A Wake or a Wedding at Baruch Performing Arts Center

Dallas meets Chekhov in Richard Pearson Thomas' new comic opera, now receiving its New York premiere. A Wake or a Wedding transports you back to 1898 Montana, where ruthless, unlovable copper king Pierpont Mackerel Davenport has the audacity to drop dead on the eve of his daughter Velena-Sue's wedding -- a matter of great inconvenience to her. The already topsy-turvy household is further shaken up by the arrival of Marcella Sorella, opera diva extraordinaire, and her cohort Raimondo Vecchiofaraone, who could be from Cairo, Egypt or Cairo, Illinois -- it's hard to tell! Hilarity ensues as surprise relationships are revealed, tables are turned, and all the characters reveal their true identities in this fun 90-minute romp. Joy Hermalyn, whose Broadway credits include Candide, Cyrano, Fiddler on the Roof, Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme and more, leads an exceptional cast of eight.