Manna K. Jones in Josephine; Jonny Kaufman and Meroe Khalia Adeeb in Pagliacci
Union Avenue Opera’s 2025 summer season continues the company’s mission to bring opera and musical theater to the masses. It opened with the good-humored clash of class and culture that is My Fair Lady; it will end with the biblical melodrama of Richard Strauss’s Salome. This week’s entertainment is a sophisticated double bill: the operatic monodrama Josephine and the classic tragic opera Pagliacci. These surprisingly complimentary stories offer a powerful meditation on identity and memory. Our performers—one a dancer, one a clown—hide their true selves behind costumes and masks, real and figurative.
The evening opens with Josephine, a contemporary American opera based on the life of St. Louis-born entertainer Josephine Baker. Set in a Parisian theater in 1975, the story follows Baker (Manna K. Jones) as she conducts a last-minute interview and prepares for her final performance. She begins boastfully, flaunting her fame, wealth, and beauty. But as the interviewer presses, Baker’s façade cracks. She conjures up painful memories of poverty, racism, and exploitation. Baker revisits the 1917 race riots in St. Louis in one harrowing scene, with the stage glowing red to match her anguish. Yet Baker’s vitality—that fire inside—is never dimmed. The opera concludes triumphantly as she recounts the 1963 March on Washington, a moment that cemented her legacy as an icon and an activist.
The second half of the evening shifts to Pagliacci, Ruggero Leoncavallo’s tale of love, betrayal, and vengeance. Jonny Kaufman stars as Canio, leader of a Commedia dell’Arte troupe. His carnevale would not be complete without the misadventures of the cuckolded clown Pierrot; his clever wife Columbina (Meroe Khalia Adeeb); and Harlequin (Marc Shapman), her not-so-secret lover. The romantic antics onstage mirror the offstage drama between Canio and his wife Nedda (Adeeb again), who plans to leave her hot-tempered husband for charming Silvio (Kenneth Stavert).
Tonio (Andy Papas), another player in the troupe, lusts after Nedda as well. When Nedda rejects Tonio, he reveals her infidelity to Canio and whips him into a murderous frenzy. Canio’s heartbreak erupts into onstage violence and he proclaims “la commedia è finita”—love has turned to hate, comedy is now tragedy.
Both productions showcase Union Avenue Opera’s signature artistry. Josephine relies on nuanced lighting to mirror Baker’s shifting emotions and underscore Jones’s captivating soprano. Pagliacci bursts with motion: fights with whips and knives, backstage conspiracies, and scenes of vibrant Italian village life. Costumes are equally striking—Jones dazzles in sequins and feathers, while the Pagliacci cast evokes early 20th-century Italy with sundresses, caps, and vests. Thanks to the English supertitles, displayed on both sides of the stage, audiences can easily follow the narratives and enjoy their vivid, poetic language.
Union Avenue’s latest double bill is a marriage of the classic and the contemporary. Josephine is a poignant tribute to a local legend, while Pagliacci immerses audiences in timeless operatic passion. The final performances take place Friday, August 1, and Saturday, August 2, at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $27 to $62 and are available at Union Avenue Opera’s website. Don’t miss the chance to see two unforgettable entertainers remove their costumes and tell their true stories. One story is a triumph; the other, a tragedy. | Rob Von Nordheim
