The Magic Flute By Wolfgang A. Mozart

Synopsis

Act 1
Tamino almost wipes out by a tornado. Saved by three corporate drones working for the Queen of the Night, CEO of Crude Petroleum LLC. A chicken vendor named Papageno shows up, lying his tail off as chicken vendors often do.

The Queen's daughter Pamina has gone AWOL. The Queen suspects Sarastro, with whom she is in War of Roses. He became a guru with a wellness racket. Tamino gets recruited to rescue Pamina. Papageno gets drafted as sidekick. Neither asks they really important questions. So it goes.

At Sarastro's Ashram, we meet Monostatos—17 restraining orders in 3 states to his name and now employed as a Fitness coach. He's after Pamina, who'd rather eat glass. Papageno bumbles in as advance rescue while Tamino's stuck trying to find the entrance. They attempt to escape, but Monostatos catches them and delivers them to Sarastro, who spouts wisdom-babble instead of pressing charges. Tamino meets Pamina. Love at first sight, apparently—though real love has better timing. Sarastro convinces the surfer and chicken vendor to endure "spiritual warrior trials" to find their "perfect mates." They sign up without reading the fine print. Americans never do.

Act 2
The trials begin with hallucinogens and a vow of silence—standard cult initiation stuff - with the appearance of 3 Exec Secretaries and then 3 PIs to warn/ help against/for all kinds of things. The whole enterprise starts to reek of desperation. In between Monostatos has a blistering revelation and quits the retreat.

While Tamino trips on enlightenment, Pamina misinterprets his silence as rejection. She contemplates suicide, her mind a runaway freight train of paranoia barreling through the wilderness of abandonment when suddenly an unexpected solution and complication presents itself. The 3 PIs assure Pamina of Tamino’s love and talk her off the ledge. Crisis averted until the next one.
 
Tamino endures his final fire-walk trial—another man going for pointless suffering to prove his manhood. Papageno fails his trials but expects to prove his hero status. He spirals into ‘spaghettification’ near the black hole of hopelessness before he experiences the hidden power of surprise. 

Everything wraps up neatly with songs about eternal love, everyone conveniently forgetting suicide attempts, vengeful mothers, and cultish trials. 

This kind of magical story can only happen in opera, where reality takes a vacation.
So it goes.

Performances

• Thur. March 5 2026, 7:30 PM
• Fri. March 6 2026, 7:30 PM
• Sat. March 7 2026, 7:30 PM
• Sun. March 8 2026, 2:30 PM

Bob Hope Theatre

Creative Team

Conductor
Andreas Mitisek

Stage Director
Andreas Mitisek

Set/Video /Production Designer
Andreas Mitisek

Co-Costume Designer
Amy Poe  

Lighting Designer
Breanna Neal

Assistant Conductor
David Womack

Rehearsal Pianists
Jason Smith
Andrew Gregg 

Cast

• Thur. March 5, 7:30 pm
• Sat. March 7, 7:30 pm

Tamino (a tornado chaser looking for the perfect F5)
Diego Roberts Buceta

Pamina (a girl looking for the meaning of life)
Jasmine Williams

Papageno (a fried chicken street vendor)
Lwazi Dlamini

Papagena (a maid at Sarastro's Ashram
Sophie Young

Queen of the Night (CEO Crude Petroleum LLC.)
Taylor Hendricks

Sarastro (guru of Sarastro’s Ashram)
Rey Winn

Monostatos (Fitness coach with relationship issues)
JT Hauser

Speaker/Spiritual warrior 
Jacob Mayo

Spiritual warrior
JT Hauser

Spiritual warrior
David Walker

Executive Secretaries at Starshine Corp.
Lexi Cook
Andie Earl
Josefina Maldonado

Spirits (undercover PIs)
Theo Howard
Taarika Bhargava
Eliza Schumacher

Sarastro followers
Ava Moak
Yina Qiao
Clarissa Rodriguez
Elijah Gallman

Ensemble
Leela Bharath, J'von Brown, Diego Roberts Buceta, Taarika Bhargava, Lexi Cook, Lwazi Dlamini, Andie Earl, Jayda Ennis, Ryan Flatt, Emily Hansen, JT Hauser, Theo Howard,Jungmin Lee, Josephina Maldonado, Wayne Mhkize, Jacob Mayo, Kathryn Piña, Brad Ritschel, Eliza Schumacher, Addison Vinson, Lwazi Dlamini, Jasmine Williams

• Fri. March 6, 7:30 pm
• Sun. March 8, 2:30 pm

Tamino (a tornado chaser looking for the perfect F5)
Wayne Mhkize

Pamina (a girl looking for the meaning of life)
Emily Hansen

Papageno (a fried chicken street vendor)
Addison VInson

Papagena (a maid at Sarastro's Ashram
Ryan Flatt

Queen of the Night (CEO Crude Petroleum LLC.)
Taylor Hendricks

Sarastro (guru of Sarastro’s Ashram)
Rey Winn

Monostatos (Fitness coach with relationship issues)
JT Hauser

Speaker/Spiritual warrior 
Brad Ritschel

Spiritual warrior
JT Hauser

Spiritual warrior
Elijah Gallman

Executive Secretaries at Starshine Corp.
Kathryn Piña
Jungmin Lee
Josefina Maldonado

Spirits (undercover PIs)
Sophie Young
Kailyn Welch
Emma Less

Sarastro followers
Ava Moak
Jennifer Williamson
Clarissa Rodriguez
David Walker

Ensemble
Leela Bharath, J'von Brown, Diego Roberts Buceta, Taarika Bhargava, Lexi Cook, Lwazi Dlamini, Andie Earl, Jayda Ennis, Ryan Flatt, Emily Hansen, JT Hauser, Theo Howard,Jungmin Lee, Josephina Maldonado, Wayne Mhkize, Jacob Mayo, Kathryn Piña, Brad Ritschel, Eliza Schumacher, Addison Vinson, Lwazi Dlamini, Jasmine Williams

Orchestra

Flute
Abigail Garner
Tessa Radke

Oboe
Suji Chang
Zoe Gurwitz
Abigail Espinosa

Clarinet
Dominique Feather
Michael Chavarria

Bassoon
Jacob Gilmore
Camille Camacho

Horn
Owen Menard
Mattias Bengtsson

Trumpet
Abigelle Carrasco
Isaac Gruber

Trombone
Dawson Ward
Reece MacDonald
Nathan Mugan

Timpani
Donielle Woodard

Glockenspiel
Jason Smith

Violin I
Sejin Park, concertmaster
Rebecca Rosmanitz
Alexa Birt

Violin II
Anna Ackerman, principal
Jeng Chen
Eden Engle

Viola
Brandon Morrison, principal
Madelyn Fields
Donovan De Jesus

Cello
Yvon Arseneault, principal
Maslin Markle
Jorge Antonio Vives

Bass
Jordan Tillerson, co-principal
Tommy Pusateri, co-principal

Production Team

MOT Manager
Kathryn Pina

Costume/Production support
Lexi Cook

Director of Production
Dawn Askew

Stage Manager
Madison Cox 

Technical Director
Justin Mosher

Costume Shop Director
Melissa Panzarello Cox

Properties Supervisor
Teila Vochatzer

Sound Designer and Engineer
Jason Biggs

Light and Video Supervisor 
Cooper Simon

Assistant Technical Director
Brandon Smith

Costumers
Amanda Hendrickson and Allison Hinkle 

Lighting and Video Technician
Madalyn Mead

Scene Shop Foreman
Steve Leary

Stitcher
Timothy Norris

Projections Operator
Nick Todd 

Light Board Operator
Madison McNeely 

Supertitle Preperation
Jason Smith 

Super Title Operators
Yina Qiao
Jennifer Williamson