Ted Huffman

Pittsburgh Opera’s welcome revival of “Hansel & Gretel” in a new production Saturday night featured an especially appealing cast drawn from the young professional singers of its Resident Artists program and impressive stage direction by Ted Huffman.

Mark Kanny, Pittsburgh Tribune (January 29, 2012)

...the opera is only a metaphor or two away from being the actual life of children today—someone always spoiling the fun. The Pittsburgh Opera did nothing of the sort in its new production at CAPA Theater. Stage director Ted Huffman and set designer Patrick Rizzotti sent Hansel and Gretel down the rabbit hole with a set of chairs and cabinets in various bizarre configurations. They are dumped in a pile in Act I to suggest the family’s ramshackle hovel, hung from above in Act II to mimic the forest, and arranged in the finale as the walls of the Witch’s tasty cottage. It was a nontraditional setting to be sure, but it didn’t hinder the story for me. Even the last scene, (spoiler alert) where a table of sumptuous cakes and a miniature gingerbread house take the place of the candy house, worked for me. I hope it showed the many kids in the audience that you don’t need literal representation to capture meaning…With the run on tickets for this production, I would recommend the company not wait so long to bring it back.

Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (January 28, 2012)

…this work was emotionally riveting, poignant, and ultimately heartbreaking; as the protagonist’s lover called, she wrestled with a party line…three performers held lights, moving with the singer, going up and down and in and out with her, ultimately blinding the audience briefly so that the denouement would be a shock and surprise. The audience erupted in bravos for this marvelous performance.

Linda Phillips, Greenwich Citizen (June 24, 2011)

Seated at the crossroads of the annual buzz of summer festivals and economic talk of companies making musical magic on tight budgets, the Greenwich Music Festival is a particular gem…La Voix Humaine is one of those works that, while belonging to a very specific time period of party lines and telephone interferences, doesn’t demand much more than a singer and a telephone. Huffman embraced the minimalism of the opera and used it as a metaphor for the isolation inherent to the piece. All told, it made for some appropriately haunting stage pictures and brought a visceral freshness to the work.

Olivia Giovetti, WQXR (June 11, 2011)

The marvelously engaging story of the torrid love affair of a sensuous Gypsy temptress with a young Spanish soldier lost little in this abridged version. If anything, it seemed more concentrated and accessible. Partly this was due to the power of its principle singers. But a big part of its success lies in its thoughtfully conceived, well-planned staging. Subtle moving video images in black and white — drifting clouds, a moon floating across a starry sky, twinkling lanterns — projected onto a large screen filling the back wall of the stage added to the romantic atmosphere and drama. And drama there certainly was.

Steven Siegel, Allentown Morning Call (February 2011)

There’s still time to keep on your Sunday best and head to the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts to catch Amarillo Opera’s impassioned La Boheme. When you do, you’ll see a marvelous cast giving a striking, new interpretation of one of the most popular operas in the world. It’s not a radical departure from what you may have seen before, but director Ted Huffman and his cast lay bare the opera’s beating heart by focusing on the emotional truth of the characters and their world…It was breathtaking.

Chip Chandler, Amarillo Globe-News (October 2, 2011)

El Cimarrón does not specifically require staging, but the performance was greatly enhanced by the work of directors Ted Huffman and Zack Winokur. The theater space is in the low-ceilinged basement of the church, which rules out the possibility of elaborate sets. Huffman and Winokur impressively relied on creative use of lighting and highly athletic dancing to convey the drama in a meaningful yet unobtrusive way.

Arlo McKinnon, Opera News (September 2010)

The three-hour showcase, conducted by Dean Williamson and directed with winning tact by Ted Huffman, turned a revealing light on the 25 young artists in this year’s crop. If the Gounod duet - a sumptuous display of close-knit harmonies and emotional intensity - was a high point of the evening, it was far from the only one. Things got off to a splendid start with the opening scene from “The Rake’s Progress,” Stravinsky’s neo-classical take on the operas of Mozart and Donizetti.

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle (August 23 2010)

Among my umpteen Merola Program closing concerts — all memorable in various ways — Saturday’s was one of the most enjoyable. Programmed, directed, and performed with care and effectiveness, this was what opera doesn’t always manage to be: delightful entertainment. Directing the quasi-staged evening was one of the program’s apprentice stage directors, Ted Huffman, a young artist who will go far.

, San Francisco Classical Voice (August 21 2010)

We, the audience for El Cimarrón, were unexpectedly hurtled back to the very origins of music, when rocks struck served as percussion, the voice as instrument, the leaves, wind and water as accompaniment. That the Greenwich Music Festival was able to portray the entire history of musical sound within this short presentation was brilliance. That the production itself conveyed dream states, memory, phantasms, and actual events was akin to harnessing the music of the spheres, and bringing it to earth: sheer genius.

Linda Phillips, Greenwich Citizen (June 14 2010)

...the enthusiastic reception awarded Ted Huffman’s excellent new production of the work demonstrated the open-minded attitude and artistic freedom often denied Mr. Henze, 83… a compelling musical and theatrical experience, especially in this tightly wrought production.

Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times (June 11 2010)

There are still some diamonds of artistic excellence hidden in this seaside town, including the shockingly well-done production of Hans Werner Henze’s The Runaway Slave (El Cimarrón) by the Greenwich Music Festival. This most likely will be the only time I will ever see this rarely performed gem live, but after experiencing the awesome power of the work last night, I am happy that I’ve seen this amazing piece realized to its greatest potential. This production is a shining beacon of minimalism, using sparse staging and simple, elegant and realistic costumes by Austin Scarlett (yes, he of Project Runway fame).

Valmont, Parterre Box (June 10 2010)

Some of the most visually striking, emotionally resonant local opera productions in recent years have been the work of the Greenwich Music Festival, founded in 2004 by artistic director Ted Huffman…

Critic's Pick, Time Out NY (June 10 2010)

This production, engagingly directed by the festival’s artistic director Ted Huffman…beautifully caught the spirit of the original conception.

Eric Myers, Opera (November 2009)

The best proof of this came in the fine playing of the International Contemporary Ensemble under his aegis and the impressively mounted, visually memorable and well-sung staging by Ted Huffman…Deserved standing ovations greeted the committed team of artists.

David Shengold, Opera News (September 2009)

…true art does not always please. It can repel, attract, surprise, shock and change us. That is the accomplishment of this production, which was at once absurd, grotesque, and brilliant…

Linda Phillips, Greenwich Citizen (June 16 2009)

In a word, superb. That sums up the Greenwich Music Festival’s premiere of Viktor Ullmann’s one-act opera, Der Kaiser von Atlantis…This “Kaiser” succeeded by dint of expert musician ship by all, crisp and creative stage direction by Ted Huffman, and performers who never lost their focus or energy.

Jerome Sehulster, Stamford Advocate (June 14 2009)

This is the happy genius of this burgeoning little music festival’s accomplishment: under the direction of Ted Huffman, this crack team of performers and designers has managed to present this many-faceted jewel of an opera in a manner utterly respectful of its unique origins while remaining so fresh that it feels incidentally composed for this moment.

Georges Briscot, Operaticus (June 2009)

The five-year-old Greenwich Music Festival, created by conductor Robert Ainsley and baritone Ted Huffman, enriches the musical life of Connecticut’s Fairfield County every June. To judge from this year’s centerpiece — an affecting, musically rewarding staging of Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria conducted by Ainsley and directed by Huffman — it does so on a high, destination-worthy level.

David Shengold, Opera News (August 2008)