Ensemble Bio
Really Spicy Opera is an award-winning performing arts company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 2005, RSO has given the world premieres of more than two dozen stage works. It frequently collaborates with the Maryland-based Empressa Ensemble to present performances and new scholarship on historical musical activities by women. The company has toured across the United States, Canada, France, Madagascar, and Mauritius.
Quick Facts (Updated August 2019)
- Age: 18 years
- Founded in Boston in 2005 by Basil Considine.
- Produces: 3 productions and assorted performances per year.
- Some Places Performed:
- Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Madagascar, Massachusetts, Mauritius, Minnesota, Oregon, Quebec, Tennessee, Washington, DC
- Core Mission: World premieres of new operas and musicals.
- Key Projects:
- Historical Operas by Women List
- The Eliza Eichelberger Ridgely Project (with the Élan Ensemble)
- Women in Opera Initiative
- Motto: Cultivating drama that burns and music that sates.
Recent Awards and Honors
- 2018
- Tampa International Fringe, Technician’s Pick (PolySHAMory)
- 2017
- Broadway World–Minneapolis: Best New/Original Work (Angela Timberman in A Pickle)
- Broadway World–Minneapolis: Best New/Original Work (A Pickle)
- Musical America Magazine, Movers & Shapers (to artistic director Basil Considine)
- Minnesota Fringe Festival, Encore Pick (A Pickle)
- Tampa International Fringe, Bestselling Show–Overall (Game of Thrones: The Musical)
- Twin Cities Arts Reader, Best of Fringe Award (A Pickle)
- 2016
- Twin Cities Arts Reader, Best of Fringe Award (Game of Thrones: The Musical)
- Twin Cities Arts Reader, Critic’s Pick Award (Game of Thrones: The Musical)
Listen to Really Spicy Opera
“Portraits” from Leanna Kirchoff’s The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret
“The Ballad of Good Women” from Leanna Kirchoff’s The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret
Pictures
Game of Thrones: The Musical (2016)
Rigoletto (2016)