CIM Opera Theater plans truly grand season finale with "Don Giovanni" at Playhouse Square

Season finales don’t get much grander than the one CIM Opera Theater has in store.  

Not only is the company staging Mozart’s great Don Giovanni in the Mimi Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square. It’s also bringing its own student, faculty, and guest forces to bear on a full-scale, visually stunning production. 

“We're making a show that’s in the spirit of Mozart and accessible to all audiences,” said JJ Hudson, director of the production and interim artistic director of CIM Opera Theater. “This is a show CIM will be proud to present.”  

Don Giovanni marks CIM’s second appearance at Playhouse Square. In November 2024, the company made its debut at the nation’s second-largest performing arts center with a new production of Chabrier’s lighthearted L’Étoile. 

The Mozart performances April 23 and 25, presented by Judson Senior Living, will again see the company taking up an opera with comic elements. This time, though, it’s a work with a darker side. For while the opera contains plenty of humor, the title character is ultimately condemned. 

"We’re doing all the expected fire and flames,” Hudson said, alluding to the opera’s climactic final scene. “It’s exciting to be tackling such a well-known work but also to be looking at it with new eyes.” 

The title role in CIM’s production will be sung by CIM alum Brian Myer (MM ’14, Southern). A second guest, bass-baritone Andrew Hiers, also has been invited to play the Commendatore. Faculty member Harry Davidson will conduct.  

Beyond that, the rest of the cast features students. They are Kiana Lilly and Mikayla Liu as Donna Anna; Lisl Wangermann and Yi Chin Ariel Wong as Donna Elvira; Caroline Friend and Shira Ziv as Zerlina; Davis Fischer and Daniel Oh as Leporello; Ku Liang and Hyeondo Park as Masetto; and John Joseph Haney and Jingdian Zhou as Ottavio. Twenty-five others will serve as members of the chorus.  

No less impressive is the list of artistic crew members. In addition to set, lighting, and projection designers, this Don Giovanni includes lavish costumes from Sarasota Opera with designs by Esther Haberlen, of Great Lakes Theater Festival, as well as an intimacy coordinator and dance and fight choreographers, including CIM’s own Julie Andrijeski. 

The impact of all this on students – on young artists training to be the future of classical music – is enormous.  

Performing in Don Giovanni for the second time, Mikayla Liu said she is particularly enjoying recitative, learning to convey emotion in sung speech.  

“It’s been really nice to bring it back and see new perspectives,” she said. “I’m really understanding the connection and frustration that [Donna Anna] feels, through the recitative.” 

Fellow student Shira Ziv echoed that sentiment but also noted the value – and unique challenges – of singing on a major proscenium stage in elaborate costumes that include corsets. Both, she said, are experiences typically reserved for professionals.  

“It completely changes everything – how you move, how you sing,” Ziv said of her costume. “I think it’s amazing that we’re doing this in school. Not a lot of students get this kind of opportunity.” 

CALENDAR LISTING

Wednesday, April 23 

Friday, April 25 

7pm | Mimi Ohio Theatre, Playhouse Square 

CIM Opera Theater 

JJ Hudson, director 

Harry Davidson, conductor 

CIM Orchestra 

MOZART   Don Giovanni 

Tickets: $20-$50 

Playhouse Square Box Office: playhousesquare.org or 216.241.6000. 

Presented by Judson Senior Living. 

CIM Opera Theater is supported by a grant from the John P. Murphy Foundation.