Melodia Women’s Choir Announces Broadway’s Lynda Gravatt & Erika Rolfsrud, plus Katrina Michaels in "Gloria: Lifting the Veil on Vivaldi’s Masterpiece"

Melodia Women’s Choir of NYC, led by Cynthia Powell and in collaboration with Director Christa Scott-Reed, are thrilled to announce theater, film and TV actors Lynda Gravatt (Cat on a Hot Tin Roofwith James Earl Jones) and Erika Rolfsrud (The Big Knife, Exit the King), and Katrina Michaels as the cast for Gloria: Lifting the Veil on Vivaldi’s Masterpiece.
 
A unique melding of music, history and dramatic scenes brings to life the music and untold story behind Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria for a world premiere performance May 4, in New York City. Audiences will have the chance to hear the voices of three 18th-century Venetian characters inspired by the real women and girls of the Ospedale della Pietàmusic conservatory and orphanage. Audiences will hear Vivaldi’s work performed by a 35-voice, all-female choir and chamber ensemble as it was likely conceived when written for its figlie di coro of female musicians in1715. 
 
“This is an astounding story that somehow I knew nothing about,” says Director Christa Scott-Reed. “And yet at the same time there was a big part of me that wasn’t surprised at all to hear hundreds of years later about the massive impact that a group of talented women had in elevating the careers of talented men, without experiencing the same glory and longevity themselves.” 
 
Vivaldi, who taught and worked at the Ospedale della Pietà conservatory from 1703-15 and again in 1723-40, composed and arranged Gloria for its female choir and orchestra comprised of the ospedale’s abandoned and orphaned wards.
 
“The ospedale not only cared for children, but educated and gave them musical instruction, turning them into some of the finest singers and instrumentalists in all of Europe,” says conductor Cynthia Powell. 
 
GLORIA: LIFTING THE VEIL ON VIVALDI’S MASTERPIECE
 
PROGRAM: Gloria: Lifting the Veil on Vivaldi’s Masterpiece, featuring Gloria, Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Melodia and an all-female chamber ensemble, conducted by Cynthia Powell. Directed by Christa Scott-Reed, script by Pam McAllister, with Lynda Gravatt, Erika Rolfsrud, and Katrina Michaels
 
DATE & LOCATION

Holy Apostles, 296 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY (@28^thSt)
Saturday, May 4 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, May 5 @ 4:00 pm
 
TICKETS

$25/ $20 adv / $15 adv senior & student
www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/5998
212-757-2945
 
Christa Scott Reed, Director. Christa most recently directed the Off-Broadway revival of Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons starring Michael Countryman and Carolyn McCormick. Last season she directed the first New York revival of William Nicholson’s Shadowlands Off-Broadway, starring Daniel Gerroll. Christa’s performance credits over the past 20+ years include Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours, regional theatre, film, and television. She is the Literary Manager for New York’s Fellowship for Performing Arts theatre. Christa also teaches BFA drama students at The New School and privately coaches professional actors. Christa is a member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA, and SDC. christascottreed.com
 
Lynda Gravatt’s (as The Prioress) Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (with James Earl Jones), Doubt, King Hedley II, and 45 Seconds from Broadway. Off-Broadway credits include The House that Will Not Stand, This Flat Earth, Skeleton Crew (Drama League Nomination), The Hummingbird’s Tour, Zooman and the Sign, King Hedley II (Audelco Award), Miss Witherspoon, and Intimate Apparel. Her TV credits includeThe Good Wife, 30 Rock, Person of Interest, all Law & Orders, Elementary, Sex and the City, and Odyssey. Film: Roman Israel, Esq. (with Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell), Delivery Man, and The Bounty Hunter, among others. Gravatt has three Audelco awards, a Distinguished Alumni award from her alma mater, Howard University, anda Helen Hayes Award. She is a current nominee for Drama League, Distinguished Performance. She is a founding faculty member of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC.
 
Erika Rolfsrud (as Maddalena) Broadway credits include The Big Knife, The Coast of Utopia, Rabbit Hole, Exit The King. Off-Broadway include The Angel of Allegheny County, Electra In A One-Piece, Misalliance, The Glory of Living, How I Learned to Drive, Trout Stanley, Love’s Fire, and more. Regional theater: Contemporary American Theater Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Cleveland Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (Kevin Kline Award, Best Actress, Little Dog Laughed), Hartford Theaterworks (Connecticut Critics Circle Award, Best Actress, Good People), Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Wilma Theatre, ACT Theatre, and more. TV credits include Blue Bloods, Younger, God Friended Me,Manifest, Luke Cage, Law & Order: SVU, House of Cards, The Following, The Knick, Law & Order, Forever, and more, plus film credit Unsane. Erikarolfsrud.com
 
Katrina Michaels’ (as Paola dal Soprano) recent roles include The 39 Steps (Clown) at Depot Theatre, Tribes (Ruth) and Spelling Bee (Logainne) at Florida Repertory, Peter and the Starcatcher (Molly Aster) at Orlando Shakespeare, Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Twelfth Night (Viola), Dracula (Lucy), Rhinoceros (Daisy), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia). Next, she will be performing Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Molly in Peter and the Starcatcher, and Lydia/Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice at Creede Repertory. katrina-michaels.com
 
Cynthia Powell, Melodia Artistic Director, celebrates her 16th season with Melodia. A graduate of Westminster Choir College, she has served on the guest faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, led the St. George’s Choral Society in NYC, and was a guest conductor at the International Choral Festival in Havana, Cuba. She is also the Artistic Director of the Stonewall Chorale, and currently serves as Director of Music and Organist at West End Collegiate Church in NYC, and Organist/Choirmaster of Temple Sinai in Tenafly, New Jersey. 
                  
MelodiaWomen’s Choir of NYC, with 16 years of adventurous, fresh and wide-ranging repertoire that offers rarely heard, stylistically diverse works, has established a reputation as the premier women’s choir of NYC. The choir has been called “riveting” by The New York Times and hailed by composers such as Meredith Monk, Hilary Tann and Ronald Perera. Founded by Executive Director Jenny Clarke and Artistic Director Cynthia Powell in 2003, Melodia collaborates with and supports women composers, musicians and performers. www.melodiawomenschoir.org
 
MEDIA INQUIRES: Teri Duerr, info@horsedragon-nyc.com

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