There is no irony in the fact that the story is being presented by a creative team made up entirely of women.

“Welcome To The Madness,” an opera about Perry Mansfield founders Portia Mansfield and Charlotte Perry, opens Aug. 22 and closes Aug. 25.

Opera Steamboat’s General Director and CEO Julie Maykowski is excited about the upcoming show and the story it will tell about one of the oldest performing arts camps in the United States.

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Recent rehearsals have involved workshopping the score, which was recently finished, with the orchestra and the singers. There has also been extensive staging and logistical planning at the venue. The roaming and interactive nature of “Welcome To The Madness” will involve the cast, orchestra and audience moving around Perry Mansfield in unison.

The creative team, which has expanded since the opera was conceived, contains Perry Mansfield’s Executive Director Jennifer Grathwohl and Director of Opportunities and Possibilities Dagny McKinley. They have worked alongside composer Leanna Kirchoff, librettist Rachel J. Peters, Stage Director Amanda Berg Wilson, Conductor Mila Henry and Maykowski.

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Another unique feature of the production is the involvement of students from the Steamboat Creates summer program. The youth, who started rehearsing Aug. 7, have shown a high degree of enthusiasm and capability in a short period of time. Learning what they are going to sing has been supplemented with lessons on the meaning of opera, what it means to be a character and how to discover who their characters “really are.”

Production progress has gone smoothly, especially with all the different facets that had to come together for “Welcome To The Madness.”  

“It really works. It’s just really well done,” Maykowski said. “Leanna Kirchoff really has done a beautiful job of writing this piece.”

A Colorado native, Kirchoff has been composing songs since she was a child. All but one or her operatic compositions have involved women’s topics and female characters. 

“It is difficult to express in words just how exciting it is to watch this opera be brought to life after having lived in my mind’s eye for so long,” Kirchoff said. “We have an excellent group of singers that have embraced the immersive format of the opera.”

The production involved a large amount of collaboration between Perry Mansfield and Opera Steamboat.

“From a partnership standpoint, it’s about as immersive together as we could possibly be,” Maykowski explained. “There are daily conversations about what is happening and how we can work around each other and not impede anyone’s ability.”

She went on to explain that it has been a “blast” to be working among so many different artists between the two organizations, including young people from the community of Steamboat Springs and the creative team.

“It’s really just this amazing group of wonderful power women who are making this thing happen,” Maykowski said. “It’s so much fun.”

That fun was first realized in what Maykowski called a “magical moment” during an early rehearsal when she looked around the room and noticed there were only women present.

“To me, it feels normal, and in any room, the first thing I think about when entering a new production is not our gender, but the skillset and life experience that has brought each of us to the production,” Henry said.

Maykowski called Mansfield and Perry “female trailblazers.” She likened their bold and pioneering spirit to the collaborative leadership team that is bringing their story to life. 

Berg Wilson added that “Portia and Charlotte were so far ahead of their time” that they were “boundary-breaking.” 

Librettist Rachel J. Peters noted that men have also been “crucial to the evolution and support of the work.”

“The performing arts have always been a field in which women outnumber the men on all fronts, but there are fewer opportunities for women,” Wilson said. “I think that sometimes we women just have to forge ahead and make our own opportunities.” 

For more, visit OperaSteamboat.org/operas-2024/.