PERFORMANCE DATES/TIMES/LOCATION
Where: The Bitz Opera Factory (Pittsburgh Opera's headquarters), 2425 Liberty Avenue, in Pittsburgh's Strip District
When:
- Sat., May 6, 2023 * 8:00 PM
- Tues., May 9, 2023 * 7:00 PM
- Fri., May 12, 2023 * 7:30 PM
- Sun., May 14, 2023 * 2:00 PM
CAST AND ARTISTIC TEAM
Head of Music / Musical Preparation: Glenn Lewis
Revival Stage Director: Haley Stamats*
Set Designer: Andrew Lieberman
Original Lighting designed by Andrew Lieberman
Lighting Designer: Todd Nonn
Projections designed by Pierre Martin
Costume Designer: Millie Hiibel+
Sound Designer: Rob Kaplowitz+
Stage Manager: Hannah Nathan
Director of Musical Studies: Mark Trawka
Associate Coach/Pianist: James Lesniak
Original Production: Ted Huffman
+ Pittsburgh Opera debut
* Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist
** Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist alumni
DETAILS & RESOURCES
Five performances at the Bitz Opera Factory, 2425 Liberty Avenue, in Pittsburgh’s Strip District
We want you to have the best experience possible at our performances!
Here are some details and resources to help. Also visit our Opera FAQs or our Accessibility page.
- Run time: ~65 mins, no intermission
- Please be advised: This production includes mature language and intense subject matter.
- Understand Every Word: Denis & Katya is sung in in English and Russian with English supertitles projected above the stage
- Parking near Bitz Opera Factory- Street parking is generally available on Penn Avenue, and there is a surface lot at 24th and Penn, right beside Harp & Fiddle.
- Study Guide
- Pre-Opera Talks (Please note: There is no Pre-Opera Talk for this production)
- Braille Programs
- Large-Print Programs
CHILD POLICY:
- Children must be ages 6 and up. Suggestions and tips for bringing children to the opera may be found at pittsburghopera.org/FAQ.
- All children must have a ticket. There is a 50% discount for kids and teens ages 6-18.
SYNOPSIS
On November 14, 2016, two teenagers in the Russian village of Strugi Krasnye began broadcasting video of themselves through Periscope, a live-streaming website. The pair, named Denis and Katya, explained to their viewers that they had run away, had hidden in a cabin for three days, fought violently with Katya’s relatives when confronted, and were now barricaded in the cabin and under threat by local police and Special Forces.
The Periscope audience grew throughout the day as they streamed more videos. Friends, relatives, classmates, and teachers from their hometown of Pskov joined the live-stream and wrote to them, as did strangers who happened upon it.
By the next day, the story of Denis and Katya facing off against Special Forces had reached news outlets around the world. Thousands more watched their videos. Conspiracy theories bloomed. Fan sites appeared. Denis and Katya became a brief internet sensation.
The opera’s six characters (Journalist, Friend, Teacher, Teenager, Neighbor, Medic) are all played by two singers. They re-tell Denis and Katya’s story from six very different viewpoints.
PREVIEWS AND REVIEWS
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Review: An hourlong, brilliantly meta, must-see show is live at Pittsburgh Opera
- onStage Pittsburgh: Review: ‘Denis & Katya’ Opens at Pittsburgh Opera’s Bitz Opera Factory
- The Incline: Review: “Denis & Katya” breaks the opera mold
- Review: Seen and Heard International - Pittsburgh Opera presents two contemporary works that dare to speak the truth
- OperaWire: Pittsburgh Opera to Present Two Modern Operas This May
- Entertainment Central Pittsburgh: May 2023 Theater Guide
- WQED-FM Voice of the Arts podcasts:
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Two Russians livestreamed a standoff with police in 2016, and now it's an opera.
- onStage Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Opera Winding Up Season with First of Two Contemporary Works in May
- WQED-FM radio: Jim Cunningham interviews composer Philip Venables
