Omer Ben Seadia

“One of the opera’s great scenes is the Te Deum, which takes place in the Church of Sant’ Andrea della Valle. As set up by stage director Omer Ben Seadia, it was a grandiose spectacle of religious devotion and secular hypocrisy that kept the focus firmly on the police chief Baron Scarpia and his malevolent plotting. Processions of choir members, priests holding giant crosses and monks paraded into the somber gray church to begin the Latin hymn, as Scarpia planned execution and sexual conquest over the grim tones of the orchestra.

Another famous scene came off as particularly effective, the gripping minutes in Scarpia’s office in the Palazzo Farnese, a grand room covered with faded frescoes of classical mythology. The orchestra, conducted by David Stern, brought grinding force to the ascending tones and bruising dissonances that signaled the torture of Tosca’s lover Cavaradossi, as Tosca’s wails communicated her anguish and Scarpia presided with vile mastery.

And appropriately for this gritty, realistic opera, under Seadia’s direction, the stage acting was subtle and cinematic, with none of the exaggerated, heavy-handed gestures that characterize many productions.” David Flesher, South Florida Classical Review, January 27, 2024 for Tosca at Palm Beach Opera

“Director Omer Ben Seadia’s staging captured not only the coziness of Peter’s home but—with the help of movement director Courtney B. Jones—the freewheeling fun of the youngsters’ antics in the snow. ” Steven Brown, Texas Classical Review, December 10, 2021 for The Snowy Day at Houston Grand Opera