“Das Barbecu” press release
ON SITE OPERA THROWS ITS COWBOY HAT INTO THE RING WITH A SIDE OF BARBECUE THIS WINTER
2020 Takes a Witty and Delish Start with Das Barbecü
NEW YORK, November 11, 2019 – On Site Opera, an organization dedicated to presenting site-specific opera productions in non-traditional venues throughout New York City, will present Das Barbecü at Hill Country Barbecue Market, January 26- February 11, 2020. A delicious piece, both musically and gastronomically, Das Barbecü is a reimagining of Wagner’s Ring Cycle that takes place in Texas by way of Chelsea’s tastiest Barbecue pit.
With book and lyrics by Jim Luigs and music by Scott Warrender, Das Barbecü is a fast-paced farce with a songbook that ranges from Broadway to Texas swing, from jazz to twangy country and western. As mismatched lovers meet on the day of their double shotgun wedding with five actors playing more than 30 outrageous characters at breakneck speed, the work is where opera, musical theater and dinner theater intersect. The first full production to be done in the lower-level music space of Hill Country Barbecue, On Site Opera continues to fulfill its overarching mission of presenting productions in immersive surroundings to create an authentic and intimate experience for all of the senses.
While opera buffs will relish in Luigs’ clever appropriation of the tangled Wagnerian plot, three generations of feuding families, a magic ring of power, wild west lariat tricks, a synchronized swimming revue, a song and dance tribute to the joys of guacamole, and a sweet two-step will add up to a wild comedy for theatergoers of all kinds. “The musical is really wonderful about preserving the importance of family relationships from the original Ring story,” explains Eric Einhorn, General and Artistic Director of On Site Opera. “That is something that this production will dive deeper into. Some of the characters are larger than life, either in the God-like or Texas sort of way, but the production will focus on the humanity of every character and explore the tricky dynamics we all experience in life and love.”
With nine performances, funding for this production is made possible through grant funding from The New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Howard Gilman Foundation. Casting will be announced shortly.
SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFORMATION
Das Barbecü will be performed:
Sunday, January 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, January 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Dinner seating, which includes a family style BBQ dinner is $95, and bar seating, without dinner, $60. Tickets are available online at https://osopera.org/productions/bbq/.
VENUE INFORMATION
Hill Country Barbecue Market is located at 30 W 26th Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan and accessible by the 7 and C trains.
REPERTORY NOTES
Das Barbecü | Premiered in 1991 by Seattle Opera
Book and Lyrics by Jim Luigs
Music by Scott Warrender
Conducted by Emily Senturia
Directed by Eric Einhorn and Katherine M. Carter
Costume design by Whitney Locher
Lighting Design by Shawn K. Kaufman
A nod to Wagner’s Ring Cycle merged with a comedic Texas fable, the songbook ranges from Broadway to Texas swing, from jazz to twangy country and western as mismatched lovers meet on the day of their double shotgun wedding with five actors playing more than 30 outrageous characters at breakneck speed.
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ABOUT ON SITE OPERA
On Site Opera produces site-specific operas in non-traditional venues throughout New York City (and beyond!). By staging each opera in an environment specific to the piece, OSO surrounds the audience and artists in the music and drama of the story, amplifying the connection between the world of the opera and the reality of the audience. To date, OSO has produced operas in more than a dozen unique venues, including Shostakovich’s The Tale of The Silly Baby Mouse using large-scale puppets in performances for families at the Bronx Zoo; Gershwin’s Blue Monday in the historic Cotton Club of Harlem; and Rameau’s Pygmalion in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum which explored new technology in opera through the use of Google Glass supertitles. To date, On Site Opera has produced 17 operas in as many locations, re-introducing New Yorkers to their city by way of opera.
ABOUT HILL COUNTRY BARBECUE MARKET
Hill Country Hospitality was founded by Marc Glosserman with the vision of bringing the authentic cuisine, original culture, and famed music of the Central Texas barbecue belt to New York City. In 2007, with his wife & partner, Kristen, the company opened its flagship restaurant, the wildly successful Hill Country Barbecue Market, on 26th Street in Manhattan. The combination of a unique and inviting ambiance, and a mouthwatering menu including meats smoked with traditional Texan Post Oak, plus great cocktails, Texas brews and lots of live music, made Hill Country Barbecue Market an instant classic, garnering rave reviews, including a two-star review by The New York Times, topping Wall Street Journal’s Best Barbecue Restaurants list, and earning a Critic’s Pick by New York Magazine. In 2011, a new outpost of Hill Country Barbecue Market opened in Washington DC with much acclaim. Visit www.hillcountry.com
