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06/06/2024 12:00 AMMadison Lyric Stage, a professional non-profit theater company, will present Richard Strauss’ musical masterpiece, Elektra, Friday through Sunday, June 7 to June 9, at the Deacon John Grave House, 581 Boston Post Road, Madison.
While this opera originally premiered in 1909, this is the very first time it has ever been presented in the state of Connecticut, says Marc Deaton, artistic director of Madison Lyric Stage. Inspired by the Greek tragedy by Sophocles, the story follows Elektra, who has just witnessed the murder of her father, Agamemnon, the king, by her own mother. Now that she knows her mother’s hands are bloody, the tormented Elektra is hellbent on vengeance. When her brother returns from exile to carry out her wishes, Elektra’s obsession for revenge pushes her fractured family to the brink of destruction.
Elektra is 100 minutes of action-packed, “fasten your seatbelt” opera, from its dramatic, harrowing music to its hair-raising finale. “Elektra is one of the most frequently performed operas based on classical Greek mythology, yet strangely enough, has never been performed in Connecticut,” said Marc Deaton, artistic director of Madison Lyric Stage. “Prepare to be spellbound, as we bring you this unforgettable journey into a haunted world of passion, revenge and murder.”
Mary McCue stars as the title character, with Allison Waggener as her sister Chrysothemis, Amy Maude Helfer as her mother Klytëmnestra, Daniel Hague as her brother Orest, and Marc Deaton as Klytëmnestra’s lover Aegist. Deaton also directs, with Nathaniel Baker as musical director. Performance times are Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. Elektra will be sung in its original German, with English supertitles. For more information about Madison Lyric Stage, visit madisonlyricstage.org.