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A woman at the end of her rope. A man strung out on hope. Join them in this operatic voyage onto the perilous shoals of love.

Shattered Glass, a one-act opera, was developed from a five-minute excerpt written during Tapestry New Opera Works' Composer-Librettist Laboratory - the annual "boot camp" for composers and writers to develop their collaborative skills in the music theatre/opera art form. The expanded version of Shattered Glass premiered at the 28th Rhubarb Festival in Feb 2006.

Written by Douglas Rodger(book, libretto) and Njo Kong Kie (book and music), Shattered Glass was directed by Dora nominated director Patrick Conner and featured Carla Huhtanen (soprano), Keith Klassen (tenor) and Njo Kong Kie (pianist, music direction). Please read on for bios of the team.

Douglas is a dramatist living in Toronto. His works include Donut City for Canadian Stage and How Could You, Mrs. Dick? at the Wintergarden Theatre. He is presently writing a musical with Composer Ron Lewis Jacobson called Hung Out To Dry. Doug is a rookie Rhubarb!er with no idea what he is in for but looking forward to it anyway. He dedicates Shattered Glass to the memory and family of Diane Lewarne Partin.

Patrick loves Rhubarb! It's no secret. Patrick always looks forward to the tart and delicious taste of Rhubarb! He began directing at Rhubarb! a number of years ago. Highlights include: Roller City, Flight 198, Tools, and even darkness. He directs elsewhere, Poochwater, Haunted Masters (at Spadina House), Project Just Being. He was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Direction (Poochwater 2002) and received the Ken McDougall Award in 2001. He enjoys collaborating on theatre in Toronto. Long Live Rhubarb! Incidentally, Patrick is directing another play in Week 1 of Rhubarb! - THE ERIE DISAPPEARANCE by Bill Zaget, featuring Greg Campbell and Zag Dorison. Feb 1 to 5, 8:30pm, Tallulah's Cabaret.

Carla is a peaceable creature with hardly any violent tendencies (singing doesn't count) and is warmed by her first experience at "Il Barbaro Rabarbaro!" See if you can spot her in Tapestry New Opera and Opera Atelier productions in the future.

Keith returns for a second time to Rhubarb!. He was last seen as Jimmy in knotty together in 2005 (written by Anna Chatterton and Njo Kong Kie). Keith says he is thrilled to be working with three of the four people involved in 'Shattered Glass', but he only likes two of them. Can anybody solve the puzzle?

This is Kong Kie's 2nd entry to Rhubarb! Last year, he and Anna Chatterton presented the naughty and gay opera in 3 short acts, knotty together. Most of the time, people in North America have a difficult time remembering Kong Kie's name upon first hearing; but once every few years, thanks to his distant relative - the furry King, his name becomes rather memorable, hot, in fact. For more factual, though perhaps less interesting trivia about Kong Kie, or to find out what Music Picnic is, click.