OPERA America magazine has announced the most-produced works by American opera companies for the 2016-2017 season. An unusual item in the list is the presence of a recently written opera, the transgender story As One, which describes the protagonist’s gender transition.
The 25 most-produced works by American opera companies in the 2016-2017 season were:
- Carmen
- Madama Butterfly
- Die Zauberflöte
- Le Nozze di Figaro
- Don Giovanni
- La Traviata
- Tosca
- Eugen Onegin
- Rigoletto
- Roméo et Juliette
- Aida
- La Boheme
- Lucia di Lammermoor
- As One
- My Fair Lady
- Die Entführung aus dem Serail
- Turandot
- Don Pasquale
- Falstaff
- Hansel und Gretel
- Norma
- Sweeney Todd
- Dead Man Walking
- Oklahoma!
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia
As One‘s popularity eclipsed that of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, which has been the most-performed new opera in America in recent years. As One was written by Laura Kaminsjy, Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed. Notably, three of the works on this list – My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, and Oklahoma! – are musicals, reflecting the more diversified programming of many such companies today.
In the current cycle, As One has been scheduled or performed by eight different opera companies for the 2017-2018 season.