Two stage directors point to the company’s future

By Peter Alexander July 19 at 1:45 p.m.

Two of the three stage directors who helped produce this summer’s performances at Central City Opera (CCO) have given comments on the recent departure of CEO Pamela Pantos and the future of Central City Opera. (See: CEO Pamela Pantos’ employment at Central City Opera has ended.)

Ken Cazan, professor of opera and resident stage director at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, is the senior director of the three. He has been a feature of the CCO artistic community for many years. Last December when CCO was embroiled in a contract dispute with the American Guild of Musica Artists (AGMA), he wrote a letter to Pantos stating his unwillingness to work for the company until the dispute was resolved. Subsequently the two other directors signed the letter as well. The dispute was resolved at the last minute.

For the 2023 season, Cazan directed the production of Cole Porter’s classic musical Kiss Me, Kate. After yesterday’s surprise announcement that Pantos was leaving CCO, he wrote the following: “I’m glad it’s over. Now, hopefully, the company will wipe the slate clean and start from the ground up to recreate itself.

“At the moment it is totally up to the board and I pray that they have the fortitude to look at the company and its mission through a very fresh, clear lens. It is the perfect time to reimagine who and what they are and how they fit into the Colorado, American and international arts landscapes. I have so many thoughts on the huge potential for the company to move forward and grow artistically in this moment. It just takes guts and trusting a new artistic mentality—whoever that may be.

“Let the Managing Director and the new Artistic Director (a must position and one that was sorely missed this summer) create a new world within and around CCO, one that hopefully reaches out and invites in a new, fresh audience while being grateful for the guidance and support of current and past generations.”

Ashraf Seawilam was the most junior of the three stage directors. Although he has sung at Central City and around the world, the CCO production of Rossini’s Otello was his first fully professional directing job. He wrote: “To me—and many of my colleagues share this sentiment—the priority now is to concentrate on performing the rest of the festival not only successfully, but brilliantly.

“I won’t speak about the circumstances under which we put this excellent season together. The company and its great history will move on from this episode. The tremendous efforts put together by the artists, creatives, and crew in order to produce this season in spite of the ‘obstacles’ should be what’s in the limelight now, not what we left behind. In the end it’s why we’re here: The art and artists who make it happen.

“Come and see the shows! You will not be disappointed.”

Details of the remaining performances and access to ticket sales may be found here.