Park City Opera’s 2026 summer season sets its sights on an iconic star-crossed story when it presents Charles Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” this weekend at the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, 1750 Kearns Blvd.
The company will perform Shakespeare’s timeless young-love tragedy, directed by Park City Opera’s Lisl Wangermann, at 7 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Patrons are encouraged to arrive early to walk through panels of visual art and history and enjoy themed concessions.
The production, which will include post-performance Q and A sessions with the artists and creative team, will run two hours and 45 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.
The cast includes soprano Nicole Heinen as Juliette, tenor Patrick Bessenbacher as Roméo, bass-baritone Joshua Hughes as Père Capulet, Juliette’s father, mezzo-soprano Allison Deady as Juliette’s maid, Gertrude, and tenor Chad Kranak and baritone Jake Stamatis in the respective roles of Tybalt and Mercutio.
The production will also feature a 12-voice chorus and a 40-piece orchestra, and it will also showcase dancers from Ballet West II. (See accompanying story.)
Patrick Bessenbacher eyes an inexperienced Roméo
“The challenge with this opera is that the music is very mature, but the role, itself, is very immature,” he said. “There’s a quote that says ‘“Roméo et Juliette” is not a romance. It’s just two dumb kids who didn’t know when to stop,’ and I’m kind of playing into that.”
Bessenbacher is a self-proclaimed “dork.”
“So, I’m infusing that into the role,” he said. “Roméo, especially in the first and second acts and a little in the third, is dorkily in love with Juliette.”
Roméo makes an emotional and devastating decision after a fatal clash between his best friend, Mercutio, and Juliette’s cousin Tybalt, which results in Roméo’s banishment, Bessenbacher said.
“That’s when he’s forced to grow up very quickly,” he said. “But deep down, he’s still just a kid. So, before all that happens with Tybalt, I try to infuse the character with as much fun-loving and carefree attitude that doesn’t think too much of consequences.”
Bessenbacher enjoys singing the Gounod score.
“I do a lot of bel canto repertoire, which is a lot of fast and light singing with a lot of light orchestration, and this is a little thicker and heavier,” he said. “But I think it’s attuned to my voice really well. I love high notes, and Gounod just kind of sits up there. So, as long as I don’t let anything get in the way with my mechanics, it works quite well.”
Bessenbacher, a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of St. Louis in Missouri who has performed with the West Bay Opera, Opera Birmingham and the Florentine Opera, enjoys working with Nicole Heinen in the opera’s title roles.
“We’ve worked together before,” he said. “She’s a great soul as a person, and she’s a fantastic artist as well. So the chemistry is easy. It makes everything smoother when you don’t have to tiptoe around how we can interact.”
For information about Patrick Besenbacher, visit patrickbessenbacher.com.
Nicole Heinen’s take on Juliette
“Juliette, I think, is someone who has been the dutiful daughter,” said the Salt Lake City-based Heinen. “She is someone who has been busting at the seams to be her most authentic self and live her own life.”
Heinen, whose husband Alex Mayon is acting principal trumpet for the Utah Symphony, also sees Juliette as someone fairly sensible — at least until she meets Roméo.
“Her world is rocked,” Heinen said. “She’s so used to having a level head, and she constantly reminds herself and him to think about things. But then at the end she finds herself not thinking through things and just taking action.”
Heinen sees much of herself in the role.
“In the Shakespeare story, Juliette is 13 or 14, but we’re kind of fusing that with an older Julitte as well,” she said. “I, myself, am the oldest child in my family, and the oldest child tends to be the one who takes care of things. We are the most responsible, and we don’t want to let our parents down. And while she wants to please her parents in that regard, the outside world comes in.”
In the beginning of the story, Juliette is betrothed to Paris, a boy from a well-regarded family, said Heinen, who has performed with the New Orleans Opera, Florentine Opera and Opera Louisiane, and won the Mary Ellen Clancy Memorial Award in the MIOpera Competition.
“I think she finds the prospect of being with somebody like Paris attractive because he’s high-status and all the things her parents want for her,” she said. “But while she’s expected to marry somebody who will elevate her status and her family’s status, there are no sparks for her, and she has to come to terms that you’re doing to let her parents down. And I think the only person who sees her for who she truly is is her nurse, Gertrude.”
For information about Nicole Heinen, visit nicoleheinensoprano.com.
Allison Deady’s insights about Gertrude
“Gertrude is one of the lower-class people in the whole show, and she loves Juliette so much,” the Philadelphia-based soprano said. “That puts her in this interesting place. She wants what’s best for Juliette, and she knows Juliette better than most people. But this is also her job. At the end of the day, Père Capulet is her boss, and she has to balance these realities of being a lower-class person and not having the same freedoms that Juliette feels she has. And I empathise with her being in an impossible situation.”
Deady, who recently joined Opera Philadelphia’s chorus roster, loves Gertrude’s sass.
“The challenge I find in this role is when I speak the words from the play I know exactly how I would say them for maximum impact, laughs and character,” she said. “Gounod writes so lyrically that it’s been fun to find ways to impart those dictions and speech nuances that audiences interpret as acting choices in these lyrical lines.”
As a mezzo-soprano, most of the roles Deady lands are character roles.
“So, they’re going to be old women, witches or villains, and this is a place I love to live,” she said. “I love the physicality of these women on stage. As you age and mature, you’re a little more in your body. You feel every movement, and that’s something I try to portray with all these women. They are less afraid to say what’s on their mind, a thing that I love.”
For information about Allison Deady, visit allisondeady.com.
Joshua Hughes adds details to Père Capulet
The Las Vegas-based bass-baritone said there is a little bit of himself in Juliette’s father, but not intentionally.
“That said, you have to bring a lot to the character that is not on the page,” he said. “Gounod focuses on Roméo and Juliette, as opposed to the societal pressures of the time. So it was really important for me to reread the Shakespeare play and watch (the iconic 1968) movie, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. There are a lot of fun things and interesting details about Père Capulet that you don’t get in Gounod’s music. So I’m trying to bring that in during times when I’m standing on stage but not singing.”
One of the things Hughes latched onto was the relationship between Père Capulet and Juliette.
“What you really can get from the Shakespeare play is how much the father loves his daughter,” he said.
Although society at the time the story takes place also influenced the Capulets, Père Capulet let his relationship with Juliette lead, Hughes said.
“Even for the 16th century, Père Capulet is very forward-thinking in that he says to Paris (Juliette’s first suitor) that they can set up this marriage, but it’s up to Paris to woo her,” he said. “There’s a line in the play when Père Capulet says, ‘What I say is on part of the equation, but you have to do your part.’”
Hughes keeps that attribute in mind when he’s rehearsing and digging into the character.
“I play fathers a lot, but I, myself, am not a father, so I have to do research — watching other fathers and talking with people,” he said.
Elevation and wildfire smoke aren’t the only challenges Hughes faces when singing Gounod’s score.’”
“My voice type as a bass-baritone, the (composition is) basso cantante — kind of a lyric bass,” he said. “That sits a little higher and more intense than most of the stuff I do. So even though my parts are short, I have to make sure I’m warmed up so I can be ready to go.”
For information about Joshua Hughes, visit joshuahughesbassbaritone.com.
Enter Jake Stamatis’ Mercutio and Chad Kranak’s Tybalt
“Mercutio was already a character I wanted to play,” said Stamatis, a baritone. “I was attracted to the Shakespeare play, and the opera came to me later when I developed an interest in opera. So, knowing there was this opera version and this part available, I already knew I wanted to do it.”
Kranak, a tenor, says performing as Tybalt is an interesting experience.
“He’s an interesting character because he can be seen as a villain or as someone who just stirs stuff up,” he said. “Obviously the opera is different than the play. So there is a little less character development and less time for certain things. But I think of him more as being a young man who has a temper, but is also having a little fun. And when it gets to the point where things get out of control, he’s committed to doing what he’s doing.”
Mercutio, who is Roméo’s best friend, is, like Gertrude, in an interesting place between the families, Stamatis said.
“What excites me about Mercutio is that he’s not only a voice of reason, he’s also a middleman,” he said. “He, of course, has this friendship with Roméo, so that’s where his allegiance is, but he’s invited to the Capulet’s for a party. So, he sort of moves between the two worlds well, and he has this outside-looking-in perspective that I think brings him a lot of level-headedness and a lot of good advice.”
Stamatis also likes how Mercutio is written.
“He’s not a spoil-sport nor is he a super-evil villain,” he said. “He’s fun. He’s upbeat. He’s witty and clever, which I love.”
Although Tybalt is a comparatively small role in the opera, he has big moments, said Kranak, who first wanted to perform musical theater and jazz.
“Tybalt is very animated, and he’s very intense and heightened emotionally,” he said. “So, it’s a challenge to channel the emotion of the character, but not have that affect the singing. I have to keep my technique in line without screaming as I would if I were just saying the lines.”
Singing the role of Mercutio is also a challenge for Stamatis, who also appeared as Figaro in Park City Opera’s production of “The Barber of Seville.”
“This role has a lot of high notes, and I have to make sure the energy of Mercutio doesn’t take me to a place where I can’t take a good breath,” he said. “If I’m huffing and puffing from running around on stage, I have less fuel for my air in order to make those high notes good.”
The production’s sword fighting, choreographed by Chris DuVal, chair of the University of Utah’s department of theatre, could be a source of all the “huffing and puffing,” referred to by Stamatis.
“It’s very fun,” he said. “Chris took all of us, who are novices, and started with basic moves. We would square up with each other and just parry or just attack. Sometimes we would just do the footwork.”
By the end of the day the cast was able to put all the segments together in intricate and exciting combinations, Stamatis said.
“There are a number of fights that are so fast-paced, and, honestly, it feels cool to do them,” he said. “These swords are great prop pieces. They are metallic but not sharp, although they still could do some damage.”
Kranak feels fortunate to be part of the Park City Opera’s production.
“In a time where there’s a lot of opera companies that are closing or struggling, it’s inspiring to see a new opera company take shape,” he said.
For information about Jake Stamatis, visit jakestamatis.com.
For information about Chad Kranak, visit chadkranak.com.
Tenor Jacob Kenison sees the chorus as a narrator
“The chorus moves the stories forward, and in opera, the storyline can, if you just read through it, feel very thin until you start layering on the chorus pieces,” said tenor Jacob Kenison. “There’s a lot of motivation in the Shakespeare text that has been pulled from (the main roles) due to musical reasons, and we, as chorus members, get to layer them back in. We provide the principals the opportunities and reasons why they move over here or move over there.”
Like Stamatis, Kenison has worked with Park City Opera since its debut production of “The Barber of Seville.”
“I’ve really enjoyed being part of the chorus with Park City Opera because Lisl really cares about building a world that every individual on stage is a part of,” said the Tooele resident. “There is some powerful stuff, and the class between the two houses is very well portrayed in the music.”
Kenison, who sang with the Salt Lake Children’s Choir and is currently studying under vocal coach Lawrence Gee, a former associate conductor of the New York City Opera, enjoys opera because it tells stories differently from other artforms.
“There are moments when you get to let it rip and go at it with the vocals, and as a tenor I like singing out,” he said. “In the chorus, frequently, you step back, but with ‘Roméo,’ you kind of get to go all-out.
For information about Jacob Kenison, visit jacobkenison.com.
Charles Gounod’s ‘Roméo et Juliette’ by the Park City Opera
- When: 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday
- Where: The Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, 1750 Kearns Blvd.
- Web: parkcityopera.org