by Mike Telin

In 2020, encountering someone engrossed with their phone is hardly an oddity. But even back in the days when phones did two things — make and receive calls — there were those who spent hours on them while ignoring the other people in the room, or who shared their emotional frustrations with any sympathetic ear.

On Friday, November 6 at 7:30 pm, Oberlin Opera Theater will present the double bill of Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1947 comedy The Telephone and Francis Poulenc’s 1958 tragédie lyrique, La voix humaine (“The Human Voice”). Directed by Jason Aaron Goldberg, with music direction by Daniel Michalak, the pre-recorded broadcast will begin with a discussion featuring Goldberg and members of the cast and crew. Presented as part of Oberlin Stage Left, the performance will remain available on demand through November 13. Click here to view.

Goldberg, a 2016 Oberlin alum who is currently in his final year of completing an MFA at the Actor’s Studio Drama School, received the invitation to direct these operas from his former mentor Jonathon Field, the Conservatory’s director of Opera Theater. [Read more…]