Guest Editorial of July 23, 2026

Glimmerglass: It Takes a Village

Something for everyone” is a tall order, but this season’s Glimmerglass Festival surely has it. What a season so far—spectacular sets, first-class storytelling, all-out dramatic performance and, above all, hauntingly beautiful singing that rings out across all the splendid arc of human emotion. This season celebrates love in its many forms—romantic, parental, platonic, patriotic—as well it should because, after all, the world can never have enough of that!

Or so say I. In the meantime, though, the shows themselves. Here too, an angle for all.

This season has revived “Oklahoma!” the landmark American musical that kicked off the legendary partnership of Rodgers and Hammerstein, here brought to vivid life in a stunning palette of color, song and dance. The central characters are terrific—Shereen Pimentel, Michael Adams, Eric Nordstrom, and Holly Twyford—their acting pulling us into the tunes so many already know by heart and tend to hum. “Don’t throw bouquets at me…” sings Pimentel as Laurie, as if she did not want them, ha ha, in the irresistibly charming duet “People Will Say We’re in Love,” to which Adams as Curly, replies, “Don’t smile and gaze at me.” Ha ha again. They know they’re in love and we do too and yet, here we all are walking that playful thread of amorous suspense. Stand-outs too are Nordstrom as Jud, who brilliantly bares the tragedy in his isolated and yearning heart, and Twyford as Aunt Eller, whose timing is truly perfect, her witty lines and well-lived wisdom knitting the whole frontier community and the show itself together. When she auctions off the goodies in the picnic baskets at the famous box social, who among us did not want to bid? And the dream sequence? Ooh la la. Off on the clouds we are. I know every inch of this score, since I played first clarinet in my junior-high school orchestra when we put on this show and yet, the Glimmerglass production this year shines it up as new. A don’t miss, I’d say, for anyone eager for a summer lift and reflection.

Then there is Mozart and his “Cosi,” this time set among students in a college dorm that looks 100 percent real, down to the tinny vents in the doors, sung in English we can all get, thanks to a wry and rhythmic brand-new translation by Kelley Rourke, resident dramaturg of Glimmerglass. Mozart himself would have had to “bravo” at how she shaped her words to his music, carrying us along as if the opera were written just yesterday. I hope this production can tour every college campus in America, if not the world, for it’s the perfect example of how the opera form can offer us new relevance and vitality, and does not, as we can fear at times, fly above reach.

Again, what voices—Keely Futterer as Despina, the haughty dorm resident advisor, could steal the show with her climbing vocals and hilarious constant cameos but she does not. This “Cosi” is ensemble perfection, ranging from Kevin Burdette as Alfonso, the curmudgeonly but soft-hearted-in-the-end janitor, to Amanda Batista and Michaelle Mariposa, the irresistible objects of affection of their smitten but crafty beaus, Travon Walker and Gregory Feldman. When this cast sings—individually, all together, or in pairs mixed-and-matched—what a musical feast. It’s true that operatic voices can seem alien, even screechy at times, but I as one who once avoided the soprano voice at all costs can attest that, on balance, listening to well-done opera leads to craving it more and more. Another don’t miss—welcomingly fresh and hilarious.

My own personal favorite, because I am a nut for the gorgeous music of Puccini, is this year’s “Madame Butterfly,” so breathtaking I left immediately after the show to hold on to the mood, rather than lingering a bit as usual to chit-chat with friends. This piece brings forth every passion and agony of the human heart, set boldly against the chilling realities of an empire in distant lands. It’s epic, and this season’s Glimmerglass version truly touches the soul. Eri Nakamura’s magnificent performance as Butterfly seemed like a crystal vase slowly cracking, while Eric Taylor’s Pinkerton throbbed with the ambivalence of his ardor and guilt.

As I write, I have not yet seen “Fellow Travelers,” but I expect it to be equally thrilling and involving, a modern opera illuminating a trench in our history known as the Lavender Scare, when the prevailing political poison then drank itself drunk on homophobia. Again, along with the classics, Glimmerglass breaks new ground—thank you.

Of course, there are countless others to herald—conductors, directors, designers, administrators, ushers, donors, parking attendants, ticket sellers, janitors, volunteers—all under the versatile virtuoso leadership of Artistic and General Director Rob Ainsley and the tirelessly dedicated Board of Trustees. As the miracle-stage maker Abby Rodd, director of production, said modestly to me when I complimented her: “It takes a village.” And so it does—our village and well beyond.

This Glimmerglass season is arty, fun and all-around excellent. There are discounts on tickets for Otsego County residents and other groups and, adding to baseball and BBQ, the curtains rise for all.

Paula DiPerna is the author of “Pricing the Priceless…” (Wiley) among other books, who lives in Cooperstown and travels the world.