In the midst of its production of the classic opera Pirates of Penzance, Opera San Antonio has announced the two major productions of its upcoming 2024-2025 season: Cruzar la Cara de la Luna on Oct. 3 and Oct. 5, and Madama Butterfly on April 17 and 19, 2025.
For the first time in its 10-year history as a resident company of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Opera San Antonio will bring a Spanish-language opera to the main stage. Cruzar la Cara de la Luna was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera in 2010, and tells the story of a family divided by the Texas-Mexico border.
E. Loren Meeker worked in several capacities with the Houston Grand Opera before becoming Opera San Antonio’s general and artistic director in 2019, and looked for an opportunity to mount the first contemporary opera production for the company.
“It’s a brilliant combination of musical art forms that really showcase the power of the performing arts when combined,” Meeker said, referring to the music score written by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán composer, arranger and violinist Don José “Pepe” Martínez paired with the art form of classical opera.
Leonard Foglia, the original stage director and writer of the Cruzar la Cara de la Luna libretto, will be on hand to direct the production, as will several original cast members, Meeker said.
Local legends Mariachi Campanas de America will perform the music with the new Classical Music Institute’s The Orchestra San Antonio, the new Tobin Center resident orchestra, conducted by Opera San Antonio Music Director Francesco Milioto.
Of incorporating Mariachi Campanas de America, Meeker said, “We really wanted to take the opportunity to showcase the extraordinary musicianship that exists in the world of mariachi music here in San Antonio.”
Meeker described the opera as the story of a man who crossed the border for work and who has fallen ill and reached the end of his life, examining the choices he made with family back in Mexico and family in America.
“I think there are a lot of families in our city that this story will really be truthful to and will resonate with, and it’s presented in a way that is really beautiful and compassionate and moving,” she said.
Given the opera’s borderlands setting, migrating monarch butterflies play a part in the story, which Meeker said is a pleasant coincidence with the classic Madama Butterfly, last produced by Opera San Antonio during its 2015-2016 season.
“That gives us a chance to show the current and future of opera with Cruzar, and the past historical context with Butterfly,” she said.
In another first, Opera San Antonio will partner with Austin Opera to bring Madama Butterfly to both cities, with an Austin run at the Long Center scheduled for April 25-27, 2025.
“That’s a totally new relationship that we’re really looking forward to,” Meeker said.
Season subscriptions are available through the Tobin Center website discounted through May 31, and single tickets go on sale June 1.
