“Scalia/Ginsburg,” September 5 through 15

Thursday, September 5, through Sunday, September 15

Riverside Theatre, 119 East College Street, Iowa City IA

An operatic comedy by composer/librettist Derrick Wang that was hailed as “a dream come true” by the iconic Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Scalia/Ginsburg opens the 2024-25 season at Iowa City's Riverside Theatre, its September 5 through 15 run telling the story of the friendship between the notorious RBG and her fierce judicial opponent Antonin Scalia through the lens of their shared love of opera. What better way to tell of this unlikely bond across political lines than through the art form they both adored?

Ginsburg was a lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton to replace retiring justice Byron White, and at the time was viewed as a moderate consensus-builder. Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court, after Sandra Day O'Connor, and during her tenure, Ginsburg authored the majority opinions in cases such as: United States v. Virginia (1996); Olmstead v. L.C. (1999); Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, Inc. (2000); and City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York (2005). Later in her tenure, Ginsburg received attention for passionate dissents that reflected liberal views of the law. She was popularly dubbed "the Notorious R.B.G.", a moniker she initially resisted but later embraced.

Antonin Gregory Scalia was a American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative wing. For catalyzing an originalist and textualist movement in American law, he has been described as one of the most influential jurists of the 20th century, as well as one of the most important justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Scalia was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018, and the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University was named in his honor.

Riverside's producing artistic director Adam Knight returns to the directing chair for Scalia/Ginsburg, his other recent presentations including A Case for the Existence of God, The Trip to Bountiful, The Weir, and this past summer's Shakespeare in the park Julius Caesar. Antony Scalia is portrayed by Foo Chen Gui, Mary Jane Knight portrays Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the three-person cast is completed by Phillip Lopez as the Commentator.

Joining director Knight on the opera comedy's creative team are: music director and conductor Michael Sakir; scenic and costume designer Kaelen Novak; lighting designer Jackson Kopesky; props designer Stephen Polchert; stage manager Kelly Garrett; assistant stage manager Charlie Schmelzer; assistant scenic and costume designer Bella Fortunato; and board operator Indica Mutchler. The Scalia/Ginsburg orchestra, meanwhile is composed of: Halie Augustus on piano; Hannah Howland Jacobs and Austin Jacobs on violin; Oliver Bostian on viola; Christina Craig Gentzsch on cello; McKenna Blenk on percussion; and Xavier Vongphakdy on bass.

Scalia/Ginsburg runs at the Iowa City theatre from September 5 through 15, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $15-39, and more information and tickets are available by calling (319)259-7099 and visiting RiversideTheatre.org.