Wes Mason, in the role of Reinaldo Arenas, leaps among the women of his Cuban village, while Fort Worth Opera conductor, Joe Illick, leads the orchestra during a dress rehearsal for the world premier of Jorge Martin‘s “Before Night Falls” at Bass Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday May 27, 2010.

Fort Worth Opera‘s latest creation, “Before Night Falls,” opened at Bass Hall this weekend to enthusiastic crowds and while the reviews are mixed, Fort Worth gets a tip of the hat for underwriting composer and librettist Jorge Martin‘s operatic re-telling of Reinaldo Arenas’ life story.

This and other images from The Robert Hart Studio are available in my online archive:

'Moby Dick' composer, Jake Heggie, and librettist, Gene Scheer at Dallas' Winspear Opera House.

Moby Dick, Herman Melville’s classic, debuts tomorrow night with the Dallas Opera. There’s a huge buzz about how director Leonard Foglia intends to portray the whale and it’s been one of Dallas’ best kept secrets. Given Mr. Foglia’s reputation for putting audiences in the middle of the action, the leviathan’s first appearance onstage in Dallas should be stunning. Stories this week in the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have only added to the suspense.

Back on April 1, I had the opportunity to meet and photograph Moby Dick‘s composer, Jake Heggie, and librettist, Gene Scheer, for www.theaterjones.com inside Dallas’ gorgeous new Winspear Opera House. I wanted to incorporate the rich, warm burgundy surfaces inside the lobby, so I arrived a couple hours early to scout the location.

Jake and Gene showed up right on time and we were able to finish the shoot in less than 30 minutes. What an absolute delight these two were to work with. They were both enthusiastic, engaged and eager to participate and I am delighted with the result.

As any photographer will tell you, a good portrait requires the cooperation of the subject(s) and Jake and Gene were the best.

Turns out they loved the result as much as I did and each requested a signed copy of the photo, which I was flattered to provide.

I’m eager to see the performance tomorrow evening and can’t wait for the great white whale’s operatic debut.

I met and photographed Jorge at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in mid-November. It was critical, to me, that Jorge’s portrait be associated with Fort Worth. The Modern’s three pavilions provided the perfect iconic background for the shot.