Friday–Saturday, Feb. 25–26, 2022
8 p.m.
The Ohio State University School of Music
College of Arts and Sciences
Hughes Hall Auditorium
OHIO STATE OPERA THEATRE
presents
Sweets by Kate
Music by Griffin Candey
Libretto by Thom Miller
Lara Semetko-Brooks, director
Ed Bak, music director/head vocal coach
Malik Khalfani, conductor/vocal coach
Bram Wayman, chorus master/vocal coach
Isabella Gabriel, assistant stage director
Brooke Stiles, stage manager
Natalie Mahalla, assistant stage manager
Kristen Kearney, costume coordinator
Braden Graves, lighting designer
Special thank you to
The Department of Theatre, Film & Media and
Columbus Children’s Theatre for props and sets
Accompaniment by Chamber Brews
Devin Copfer, violin
Elizabeth Mandić-Nowac, violin
Emily Way, viola
Sam Johnson, cello
Funding provided by the College of Arts and Sciences
Special Outreach Presentation
Open Dress Rehearsal for High School Students
Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022
8 p.m.
SYNOPSIS
Act I — Joe and Bev’s Famous Candy Shoppe
The opera opens on the brightly-lit candy counter. Assorted customers clamber around as the shop owner, Joe, unveils a new jingle for the store that he wrote with his late wife, Beverly. As they file out for the day, Joe reminisces on the long history of the store — beginning with nothing, nearing bankruptcy, and turning around by Beverly’s influence. He laments that no one remains with whom he can share the shop’s success. Carla, an elderly friend of Joe’s from the town, returns in an attempt to cheer Joe’s spirits with homemade meatloaf. As Joe eats the meal, he freezes — Carla, the (very literal) Devil in disguise, has poisoned Joe’s meal in order to fulfill Beverly’s unfulfilled debts and to punish Joe’s hubris. Carla mocks and taunts the man as he twitches, gasps, and finally succumbs to death. Both Joe’s soul and the candy shoppe now belong to Carla — or so she believes.
The next day: after Joe’s wake, a group of gossipy women congregate — their discussion of Joe’s death quickly transitions into the hearsay about Joe’s daughter, Elizabeth, a lesbian living in San Francisco, who will be returning (with her partner, Kate) to run the vacant candy shoppe in her father’s stead. Carla intercepts the women’s gossip, which she finds both intriguing and frustrating — if she is to truly inherit the shoppe, she will need to shoo them back to San Francisco somehow.
Elizabeth and Kate arrive in the town, greeted by Carla. Returning to the shop for the first time in many years, Elizabeth is struck by conflicting emotions — bright childhood memories, as well as combative memories from her adolescence. Kate, a beacon of positivity, reassures her that new chapters mean new possibilities. Suddenly, a dweeby high schooler, Doofey MacLaran, knocks on the door and asks for a job — which he needs, he explains, to impress Denise, the girl of his dreams. Elizabeth has no patience for him, but Kate sees a glimmer of hope in him and hires him on as a cashier (and her personal sous chef). Carla returns as the three prepare to bake for the following day’s re-opening, and offers a free bottle of Beverly’s “secret ingredient” — in reality, it is a vial of Despair that Carla hopes will sabotage the girls’ treats and drive them away. They gladly accept and begin baking through the night.
The next day, Carla wakes to greet the Despair-driven town, only to find one beaming with triumph — she discovers (all too late) that the potion she handed over the previous day was Success, not Despair. Only Kate, who doesn’t eat sweets, remains unaffected by the potion. Now, the town jauntily lists all of their accomplishments and joys and victories, and Carla is left to fume and plot how to turn the situation on its head.
Act II — In the Same Shop, Two Weeks Later
The shop remains in a whirlwind of 100% success — the town loves the shoppe (and the girls) so much that they’ve renamed the place Sweets by Kate. Carla enters, completely drained by how jolly everyone is and attempting to find a chink in the armor. One appears: Kate, who has been furiously baking to keep up with demand, asks Carla if she has any more of her secret molasses, as they’ve run out. Overjoyed, Carla obliges and, after triple-checking labels, offers them the Despair, her original intention.
The effects are immediately evident: the following day, the positivity from the first potion vanishes, and the town begins to devour itself. Soufflés come out burnt, dates are cancelled, jobs are lost, and their anger rises to a fever pitch. Malleable in their rage, Carla directs the town’s animosity towards the shoppe, and the girls jam the door to prevent the town from tearing the place apart.
Elizabeth, under the influence of the Despair, begins to direct blame at Kate, whom she accuses of orchestrating the town’s emotional collapse. After deflecting as much as possible, Kate finally snaps at Elizabeth: Kate lays into Elizabeth for searching for acceptance in a place where it cannot be found — in the deceased, in her parents who did not understand her before they passed. She reminds Elizabeth that their life in San Francisco still waits for them, and that they don’t need permission from the past to live in the future. Elizabeth snaps out of her artificial rage, and the two reconcile.
The opera ends with Elizabeth and Kate packing the shop back up to return to San Francisco. Alone by the register, Elizabeth offers up a small statement of reconciliation to her parents — she knows now that her future isn’t dictated by the shadows of the past, and she offers a final goodbye to her parents. A small group of townspeople arrive to say goodbye to the girls (and to offer condolences for almost killing them). Elizabeth and Kate are grateful for the gesture and happily head home to San Francisco. Carla, who bought the shop from the girls, hires Doofey as a shopkeep and a “taste tester.” As her first order of business, she asks Doofey to flip the sandwich board outside — it now reads CARLA’S FAMOUS MEATLOAF.
ACT 1
Scene 1 — Joe, Carla, Ensemble
Scene 2 — Lady 1, Lady 2, Lady 3, Mrs. Webster, Carla
Scene 3 — Carla, Elizabeth, Kate
Scene 4 — Elizabeth, Kate, Doofey, Carla
Scene 5 — Carla, Doofey, Soufflé Lady, Golf Man, Ensemble
ACT 2
Scene 1 — Elizabeth, Kate, Carla, Doofey, Mrs. Webster, Ensemble
Scene 2 — Carla, Golf Man, Soufflé Lady, Doofey, Ensemble
Scene 3 — Elizabeth and Kate
Scene 4 — Elizabeth, Kate, Doofey, Carla, Mrs. Webster, Denise, Ensemble
CAST
Elizabeth Brigmann — Ruth Peart
Kate Mayfield — Dana Carlson-Kottke
Carla Silverton — Alexandria Schmidt
Doofey MacLaran — Sarah Julien
Joe Brigmann — David Scott
Mrs. Webster — Anabella Petronsi
Lady 1 — Sadiyah Babatunde
Lady 2 — Leigha Schumaker
Lady 3 — Gabriella Sanchez
Soufflé Lady — Samantha Sayar
Denise — Isabella Gabriel
Man 2 / Golf Man — Luke Bornhorst
Woman 1 / Crooner — Karenna Peterson
Ensemble — Natalie Mahalla
Join us…
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