ST JOHN THE BAPTIST
World Premiere Staging - Co-production with Catapult Opera
OCTOBER 2025
Pop-Up Theater 340 Maple Drive DC | Baltimore Theater Project
Music by Alessandro Stradella
New English Text by Bari Biern
Stage and Music Direction by Timothy Nelson
Design by Josh Sticklin, Yannick Godts, Oana Botez
From the pen of one of the most audacious, salacious, and extraordinary composers ever to live (whose life was so fantastical that multiple operas were composed about it), comes this 17th century version of the biblical Salome story. Every bit as compelling, gruesome, and at once horrifying and intoxicating as the Oscar Wilde play written over two centuries later, this oratorio has become infamous for its incredible score, unlike any other music, and its dramatic power. It marked even the concert debut of a young Maria Callas in 1947 singing the role of the stepdaughter Salome who demands of Herod the head of John the Baptist, and will do anything to get it. Written as a concert work, this production marks the first time Stradella’s masterpiece is brought to life on the stage.
Run Time: 90 Minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
Featuring
Daniel Moody, Dawna Rae Warren, Greg Sliskovich, Andrew Adelsberger, Hayley Abramowitz
DATES AND VENUES
Pop-Up Theater 340 Maple Drive SW, DC
October 2 at 8pm
October 3 at 8pm
October 4 at 8pm
October 5 at 2:30pm
BALTIMORE THEATRE PROJECT
October 10 at 8pm
October 11 at 8pm
October 12 at 2:30pm
BALTIMORE TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
LOCATION
Theater Alliance - 340 Maple Dr SW, Washington, DC 20024
Google Maps Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oqB3WWSPP3auoeeX8
Apple Maps Link: https://maps.apple/p/C_~yX9xJx_T_bC
We are located at 340 Maple Drive SW, Washington, DC 20024. Theater Alliance is located between the AppleTree Institute and The Westerly apartment complex.
Metro? We are two blocks from the Waterfront Metro Station on the Green Line. When exiting the metro, walk up 4th Street SW and make a right at Good Company Doughnuts & Cafe; Theater Alliance is at the middle of the block.
Coming by car? Search for Theater Alliance or our address at 340 Maple Dr SW, Washington, DC 20024 into your GPS or rideshare app.
Parking is available on the street and at the ABM Westerly Garage on Wesley Place SW (at the corner of Wesley and K Street SW.) Use the retail elevator, which lets you out onto Maple Drive SW to the left of the theater’s entrance.
Further instructions with photos.
SYNOPSIS
Part 1
In the rural part of the country, beyond the cities and the suburbs, John feels the call to leave this haven, and to go to Herod and preach that he is being untrue to both God and nature, that he should not deny that he is made just the way God intended, and that he should leave his current life which is a dishonest affront.
At his home, it is almost the day of Herod’s birthday. His family - his brother, his wife Herodias and his daughter Salome - gather to celebrate him, despite the fact that a darkness hangs over him. They each try in vain to cheer him up. Finally Salome, the light of his life and apple of his eye, draws him out. Herod forces himself to be joyful, and commands the company to dance and celebrate.
Suddenly, John barges into the home. He accuses Herod of forgetting him, of denying him and his own true self. When confronted by Herod’s brother, John is vitriolic, accusing him of lying down with his brother’s wife. Herodias, implicated and at her emotional extreme, taunts Herod that John has defamed his manhood and their marriage. Herod unleashes his fury on John, who responds with only love. John is thrown into this home’s torture chamber, as the dark side of this suburban family begins to emerge. The family, led by Herodias, is intent on violence against John. She infantilizes the tortured Herod, while their daughter Salome obliviously delights.
Part 2
The house is quiet at night as Salome emerges alone to play. Herod finds her, and soon the family is awake and again rejoices at Herod’s birthday. They give him gifts and applause. Delighted, particularly by Salome and his love for her, Herod offers to grant her any gift she may desire. Salome responds that no gift is required, Herod’s doting affection is gift enough. Herod tells her to go and think what she would want, as he will give her anything. Meanwhile, John cries out from his cell, hidden away in this house of horrors.
Herodias, seeing his opportunity, contrives to convince Salome to request that John be killed, and that she be given his head as her promised gift. Through guile, cunning, cajoling, seduction, and insinuation, Salome prepares Herod to hear her request. Once made, it is too late for Herod, and for John, the promise has been made. Herod consents in horror at his daughter’s bloodthirst, and at his own cowardice, believing John’s death may hide what he considers his own sins. John accepts his fate and is tormented by an empowered Salome. As Salome delights in the ecstasy of her triumph, the deed is done.
Alone, Herod and Salome ask the heavens the same question, with very different meanings: “Why?”
