The Pirates of Penzance

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Conductor, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: Provincetown, MA
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: La bohème (Lyric Opera of Kansas City); Porgy and Bess (Atlanta Opera); The Magic Flute (Opera Philadelphia); Eugene Onegin (Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre); Die Fledermaus, Silent Night (Cincinnati Opera); Sweeney Todd, Carousel (English National Opera)

Last updated: August 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Stage Director & Choreographer, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: New York, NY
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: Choreographer, Lili Elbe (Santa Fe Opera); Choreographer & Director, PATH (Seán Curran Company); Choreographer & Director, The Pirates of Penzance (Glimmerglass Opera); Choreographer, Julius Caesar, Choreographer & Director, Harvey Milk (Opera Theatre of St. Louis); Choreographer, Io and Léandre et Héro (Opera Lafayette)

Last updated: August 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Scenery & Costume Designer, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: Manitowoc, WI
Seattle Opera Debut: Carmen (’04)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Carmen (’11)
Engagements: Awakenings (Opera Theatre of St. Louis); A Christmas Carol (Fisher Center at Bard College); M. Butterfly (Santa Fe Opera); Harvey Milk (Opera Theatre of St. Louis)

Last Updated: August 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Lighting Designer, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: Branford, CT
Seattle Opera Debut: Turn of the Screw (’94)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Jubilee (’24); Blue (’22); Don Giovanni (’21); Eugene Onegin (’20); Semele (’15); Ariadne auf Naxos (’15)
Engagements: House Of McQueen (The Mansion at Hudson Yards); Silent Night (Florida Grand Opera); Götterdämmerung (Atlanta Opera); A Doll’s House (Guthrie Theater); Pagliacci (Minnesota Opera); Madama Butterfly (Glimmerglass Festival)

Last updated: August 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Sound Designer, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: Seattle, WA
Seattle Opera Debut: The Falling & The Rising (’19)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Tosca (’25); The Magic Flute (’25); Jubilee (’24); X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (’24); Das Rheingold (’23); A Thousand Splendid Suns (’23)
Engagements: Fancy Dancer (Seattle Rep); Enemy of the People (ACT Contemporary Theatre); Peril in the Alps (Laguna Playhouse)

Last updated: August 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Wigs, Hair, and Makeup Manager & Designer, The Pirates of Penzance; Fellow Travelers; Carmen; Hair and Makeup Manager & Designer, Daphne in Concert

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Seattle Opera Debut: Hair and Makeup Intern, Giulio Cesare (2007)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Tosca (’25); The Magic Flute (’25); Les Troyens in Concert (’25); Lucidity (’24); Jubilee (’24); Pagliacci (’24)

Ashlee Naegle made a name for herself early on in her career by mastering the dying art of wig building. She created and designed for several companies around town until the Seattle Opera created an in-house Hair and Makeup Designer position for her in 2017. During her time as the in-house Hair and Makeup Designer, she has built a sizable wig collection, built a department, and set high standards for wigs, hair and makeup. With each production, her designs are custom built for the performers and their characters to create a believable façade for the audience as well as complement the costumes and production as a whole.

Last Updated: July 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: English Diction Coach, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: New York, NY
Seattle Opera Young Artist Program 2010
Seattle Opera Debut: The Consul (’14)
Engagements: English Diction Coach, Assistant Conductor, Moby Dick (The Metropolitan Opera); English Diction Coach, The Rake’s Progress (Glimmerglass Opera); Candide (Curtis Institute of Music/Curtis Opera); Complications in Sue (Opera Philadelphia); Adjunct Faculty (Mannes Opera/The New School); Editor for Transcriptions (International Dialects of English Archive)

Last Updated: July 2025

Chorus Master

Hometown: Muscatine, IA
Seattle Opera Debut: The Elixir of Love (’22)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Tosca (’25); The Magic Flute (’25); Les Troyens in Concert (’25); Pagliacci (’24); The Barber of Seville (’24); La traviata (’23)

Michaella Calzaretta made her Seattle Opera debut in 2022 as the company’s new chorus master and head of music staff. Acclaimed for her high standards and superb preparation skills, Calzaretta oversees all musical activities at the company and prepares the chorus for main stage productions. In January 2024, the chorus embarked on their immensely successful first-ever tour to Mt. Vernon and Vashon Island. Recent praise includes “…continues to impress with her first-rate coaching of her singers” (Broadway World) and “The Seattle Opera Chorus…sang exuberantly and expertly” (The Seattle Times). Calzaretta is a doctoral candidate in choral conducting at Indiana University.

Last Updated: January 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Associate Conductor, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: Seattle, WA
Seattle Opera Debut: Guest Conductor, Let's Blow Up a Gas Station (’24)
Engagements: Music Director, The Sound Ensemble; Assistant Conductor, Yakima Symphony Orchestra; Conductor, Orchestrating the Wind: Music of Sarah Bassingthwaighte (London Symphony Orchestra); Guest Conductor, Everett Philharmonic Orchestra; Horn Soloist, Worlds Collide: Music for Horn and Piano (Winds of Change Duo)

Last Updated: July 2025

At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: Assistant Stage Director, The Pirates of Penzance

Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Seattle Opera Debut
Engagements: Assistant Stage Director, Treemonisha, Jungle Book (Washington National Opera), The Pirates of Penzance, Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children (The Glimmerglass Festival); Director, La bohème (Florentine Opera); Assistant Director, Henry V (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks)

Last updated: April 2025

Production Stage Manager

Hometown: Houston, TX
Seattle Opera Mainstage Debut: Les Troyens in Concert (’25)
Jonathan Moore (he/him) is thrilled to be a part of the Seattle Opera Production Team as Production Stage Manager. He has primarily worked in opera and ballet, including, most recently, a 4-season stint at the Houston Ballet. He has also stage managed for plays, musicals, a Fringe Festival, concerts, and a drag show. Favorite projects include a tour to Tokyo, an opera in a hot spring, and several operas in barns. He has worked across the country, including in New York, San Diego, San Antonio, Steamboat Springs, and Logan, UT.

Last Updated: February 2025

Assistant Stage Manager
At Seattle Opera in 2024/25: Pagliacci, Jubilee, The Magic Flute, Tosca

Hometown: Coventry, RI
Seattle Opera Debut: Il trovatore ('19)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Jubilee (‘24); Pagliacci (‘24); X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X ('24); Das Rheingold ('23); A Thousand Splendid Suns ('23)
Engagements: Blithe Spirit, Sanctuary City, Selling Kabul, Teenage Dick (Seattle Repertory Theatre); A Christmas Carol (ACT Contemporary Theatre); Everything is Illuminated (Book-It Repertory Theatre)

Last Updated: January 2025

Assistant Stage Manager
At Seattle Opera in 2025/26: The Pirates of Penzance (‘25); Carmen (‘26)

Hometown: Mason City, IA
Seattle Opera Debut: The Marriage of Figaro ('22)
Previously at Seattle Opera: Pagliacci (‘24); Das Rheingold (‘23); The Elixir of Love (‘22)
Engagements: After Midnight, Bye Bye Birdie, Waitress (5th Avenue Theatre); Legally Blonde (Village Theatre); Blithe Spirit (Seattle Rep); POTUS (ACT Contemporary Theatre)

Last Updated: February 2025