Winner of the Opera America Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize 2025-2026
Meet the Team
Rebecca Miller Kratzer, Director
Rebecca Miller Kratzer (she/her) is a New York-based theatre and opera director. She works at the intersection of many forms through an artistic practice rooted in collaboration, joy, and ritual. She currently serves as the Stage Director in Residence for Brooklyn-based The Opera Next Door (TOND), where she developed and directed a new adaptation of Carmen, sung in Spanish, and orchestrated for Tango Quartet. Upcoming projects include work with Emmanuel Music and TOND. Past operatic credits: Director: La Carmencita (Lincoln Center, TOND), Enemies, A Love Story (Westminster Opera), In Real Life (Mostly Modern Festival), La traviata (City Lyric Opera), Antigone (Longy School of Music), Don Quichotte at Camacho’s Wedding (Opera Saratoga), The Trojan Women (Columbia University MFA Thesis), Cendrillon, Alcina, Second Nature (Opera del West), Don Giovanni, Fidelio, La Cenerentola (NEMPAC Opera); assistant director for Grounded (WNO Kennedy Center; Micahel Mayer, dir.), Man of La Mancha (Opera Saratoga; Lawrence Edelson, dir.), rehearsal observer for New Dark Age (Royal Opera House; Katie Mitchell, dir.). Her theatre work includes collaborations with Dutch Kills Theater, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Theatre Row, BAM, The New York Times, Second Stage Theater, Emerson College, Montclair State, Fordham University, and Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. BA in Theater Arts from Brandeis University and MFA in Directing from Columbia University. AGMA Member and SDC Associate Member. Website: rebeccamillerkratzer.com Instagram: @rebeccamillerkratzer
Tyler Herald, Set Designer
Tyler Herald (he/him) is a New York-based scenic, environmental, and production designer originally from the Midwest. He gravitates towards new work and when confronted with the canon seeks to find new meanings. Recent work includes La traviata (City Lyric Opera), Rusalka (Opera Idaho), La Calisto (Montclair University), New Works Festival (Theater Row), Curious Incident (Adelphi University). Assistant/Associate* work includes: A Wonderful World* (NOLA/Chicago, Broadway. des. Adam Koch), Frozen* (Tuacahn Amphitheater, des. Adam Koch), Mean Girls* (São Paulo, des. Adam Koch), Like They Do in the Movies* (PAC NYC, des. Neil Patel), The Penelopiad* (Goodman, des. Neil Patel), Civilization to Nation* (Mumbai, des. Neil Patel), The Who’s Tommy (Goodman, des. David Korins), Beetlejuice (des. David Korins). BA Design, Western Illinois University. MFA Design, University of Maryland-College Park. USA 829. Website: tylerrheralddesign.com. Instagram: @_tylerrherald
Camilla Dely, Costume Designer
Camilla Dely is a South African costume designer and visual artist working in theatre, opera and dance. Recent work includes: King Lear (Almeida Theatre, London), Mary Gets Hers (The Playwright’s Realm, Off-Broadway), Hurricane Diane (People’s Light), Attempts on Her Life (TUTA, Chicago), Sisters (Northern Stage). Upcoming: Diary of a Tap Dancer (A.R.T), Importance of Being Earnest (Portland Center Stage), Little Shop of Horrors (People’s Light). She is a Watson Fellowship and a 1/52 Project Grant recipient. She holds a BA from Bryn Mawr College, an MFA from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts, and additional training in hybrid, contemporary performance from Headlong Performance Institute in Philadelphia. She is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. www.camilladely.com
Stacey Boggs, Lighting Designer
Stacey Boggs is an award-winning lighting designer working internationally in theater, opera, dance, and TV. Recent works include Verses at Work (651 Arts), Make a Joyful Noize (Carnegie Hall), Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes) co-design with Lucrecia Briceno (La Jolla Playhouse), Afrocosmicmelatopia (Afrofuturism Festival), Everything for Dawn (EiO), The in[heir]itance Project (14th Street Y), Amp (Here Arts Center), Theatre Three’s Tick Tick Boom, The Prom, Something Rotten, Guys and Dolls, and Miracle Worker. She has designed with Bill T. Jones, Dianne McIntyre, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Toshi Reagon, Doug Varone, Y Music, Manuel Vignoulle, Robert Moses, and Christopher Wheeldon. Her work is featured in Collected Light Volume Three: Women in Entertainment Lighting. She is a graduate from the University of Evansville and NYU Graduate Design Program with an MFA in Lighting Design. Proud member of USA 829. https://www.staceyboggs.com
Anisa Rose Threlkeld, Dramaturg
Anisa Rose Threlkeld (Dramaturg) is a NYC-based dramaturg, actor, and musician. She received her MFA in Dramaturgy at Columbia University and a B.A. in Drama and Psychology from Vassar College. As a dramaturg, she has developed work for Syracuse Stage, City Lyric Opera, Breaking the Binary Theatre, Queens Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, HERE Arts Center, NYSAF/The Lark, The Tank, #HealMeToo Festival, NYU Tisch, Vassar College, and Columbia University. She believes that the ultimate purpose of theater is to disrupt habit.
Our Production
In the novel La Dame aux Camélias (1852) by Alexandre Dumas (on which La Traviata is based), Marguerite (Violetta) wrote from her deathbed: “Do you understand, my friend? I am dying, and from my bed, I can hear a man walking to and fro in the drawing room; my creditors have put him there to see that nothing is taken away and that nothing remains to me in case I do not die. I hope they will wait till the end before they begin to sell.”
Offering an examination of the patriarchal system that treats her not only as morally “fallen” but also as disposable, this production asks: what was Violetta's life ultimately worth? Inspired by the images in the opening chapters of Dumas’ novel and imagery from time of day and parties that have overstayed their welcome, this production opens at the start of the auction of Violetta's estate. She interrupts, rising like a phoenix, and as if in a fever dream, Act One snaps into focus as the frenzied whirlwind of her final year is set in motion.
Even before we begin, the party’s long been over. The unique challenge and delight of this opera are its four very distinct locations and tones: Violetta’s triumphant return to society after a year of sickness, her jaunt in the countryside and attempt at domestic love, a depraved and dangerous party at Flora’s house, and finally, her deathbed. How does one balance cohesion between these four very different spaces, dimensions, and distinctions? We took inspiration first from the time of day: cotton candy dawn for Violetta’s party, a sunny afternoon in the garden, deep dusk at Flora’s, and midnight for the end of her life. We were also inspired to think of this piece as the life cycle of a party, encompassing anticipation, build, overstayed welcomes, and aftermath. Containing all of those disparate elements is a singular flashback to the moments after her death, when would-be mourners come to appraise her belongings, all held together by a gossamer set that deconstructs as the party long overstays its welcome.
