The Creative Team
Meet the Creators
The team bringing Elmer Gantry to life on the Lobero stage — from the composer and librettist who created this Grammy-winning score, to the director and designer shaping the production, to the conductor on the podium.
The Score
The Composer & Librettist
Robert Aldridge
Composer
Robert Aldridge’s score for Elmer Gantry draws on the rich musical traditions of the American South — gospel hymns, revival songs, and the rhythms of jazz-age America. The result is a score that is sophisticated and complex, yet immediately engaging. It won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
Herschel Garfein
Librettist
Herschel Garfein’s libretto distills Sinclair Lewis’s sprawling, 400-page novel into a taut, dramatically compelling narrative. His text captures Lewis’s satirical edge while finding genuine humanity in even the most flawed characters. The libretto won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Composition.
Winner of Two Grammy Awards
Best Opera Recording · Best Classical Composition
The Production
The Team Behind the Stage
Tara Faircloth
Stage Director
Tara Faircloth returns to Opera Santa Barbara after directing two of the company’s most memorable recent productions — La Rondine in 2017 and La Traviata in 2022. Her vision for Elmer Gantry is sharp, insightful, and deeply entertaining. She brings a director’s eye for both the intimate human drama and the grand spectacle of the revival tent.
Laura Fine Hawkes
Scenic Designer
Laura Fine Hawkes makes her Opera Santa Barbara debut with Elmer Gantry. She brings a wealth of experience from companies including Wolf Trap Opera, Utah Opera, Arizona Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum, as well as guest design work with the San Francisco Opera Merola Program. Her designs will bring the world of revival tents and soaring tabernacles to vivid life on the Lobero stage.
Kostis Protopapas
Conductor & Artistic Director
Kostis Protopapas leads the production from the podium as both conductor and the driving artistic force behind bringing Elmer Gantry to Santa Barbara. His journey with this opera began at its premiere in Milwaukee in 2010, and he produced it once before in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since coming to lead Opera Santa Barbara in 2015, he has been waiting for the right moment to bring this work to the community he serves.
Meet Elmer Gantry
Two Revivals Only
Friday, May 1, 2026 — 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 3, 2026 — 2:30 PM
Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara
lobero.org · 805.963.0761