Next Seattle Ring
Dateline April 13, 1999

I just hopped off the internet after hearing elsewhere that the Seattle Ring scheduled to has been cast.  Over my years of opera going, I've come to love Wagner.  My first ever Ring was the Seattle Ring in 1995.  I've seen two more since and will be seeing the San Francisco Ring this year and then heading to Frankfurt to vacation and see another Ring in Kassel Germany.

I am really looking forward to the Seattle Ring in the new millenium.  Das Reingold and Die Walküre will debut in August 2000 and the full Ring Cycle will be performed in 2001.  I expect that the production will be anything but traditional.  One does not go to Seattle to see a "Rags and Rocks" Ring Production.  When prodded by at a Wagner Society dinner I attended, Speight Jenkins offered up this tidbit:  This Ring will be a "Green Ring" to escort in the new millenium.  So by that, I suspect that Mother Earth will be the centerpiece of the production's concept.

There is no news in the announcement that Jane Eaglen, one of Speight Jenkins’ favorite singers, will be singing the role of Brünnhilde.  

Returning to the cast from the 1995 production are:
Nancy Maultsby:  Erda and adding the role of Waltraute
Peter Kazaras:  Loge
Thomas Harper:  Mime

Gabor Andrasy will be reprising his role as Fafner and Hagen, but there will be a new Hunding.

The pivotal role of Wotan will be Phillip Joll, who Speight heard in Stuttgart as Simon Boccanegra.  Mr. Jenkins searched high and low for a Siegfried, and at the recommendation of Jane Eaglen, selected Alan Woodrow.  Woodrow auditioned just before he went on stage to singing Florestan in San Antonio.

The Sieglinde and Siegmund will be Margaret Jane Wray, also singing the Third Norn, and Mark Baker, who is well known to many opera lovers.

Big news!  Stephanie Blythe, who recently received raves at the Met, will sing Fricka and the Second Norn.  ;The wonderful Richard Paul Fink will perform Alberich, which he just finished in January in Dallas to stellar reviews.  Greer Grimsley, who sang Kurvenal in the now famous Seattle Tristan, will sing Gunther and Donner.  Rounding out the announcement was Stephen Milling who has signed for the roles of Hunding and Fasolt.

Other notable names bandied about in this article were Michelle deYoung and Christine Goerke.  So, I see that a few Valks are MIA and no mention of the Rhine cuties. Hmmmmmmmmmmm?

Recipes, I promised recipes.  Our estimable Jamboree Master of Ceremonies has threatened to give me the sack if I don’t come through with the goods.  Since so many people fancy themselves as Opera House Artistic Directors, I suspect some maybe scoffing at one or more of the artists chosen to perform in the Seattle Ring.  Herewith is my recipe for a childhood favorite of mine:

Snickerdoodles:
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups flour (sifted, I always sift!)
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

So snicker while you doodle over a cup of tea and a couple of these!  Ho yo to ho.