Joseph Oshry
(Lighting Designer)
Oshry is glad to be working with Maestro Coppola
once again on Lady Swanwhite, his new work.
Since 1986, Oshry has designed lighting for more
than 580 productions with such organizations
as Asolo Rep, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Maltz-
Jupiter Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre,
Palm Beach Opera, New Orleans Opera, Sarasota
International Dance Festival, Ballet Eddy Toussaint
USA and the Interlochen Dance Ensemble in
Michigan. Oshry has received two Individual Artist
Fellowships from the Florida Division of Cultural
Affairs and is a two-time recipient of the Theatre
Tampa Bay award for outstanding lighting design.
He is also a member of United Scenic Artists Local
829 New York and of IATSE Local 412 Sarasota.
JosephOshry.com
Casey Hicks
(Choreographer)
A Tampa native, Hicks is beyond thrilled to return
to Opera Tampa after choreographing this season’s
Die Fledermaus! Hicks is currently director at Tampa
Bay Dance Academy, co-owner and operator of
RoCa Productions and travels the country with
specialty act Tell-A-Vision. You can also catch
Hicks performing in Cinderella and Chicago at Show
Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson for the next few
months. Performing credits include: The Music
Man with St. Petersburg Opera, La Cage Aux Follies,
The Wizard of Oz, White Christmas, Guys and Dolls,
Hello Dolly, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream
Coat and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Busch Gardens
Tampa, BeetleJuice at Universal Studios Orlando
and Royal Caribbean International. Hicks is
eternally grateful for the strong and loving support
system around him. Love you, mean it!
Dawn Rivard
(Hair and Makeup Designer)
Rivard has designed for productions in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland, and won an Emmy®
Award for Feast of All Saints. She has built wigs for
Mike Myers, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken,
Jessica Biel, Sir Peter Ustinov, Jonathan Rhys
Meyers and Lily Collins (The Mortal Instruments:
City of Bones) which garnered her a Canadian
Academy Award. Rivard has done wig and makeup
work at Teatro alla Scala, Seville’s Teatro de la
Maestranza, Turin’s Teatro Regio, the Canadian
Opera Company for eight seasons, and works for
Jeff Daniels’ The Purple Rose Theatre Company.
Her work on Broadway productions includes
Ragtime, Sunset Boulevard and Showboat, and she
designed hair and makeup for The Dallas Opera as
well as the world premieres of Sister Carrie and twotime
Grammy® Award-winning Elmer Gantry.
Cat Carter
(Stage Manager)
Cat recently stage managed Forever Plaid in the
Straz Center’s Jaeb Theater. Locally, she’s managed
productions for the St. Pete Opera Company (Into
the Woods, Tales of Hoffmann); Tampa Repertory
Theatre (Flying, Realistic Joneses); and served as
a Logistics Coordinator for First Night St. Pete.
After studying Theater Technology and Design at
Fresno’s California State University, she completed
a series of stage management internships at
P.C.P.A. Theaterfest in Santa Maria, Calif. and
was rewarded with a staff position there. She’s also
worked at San Diego Repertory Theatre and toured
with California Theatre Center.
Anton Coppola
(Composer)
During his illustrious career, Maestro Coppola
has conducted almost all of the important opera
companies in the United States and Canada
including the San Francisco and New York City
Operas. Known for his range and versatility,
Coppola conducted the world premieres of Lizzie
Borden, Deseret and Of Mice and Men, as well as
many Broadway musicals. He worked with the
Royal Opera Orchestra and opera soprano Angela
Gheorghiu to release a complete recording of
Puccini works. After serving four years as an army
bandmaster during World War II, he moved on to
conduct at Radio City Music Hall. For 15 years,
he was the director of both the Symphony and
Opera Departments at the Manhattan School of
Music and holds a master’s degree in composition.
Among his larger works are a symphony, an
opera, a violin concerto and numerous film scores.
Coppola conducted important revivals of Zaza,
Mireille and Falstaff, and appeared in his nephew
Francis Ford Coppola’s film, Godfather III. He also
conducted the score for the Coppola film Dracula.
Coppola has received honorary Doctorates from
the University of Tampa and Quinnipiac University
in Connecticut. He was honored with the Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Puccini Foundation
and recognized by the Italian government as
Cavaliere, Gran Ufficiale. He is the founding artistic
director of Opera Tampa and conducted all of
Opera Tampa’s productions including Madama
Butterfly, Carmen, La Bohème, Tosca, Hansel and
Gretel, La Traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, the world
premiere of his own opera Sacco & Vanzetti, Othello,
Turandot and many more, until his retirement in
April of 2012. In honor of his 100th birthday, he
returned to the podium at The Straz in March of
2017 for Coppola Conducts: 100 Years Young.
• 24
/JosephOshry.com
/www.operatampa.org