LOLA Presents - We Might Be Struck by Lightning
Rebecca Herman - Show Creator and Stage Director
Rebecca is a stage director and storyteller who thrives on surprising, exciting, and moving audiences of all sizes. Based in Austin, Texas, she serves as Artistic Producer of Local Opera Local Artists (LOLA), where she champions both inventive interpretations of the operatic canon and the development of new works by living composers and librettists. In the 2025/2026 season, Rebecca is looking forward to directorial debuts at Florentine Opera with Don Giovanni and at Pensacola Opera with La Traviata, as well as returning to Austin Opera for their Celebrate Opera! A Spectacular Birthday Concert.
Rebecca is currently the Associate Director for Tomer Zvulun’s production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which recently appeared at Washington National Opera in spring 2025. In 2024, she joined Austin Opera to direct Carmen, made her Madison Opera debut with The Barber of Seville, and workshopped two new LOLA commissions: Un Cuento de Luces y Sombras and The Wildman Attends the Queen’s Charity Retreat. In summer 2023, she made her debut at The Glimmerglass Festival as Associate Director for E. Loren Meeker’s production of La Bohème.
As Artistic Producer of LOLA, Rebecca has led a range of innovative productions, including La Femme Bohème (Puccini’s La Bohème reimagined with an all-treble cast), La Clemenza di Tito: a Retelling (told from the perspective of Berenice of Cilicia, featuring new monologues in place of recitatives), We Might Be Struck By Lightning (a devised work using art song to tell interwoven narratives performed by two singers and four dancers), and Lardo Weeping (a chamber opera centered on Dinah LeFarge, “a rather large, sexual woman of independent means,” who invites the audience into her living room for an evening of storytelling and transformation).
Rebecca is deeply committed to collaborative creation and has facilitated the development of numerous new works in recent years, including Lardo Weeping (Peter Stopschinski, Terry Galloway), Good Country (Keith Allegretti, Cecelia Raker), Undine Speaks (Keith Allegretti, Amy Herman), Un Cuento de Luces y Sombras(Carlos Cordero, Germán Barboza), and The Wildman at the Palace (Peter Stopschinski, Rude Mechs).
Liz Cass - Executive Producer
Liz Cass is a dynamic producer, educator, arts leader, and operatic performer based in Austin, Texas. She is the founder and Executive Producer of the award-winning opera company LOLA (Local Opera Local Artists) and the Executive Director of Armstrong Community Music School, where she has taught voice since 2004. Liz is passionate about the arts, serving as president of the Seagle Festival Alumni Association Board, secretary of Austin Classical Guitar, and a member of KMFA 89.5's Community Advisory Board.
Her versatility shines in roles such as Dinah LeFarge in the world premiere of Lardo Weeping with LOLA, and Mrs. Lowe and Dora in The Manchurian Candidate with Austin Opera. Committed to making music with and in her community, she has performed with Austin Symphony Orchestra, Chorus Austin, Austin Classical Guitar, Austin Chamber Music Center, La Follia, and Panoramic Voices. Internationally, she appeared in Handel's Messiah in Guatemala from 2008-2019.
A champion of contemporary works, Liz premiered the mezzo role in Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance by Graham Reynolds, earning the Austin Critics Table Best Singer award. She also starred at the PuSh Festival and PROTOTYPE Festival. Under her leadership, LOLA commissioned Lardo Weeping by Peter Stopschinski and Terry Galloway.
Recent: Wildman in the Palace by Peter Stopschinski (March 2025) and The Butterfly by Keith Allegretti and Amy Herman (May 2025) for the Here Be Monsters festival.
Liz studied under Dr. Rebecca Folsom and earned her Vocal Performance degree at UMKC Conservatory with Inci Bashar, continuing studies at Aspen Music Festival, Seagle Festival, Central City, and Fort Worth Opera.
Annisha Mackenzie - Soprano
Annisha is a soprano based in Austin, Texas, and a graduate of Texas State University. Known for her “impeccable” and “expressive” stage presence, she has performed with local companies, including Austin Opera, Opera San Antonio, and One Ounce Opera, as well as most recently as Cousin Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore with Gilbert & Sullivan Austin. Some of her favorite past roles include Cendrillon (Cendrillon), Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), and Phoebe (The Yeomen of the Guard).
Offstage, she serves as a teaching artist for both Austin Opera and Opera San Antonio and teaches voice at Velocity Music Academy and Eastside Music School.
Barbara George - Cello
Barbara is a cellist with the San Antonio Philharmonic, the Pearl Trio, and Artistic Director of Musical Offerings. Before coming to Texas, she was principal cellist of the Orlando Philharmonic and a member of the Orlando Philharmonic String Quartet. She was a cello professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and the University of Central Florida. Prior to her principal position, she was a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and also performed, recorded, and toured with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, and the Lyric Arts Chamber Ensemble.
As a studio musician, she recorded numerous motion picture soundtracks, commercials, and record albums. Barbara was awarded a Master of Music degree from the University of California at Los Angeles as a student of Ronald Leonard and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Stephen Geber. She has performed at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, the Spoleto Italy Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Mainly Mozart Festival, the Victoria Bach Festival, the Sunflower Music Festival, and the Austin Chamber Music Center Festival. In 2019, Barbara released a solo album, Femme, of all women composers with pianist Jim James.
Ben Tibbetts - Music Arranger
Ben Tibbetts is a pianist and composer based in Austin. Ben teaches music at Timbral Music Studios in Round Rock and he is a staff pianist for the Trinity Church of Austin. Before moving to Texas in 2021, Ben worked as a staff accompanist for the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ben has composed and arranged hundreds of pieces for chamber ensembles and soloists, as well as original music for animations, films, and video games. For a full archive of Ben's work, visit www.bentibbetts.net.
Beth Johnson - Violin
Beth Johnson joined the former San Antonio Symphony, now San Antonio Philharmonic, in 1994 and has been a soloist with the orchestra. She received both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the College/Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. Beth previously was on the music faculty at Alamo Community Colleges and presently has a home teaching studio.
Locally she has performed with the Cactus Pear Music Festival, The Olmos Ensemble, Musical Offerings, Deux, and as soloist around the San Antonio area. She was recently the featured violinist in San Antonio Chamber Choir’s When The Violin Sings” and has performed with them regularly. She serves as a staff musician at Christ Episcopal Church. Beth served as associate concertmaster and section violinist of the Dayton Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the West Virginia Symphony, New Haven Symphony, as a substitute musician for the Cincinnati and Columbus Symphonies, and in the winter and spring of 2003 as concertmaster for the U.S. tour of “Phantom of the Opera.” In recent summers she has performed in the St. Endellion Music Festival in Cornwall, England.
Desiree Humphries - Wardrobe Design
Desireé Humphries (Costume Designer) is an Austin native costume designer whose recent credits include, Fat Ham( Austin Playhouse),Pass Over (Ground Floor Theatre), Ordinary Days (Penfold Theatre), and Black Feminist Guide To The Body (The Vortex). She has a BFA in Theatre Tech and Design from Texas State University and aside from being a local artisan she works at the University of Texas at Austin as the costume stock supervisor and costume production manager. This is her first Opera with LOLA. She is excited to be working with this company on this beautiful piece!
Erica “EG” Gionfriddo - Death
EG is a dance artist and educator who believes in the intelligent body each of us occupies. They are co-founder of ARCOS, a multi/trans/inter/anti-disciplinary group using dance and technology as rehearsals for survival in a complex world. Their hybrid works have been presented by the American Dance Festival, UNESCO, CURRENTS New Media Festival, Ammerman Center Symposium on Arts and Technology, Engagement Symposium of Philosophy and Dance, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. EG is Co-Head of Dance at the University of Texas at Austin, where they are an Assistant Professor of Practice and a current Provost Teaching Fellow.
Jennifer Anderson - Assistant Stage Manager
Jennifer is a stage manager and production manager with 20 years of experience in the Austin theatre community. The diversity and vibrancy of the Austin theatre scene brought her over to the dark side while interning in nonprofit arts administration at ZACH. Jennifer was a Production Assistant, Run Crew, Stage Manager, and House Manager for more than 30 productions at ZACH, spent three seasons as an Assistant Stage Manager with Austin Opera, and was the Artistic Administrator for Spotlight on Opera for three summer sessions. Her favorite Stage Manager credits include The Seagull and Wolf Hall with Austin Shakespeare, Footloose and Matilda! The Musical with Zilker Theatre Productions, and Dial M for Murder, The Shark Is Broken, Home, I’m Darling, and Significant Other with Jarrott Productions. Jennifer is a company member of Jarrott Productions, where she fulfills the roles of Company Manager and Production Manager. We Might Be Struck by Lightning is Jennifer’s first production with LOLA. Monday through Friday, Jennifer is the business administrator for a local nonprofit that serves the emergency medical community across Texas.
Joanne Evans - Mezzo Soprano
London-born mezzo soprano Joanne Evans is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program and of the residencies at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Britten Pears Young Artist Program, Fondation des Treilles, and the Festival d’Aix en Provence, where she was awarded Le Prix des Amis for Voice. Recent and upcoming performances include appearances at the Aldeburgh Festival, a role debut as Dorabella with Opera San Jose, a recital with Ravinia Festival x Ear Taxi Festival, and a European tour with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Joanne most recently appeared as Flora in Annapolis Opera’s production of La Traviata, a role that she will be reprising at Opera San Jose next year.
As a Fellow at Music Academy of the West in 2022, Joanne sang the role of Olga in Eugene Onegin and was named winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition. Further awards include a first prize win in the Handel Aria Competition and awards from the Dallas Lone Star Competition and the Gerda Lissner Foundation.
Joseph “Joey” Choi - Music Director and Pianist
Joey is a Korean-American pianist celebrated for his sensitive and sincere artistry across solo, chamber, and collaborative performances. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied under Anton Nel, and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal and Matti Raekallio.
Joey has earned numerous awards, including Second Prize at the NTD International Piano Competition and Best Performance of a Baroque Composer at the San Antonio International Piano Competition. He has performed at prestigious venues such as Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Aspen Music Festival, and collaborated with ensembles including the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the Aeolus Quartet.
A versatile and community-driven artist, Joey has served as Assistant Conductor for the Vienna Opera Academy, held faculty appointments at Concordia University Texas, and served on the boards of Panoramic Voices and the Pflugerville Arts Council. He currently works as a Teaching Artist and Pianist for Austin Opera, Pianist for the GRAMMY®-winning choir Conspirare, Staff Accompanist at Huston-Tillotson University, and Organist at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. He is also Music Director for One Ounce Opera’s Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera, an annual showcase of contemporary chamber opera in Austin.
Lisa Goering - Production Manger
Lisa (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working with LOLA again. Lisa’s other stage management credits include: Hedda Gabler, As You Like It, A Streetcar Named Desire (Austin Shakespeare); The Who's Tommy, Ragtime, The Drowsy Chaperone, RENT, Hairspray (ZACH Theatre); Little Shop of Horrors (Zilker Theatre Productions); and It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Penfold Theatre Company).
Goering has also worked as an ASM for Austin Opera and as the Production Manager for Jarrott Productions and Zilker Theatre Productions. Additionally, Goering works as a costume technician both locally and regionally.
Mari Akita - Mother
Matthew Sommers - Fiance
Matthew Sommers is a dance artist currently residing in Austin, Texas. Matthew attended the University of South Florida, where he graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance. While at USF, Matthew received multiple talent scholarships, including the WWD Scholarship and the Victoria Catherine Seldon Scholarship, as well as the opportunity to work with choreographers Charles O. Anderson, Alex Jones, Joshua L. Peugh, and Marc Brew, among others.
After graduation, Matthew moved to Austin, where he currently lives, dances, teaches, and floats around joyfully. He’s performed in Austin with Spaces of Fontana, KDH Dance Company, Dance Waterloo, Early Era Collective, and Point A, as well as premiering his own work, which combines a sense of humorous storytelling while exploring the dynamics of physicality, suspension, and weight.
Natalie George - Lighting Design
Natalie George Productions is an Austin, Texas-based company that enjoys making magic with light, producing unwieldy events in unlikely spaces, and exploring conversation through performance. Our team is composed of artists, makers, designers, and dreamers. We work to build new relationships, realize inspiring ideas, engage audiences, and serve the artistic community as we continue to thrive in the changing cultural climate of Austin, Texas. Find out more at www.nataliegeorgeproductions.com
Natalie George – Lighting Designer
Sadie Langenkamp – Assistant LD + Master Electrician
Rebecca Whitehurst - Choreographer
Rebecca Whitehurst (choreographer) is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. She worked in LA and NYC for over a decade before becoming a professor. Rebecca holds a BA in philosophy from Stanford and an MFA in acting from IATT at Moscow Art Theatre/A.R.T. at Harvard. Additionally, Rebecca did graduate work in dance/choreography at CalArts and a Fulbright (Russia) on movement for actors. She is honored to work once again with LOLA and the inimitable Rebecca Herman!
Sadie Langenkamp - Lighting
Sarah Annie Navarrete - Girl
Originally from El Paso, Texas, Sarah is an Austin-based artist working in performance, photography, and film. Described as a “dancer and photographer, floating skillfully between these worlds” - Austin Chronicle, Sarah’s image-based work explores kinetic narratives through an emotional tone as they relate to identity and the human body.
Wendy Sanders - Hair and Makeup Design
Wendy is an award-winning theatrical wig and makeup designer based in Austin, TX. She started working in wigs and makeup in college because it was more fun than her degree field, and has now been professionally coloring on people for over 25 years. Her work has been seen on stages and screens across the country and includes ballet, opera, film, and television, SFX, and her favorite genre, high fantasy!
Some of her most loved works have been seen in Lardo Weeping with LOLA, where she also did costume design, Grimm Tales with Ballet Austin, and Poe: A Tale of Madness, also with Ballet Austin. When not working behind the scenes, Wendy is an internationally renowned burlesque and aerial performer under her stage name, Ginger Snaps, and has been voted “Austin’s Best Burlesque Performer” by the Austin Chronicle readers’ poll for the past decade. She feels very fortunate to live in a city as weird and wild as her, where she can thrive on both sides of the curtain!
