Tag Archives: Cerise Lim Jacobs

Sep 24

The Voice of a Movement: “Is This America?”

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The ensemble. Photo by by Kathy Wittman.

Presented by White Snake Projects
Composition by Mary D. Watkins
Libretto by Mary D. Watkins and Cerise Lim Jacobs
Stage direction by Pascale Florestal
Music direction by Tianhui Ng
Projection design by John Oluwole ADEkoje
Scenic design by Baron Pugh
Program art by Dr. Nettrice R. Gaskins
Featuring Deborah Nansteel, Eliam Ramos, Nina Evelyn Anderson, Joel Clemens, Carina DiGianfilippo, Isabel Randall, Chris Remkus, Naila Delgado

September 20th – 22nd
The Strand Theatre
543 Columbia Rd
Boston, MA 02125

Information here

Content Warning: Is This America? contains very strong, racially-loaded language, and references to violence.

Critique by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

BOSTON — Early in Act Two of White Snake Project’s new opera, Fannie Lou Hamer stands proudly before the Democratic National Convention, demanding a seat at the table for Black citizens. She testifies to the violence and dehumanization she has faced as a Black woman in the mid-twentieth century deep south: “I question America, the home of the free and the brave… They make our lives Hell! Hell, Hell! Is this America?”

Hamer’s famous speech (adapted by co-librettists Cerise Lim Jacobs and Mary D. Watkins and sung with grandeur and ferocity by mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel) was not met with polite applause during the performance I attended last night. Instead, a spectator a few seats to my right was moved to spontaneously respond – “Get it, girl!” – followed by cheers and uproarious applause.  Continue reading →

May 08

Beating the Villain is Half the Fun in “Domme and Giovanni”

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Stefanos Koroneos, Stage Director & Projections Designer.

Presented by White Snake Projects
Composed by Ryan Oldham
Libretto by Liz Abram-Oldham and Cerise Lim Jacobs
Stage Directed by Stefanos Koroneos
Music Directed by Tianhui Ng
Donna Anna: Carami Hilaire (soprano)
Don Giovanni: Andrew Simpson (bass-baritone)
Donna Elivira: Pascale Spinney (mezzo-soprano)
Leporello: Kyle Oliver (baritone)
Jazz/Rock Band: David McGrory (keyboard/accordion), Dan J. Pelletier (percussion), 
Gillian Dana (bass), and John Tyler Ken (guitar)

May 5 -6, 2024
La Voile
1627 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA, 02445

Review by Gillian Daniels

BROOKLINE, Mass. – White Snake Projects, as part of their Opera Through the Looking Glass series, reframes Mozart’s Don Giovanni as an opera of cathartic, female-driven revenge. Donna Anna (Carami Hilaire, soprano), a professional dominatrix with a vendetta, and Donna Elvira (Pascale Spinney, mezzo-soprano), a self-serious FBI agent convinced she’s starring in an ‘80’s cop show, are working to bring down the titular Don Giovanni (Andrew Simpson, bass-baritone) from the beginning. 

There is no suggestion that Giovanni is supernaturally charming, just manipulative and cruel. He’s a mafia don, a crime boss who spills blood as gleefully as he demands a whipping from a hired sex worker. Not so much titillating as a campy, though there is indeed a striptease courtesy of Simpson, his relationship with Donna Anna is enthusiastic and more complex than even he realizes. Continue reading →

Sep 25

Too Much of a Good Thing: “MONKEY, A Kung Fu Puppet Parable”

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Presented by White Snake Projects
Based on Journey to the West
Libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs
Composed by Jorge Sosa
Stage direction by Roxanna Myhrum
Music direction by Tianhui Ng
Puppet design by Tom Lee and Chicago Puppet Studio

Featuring Chuanyuan Liu, Dylan Morrongiello, Carami Hilaire, Cristina Maria Catro, John Paul Huckle, Maria Dominique, Lopez, Carlos Jose Torres Lopez, Nathaniel Justiniano, Angelo Guo, Eliott Purcell, Lawrence Chan, Amanda Gibson, VOICES Boston

September 23 – 24, 2023
Emerson’s Paramount Center Theater
559 Washington St
Boston, MA

Review by Maegon Bergeron-Clearwood

BOSTON, Mass. — MONKEY, A Kung Fu Puppet Parable ticks three of my personal favorite boxes. it features puppets and opera, two traditions that are rife with simple but powerful techniques for bringing fantastical stories to life. It also features martial arts, a personal passion of mine that I rarely see experimented with onstage. It’s a tantalizing combination of performance elements, and I could not have been more excited to discover how White Snake Projects would weave them together. Continue reading →

Oct 01

Cripping Up and Other Indignities: “PermaDeath”

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Presented by White Snake Projects
Dan Visconti – Composer
Cerise Lim Jacobs – Creator and Librettist
Pirate Epstein – Co-Librettist
Cori Ellison – Dramaturg

September 27–29, 2018
Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont Street in Downtown Boston

Critique by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) I had such high hopes for PermaDeath. It is a forward thinking libretto and score but its ablism, racism, and homophobia are disappointing. That this opera is problematic, is an understatement. Continue reading →

Oct 03

Fair is Foul. Foul is Fair*: “Rev. 23: A Hellish, Farcical Opera”

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Photo by Kathy Wittman; keep on rockin’ on, kids.

Presented by White Snake Projects
Creator and libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs
Composed by Julian Wachner
Directed by Mark Streshinsky
Conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya
Dramaturgy by Cori Ellison
Choreography by Yury Yanowsky

Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2017
John Hancock Hall
Boston, MA
White Snake Projects on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”
Revelation 21:23, Bible, New International Version  (NIV)

(Boston, MA) White Snake Projects is giving the BLO a run for their money. It’s my sincere hope that artists and their audience will watch the works of both companies but, if one has to choose, WSP may be the winner in the competition for attendees. Its edgy productions are worth the commitment. Continue reading →