DC Metro Theater Arts published a rave review of the School of Music's staging of "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." See below.
From: DC Metro Theater Arts Date: November 20, 2016 Author: Coral Colón-Muñiz
The Outcasts of Poker Flat is the story of six uncanny people trapped together as they take shelter during a blizzard. Adapted from Bret Harte's 1869 story of the same name, the one-act chamber opera by Composer/Librettist Andrew Earle Simpson and Director James Hampton showcased an immensely talented cast and crew at The Catholic University of America.
Set during the Gold Rush era in California, we meet a John Oakhurst (John Gibney), a gambler, who is in the company of two prostitutes, Lori (Kristin Green Longwood) and Cassie (Jennifer Dunn), and a drunkard and thief named Uncle Billy (Tre'Von Bray) on their way to Sandy Bar ("March of the Grotesques," "The Whiskey Party"). They cross paths with a young prospector named Tom Simson (Edward Kerrick) and his betrothed, Piney Woods (Anna Kelly), a young couple on their way to Poker Flat to get married.