC-based Colombian American director and co-artistic director of Ensemble Studio Theatre. Recent projects include the world premieres of Eva Luna by Caridad Svich (Repertorio Español), The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle (Philadelphia Theater Company), and Carla’s Quince, created with The Voting Project to mobilize Latiné voters (Drama League Award nomination). Fadul has developed new work off-Broadway and regionally at the Public Theater, Playwrights’ Realm, NYTW, INTAR Theatre, Chautauqua, Audible, and more. She is a recipient of NYSAF’s Pfaelzer Award and fellowships including the Drama League Directors Project, O’Neill National Directors Fellowship, Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship, and Van Lier Fellowship at Repertorio Español. She serves on the Drama League’s Board of Directors and Latinx Theatre Commons’ Advisory Committee. She is a New Georges affiliated artist and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and SDC. Fadul holds a B.A. from Vassar College. estefaniafadul.com.

Tanya Orellana, scenic designer
Tanya Orellana (she/her) designs performance spaces for theater, opera, and immersive experiences. Her work has been seen in venues across the U.S., including the Kennedy Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Huntington Gardens, the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Cal Shakes, Los Angeles State Historic Park, the Getty Villa, and the Greek Theatre. Select credits include Sweet Land, directed by Yuval Sharon and Cannupa Hanska Luger (The Industry); Octavio Solis’ Mother Road, directed by David Mendizábal (Berkeley Rep); Shayan Lotfi’s What Became of Us, directed by Jennifer Chang (Atlantic Stage 2); María Irene Fornés’ Fefu and Her Friends, directed by Pam MacKinnon; Qui Nguyen’s Poor Yella Rednecks, directed by Jaime Castañeda (American Conservatory Theater); and For The People by Larissa FastHorse and Ty Defoe, directed by Michael John Garcés. She received her M.F.A. in scenic design from CalArts and is a recipient of the Princess Grace Fabergé Theater Award. She is an organizing member of La Gente: The Latiné Production Network and a member of Wingspace Theatrical Design. tanyaorellana.com

Christopher Vergara, costume designer

Christopher Vergara is a queer Panamanian American activist, educator, and costume designer for theater, dance, opera, and live events. Select credits include Living & Breathing (Two River Theater), Fabulation (Billie Holiday Theatre), American Mariachi (Alley Theatre), Espejos: Clean (Studio Theater),How to Melt ICE (Boundless Theatre Company), Ayodele Casel: Artists at the Center (New York City Center), Elián (Miami New Drama), Detroit ’67 (Detroit Public Theatre), Party People (Actors Theatre), Cendrillon (University of Michigan), Anna in the Tropics (Barrington Stage Company), A Survivor’s Odyssey (White Snake Projects), Macbeth (Lewis Center), In the Heights (Orlando Shakes), Golem of Havana (La MaMa), La traviata and Madama Butterfly (Brevard), and Harlequinade and Majisimas (Ballets Trockadero). Select TV credits include Six by Sondheim and Notes from the Field (HBO) and That Damn Michael Che (Max). Vergara is a member of IATSE-USA 829, Wingspace, and La Gente: The Latiné Production Network. Follow at @cavergaradesign and visit christophervergara.com.

Carolina Ortiz Herrera, lighting designer
Carolina Ortiz Herrera is a Mexican-born and New York-based lighting designer for theater, opera, and dance. Selective credits include Good Night, Oscar (Broadway); Born with Teeth (OSF, Guthrie, and Alley Theatre); American Mariachi (Alley Theatre and Arizona Theatre Company); Cebollas (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); The Game (PlayMakers Repertory Company); Native Gardens (Dallas Theater Center); Doubt: A Parable (Westport Country Playhouse); Macbeth (Merrimack Repertory Theatre); and Seven Guitars (Yale Repertory Theatre). Her opera and dance credits include Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (Minnesota Opera and Austin Opera); I as Another (BAC); Florencia en el Amazonas (Shubert Theatre); Everything Rises (BAM and Royce Hall) and The Silent Lyre (Lighten Theatre). Other theater credits include By The Queen and Medea: Re-Versed (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival); Hedda Gabler and The Winter’s Tale (Bedlam Theatre Company); and Yellowman, an Audelco Awards Best Lighting Design nominee (Billie Holiday Theatre). Herrera holds an M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama. carolinaeortiz.com

Marinette Gomez, director
Hayley E. Wallenfeldt, set designer
John Polles, costume designer
Seojung Jang, lighting designer

Breaking the Waves
by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek

Breaking the Waves has an unshielded regard for the force of good and evil that we often shy away from. We watch Bess McNeill struggle between her religious ideals and her love for her new husband, only to be betrayed in the end by the community she once found comfort in and the outsiders whom she is drawn to. Bess’ story touches on the inconsistency of human belief and the immense strength to maintain it, paralleling love. 

Centered in our production will be the use of various layerings of fabrics to represent the Isle of Skye’s mysterious nature — thick fog and crashing waves — all things that shield someone’s view and perception. We believe Bess is incredibly brave for trying to grapple with the ideals these men have placed on her. In the end, her death symbolizes her internal struggle with deep love and faith. Bess becomes one with the chaotic nature of the Isle of Skye; a visual representation of the consequences of the contradictory beliefs and expectations placed on her as a devout woman of faith.

Marinette Gomez, director
Marinette Gomez is a young, up-and-coming opera director focused on building human connection and shared experience through music and performance. A young artist director at Lyric Opera of Chicago in its 2024–2025 season, Gomez works with the staging staff throughout the season and is mentored by the visiting and resident directors. This past spring, she was the directing fellow at the Metropolitan Opera, where she acted on the directing staff for their season. She has acted as assistant director at summer programs including Chicago Summer Opera (2022) and The Glimmerglass Festival (2023–2024). As a solo director, she has directed various scenes for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, as well as University of North Florida’s Opera Program in Jacksonville, Florida. In fall 2023, she directed Bold City Opera’s inaugural production of Suor Angelica. In spring 2025, she will make her directing debut at Chicago Opera Theater with the premiere of Carlos Carillo and Stephanie Fleischmann’s new work, Remedios Varios. She will also make her directing debut this summer at Chicago Summer Opera with Handel’s Silla.

Hayley E. Wallenfeldt, set designer
Hayley E. Wallenfeldt is a Chicago-born, New York-based scenic designer and artist. They have a passion for collaborative storytelling, new work, and creating worlds just on the edge of the fantastical. Wallenfeldt has spent their entire life fascinated with the way people create space and how objects and place-making define identity. They are the set designer for Teatro Grattacielo’s upcoming world premiere of The Tin Angel by Daniel Asia and Paul Pines. Their recent credits include 13 Suits and Haven (Outer Loop Theater); Make Way for Ducklings and Pete the Cat (Hangar Theatre); Matilda (Quincy Community Theatre); Love and War (The Glimmerglass Festival); and Be Mean to Me and The Snowy Day (Northwestern University). They were the resident scenic design assistant for the 2023 Glimmerglass Festival season. Wallenfeldt received their degree in design and archaeology from Northwestern University.

John Polles, costume designer
John Polles is a New York City-based costume designer working in theater, opera, dance, film, and television. Recent design credits include Three Sisters at Columbia University. Recent associate/assistant design credits include Romeo + Juliet, Stereophonic, and The Skin of Our Teeth on Broadway; La Calisto and Rinaldo at The Glimmerglass Festival; and Teeth, I Love You So Much I Could Die, White Girl in Danger, Wolf Play, and Montag all Off-Broadway. Polles received a B.F.A. in costume design and technology from the University of Mississippi in 2019, as well as completed costume apprenticeships at The Santa Fe Opera, The Juilliard School, and Baltimore Center Stage.

Seojung Jang, lighting designer
Seojung Jang is a lighting designer for theater, opera, and dance originally from South Korea. She graduated with an M.F.A. in lighting design from Northwestern University in 2024. Recent design credits include Northwestern University’s The Tempest, The Aliens, Working: A Musical, The Revolutionists, Foreshadows of the Flesh, Me…Jane, and The Ballad of Mu Lan. She has created productions in many scales and styles for venues ranging from town halls to opulent theaters. Jang has international experience in the U.S., South Korea, Japan, China, Scotland, and Portugal. She works as a programmer, especially for musicals and plays. She worked on the musical Big Fish (directed by Scott Schwartz) at the Seoul Arts Center, and the production used 4,000 pixel panels and over 200 movers, including Vari-Lite, Martin, and Claypaky lights. Jang holds a Korea National Certificate Degree for Arts and Technicians in lighting.

Rebecca Miller Kratzer, director
Tyler Herald, set designer
Camilla Dely, costume designer
Stacey Boggs, lighting designer
Anisa Rose Threlkeld, dramaturg

La traviata
by Giuseppe Verdi and Francesco Maria Piave

In the novel La Dame aux Camélias (1848) by Alexandre Dumas (on which La traviata is based), Marguerite (Violetta) writes from her deathbed: “Do you understand, my friend? I am dying, and from my bed, I can hear a man walking to and fro in the drawing room; my creditors have put him there to see that nothing is taken away and that nothing remains to me in case I do not die. I hope they will wait till the end before they begin to sell.” Offering an examination of the patriarchal system that treats her as not only morally bankrupt but also as disposable, this production asks: What was Violetta’s life ultimately worth? Our team was inspired by the opening chapters of Dumas’ novel, imagery of time of day, and parties that have overstayed their welcome. This production opens at the auction of Violetta’s estate. She interrupts, rising like a phoenix, and the fever dream of her final year is set in motion.

Rebecca Miller Kratzer, director
Rebecca Miller Kratzer (she/her) is a New York-based theater and opera director. She works at the intersection of many forms through an artistic practice rooted in collaboration, joy, and ritual. She currently serves as the stage director in residence for Brooklyn-based The Opera Next Door (TOND), where she developed and directed a new adaptation of Carmen, sung in Spanish and orchestrated for tango quartet. Upcoming projects include work with Emmanuel Music and TOND. She has directed the operas La Carmencita (Lincoln Center, TOND); Enemies, A Love Story (Westminster Opera); In Real Life (Mostly Modern Festival); La traviata (City Lyric Opera); Antigone (Longy School of Music); Don Quichotte at Camacho’s Wedding (Opera Saratoga); The Trojan Women (Columbia University M.F.A. thesis); Cendrillon, Alcina, and Second Nature (Opera del West); and Don Giovanni, Fidelio, and La Cenerentola (NEMPAC Opera). She served as assistant director for Grounded (Washington National Opera; Michael Mayer, dir.) and Man of La Mancha (Opera Saratoga; Lawrence Edelson, dir.). Her theater work includes collaborations with Dutch Kills Theater, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Theatre Row, BAM, The New York Times, Second Stage Theater, Emerson College, Montclair State University, Fordham University, and Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts. Kratzer holds a B.A. in theater arts from Brandeis University and an M.F.A. in directing from Columbia University. She is an AGMA member and SDC associate member. Website: rebeccamillerkratzer.com. Instagram: @rebeccamillerkratzer.

Tyler Herald, set designer

Tyler Herald (he/him) is a New York-based scenic, environmental, and production designer originally from the Midwest. He gravitates toward new work and when confronted with the canon seeks to find new meanings. His recent work includes La traviata (City Lyric Opera), Rusalka (Opera Idaho), La Calisto (Montclair State University), New Works Festival (Theater Row), and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Adelphi University). Herald’s assistant and associate work includes A Wonderful World (NOLA/Chicago, Broadway, des. Adam Koch), Frozen (Tuacahn Amphitheater, des. Adam Koch), Mean Girls (São Paulo, des. Adam Koch), Like They Do in the Movies (PAC NYC, des. Neil Patel), The Penelopiad (Goodman Theatre, des. Neil Patel), Civilization to Nation (Mumbai, des. Neil Patel), The Who’s Tommy (Goodman Theatre, des. David Korins), and Beetlejuice (des. David Korins). Herald holds a B.A. in design from Western Illinois University and an M.F.A. in design from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a member of USA 829. Website: tylerrheralddesign.com. Instagram: @_tylerrherald.

Camilla Dely, costume designer
Camilla Dely is a South African costume designer and visual artist working in theater, opera, and dance. Her recent work includes King Lear (Almeida Theatre, London), Mary Gets Hers (The Playwrights Realm, Off-Broadway), Hurricane Diane (People’s Light), Attempts on Her Life (TUTA Theatre, Chicago), and Sisters (Northern Stage). Her upcoming projects include Diary of a Tap Dancer (American Repertory Theater), The Importance of Being Earnest (Portland Center Stage), and Little Shop of Horrors (People’s Light). She is a Watson Fellow and a 1/52 Project grant recipient. Dely holds a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and an M.F.A from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and she has received additional training in hybrid, contemporary performance from Headlong Performance Institute in Philadelphia. She is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. camilladely.com

Stacey Boggs, lighting designer
Stacey Boggs is an award-winning lighting designer working internationally in theater, opera, dance, and TV. Recent works include Verses at Work (651 Arts), Make a Joyful Noize (Carnegie Hall), Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes) co-designed with Lucrecia Briceno (La Jolla Playhouse), AfroCosmicMelatopia (Afrofuturism Festival), Everything for Dawn (Experiments in Opera), The In[heir]itance Project (14^th Street Y), Amp (HERE Arts Center), and Theatre Three’s Tick, Tick…Boom!, The Prom, Something Rotten!, Guys and Dolls, and The Miracle Worker. She has designed with Bill T. Jones, Dianne McIntyre, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Toshi Reagon, Doug Varone, Y Music, Manuel Vignoulle, Robert Moses, and Christopher Wheeldon. Her work is featured in Collected Light Volume Three: Women in Entertainment Lighting. She is a graduate of the University of Evansville and earned her M.F.A. in lighting design from NYU’s graduate design program. She is a proud member of USA 829. staceyboggs.com

Anisa Rose Threlkeld, dramaturg
Anisa Rose Threlkeld is a New York City-based dramaturg, actor, and musician. She received her M.F.A. in dramaturgy at Columbia University and a B.A. in drama and psychology from Vassar College. As a dramaturg, she has developed work for Syracuse Stage, City Lyric Opera, Breaking the Binary Theatre, Queens Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, HERE Arts Center, NYSAF/The Lark, The Tank, #HealMeToo Festival, NYU Tisch, Vassar College, and Columbia University. She believes that the ultimate purpose of theater is to disrupt habit.