With a career spanning theatre, musical theatre, and opera, Johnathon Pape has directed a wide range of productions throughout the US and abroad. Career highlights include directing the world premiere of Griffelkin by Lukas Foss for New York City Opera; the U.S. premiere of Daniel Catán’s La Hija de Rappaccini for San Diego Opera; the Los Angeles premiere of Richard Greenberg’s Eastern Standard; Terrence McNally’s Master Class for HaBimah, the National Theater of Israel; Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney for an Irish Arts Festival; the Los Angeles premiere of Shirley Lauro’s A Piece of My Heart, about the women who served in Viet Nam—a special installation production mounted in the Los Angeles National Cemetery; and Janáček’s Jenůfa for Portland Opera. Most recently, he has co-written and directed Carmen Inside Out—a one-woman version of Carmen that he created with mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chávez, which premiered in the UK in 2017, and has since been seen in France, Switzerland, and Japan, as well as various locations in the US. It is currently being adapted for film.
Johnathon’s career path has also included a strong focus on passing along what he has learned. He was hired in his first university teaching job at age 24—as Director of Music Theater and Opera at the University of Northern Iowa. It was an exceptional experience and perhaps the best on-the-job training possible, learning more through constantly teaching and directing than he had as a student. Professional work started to come, and he knew a crossroads was approaching. After five years, he was tenured and promoted, but decided to resign and move to New York. For the next twenty-plus years he built his professional directing career, and became one of the fortunate few who were able to fully support themselves through their art.
In 2007, he welcomed teaching back into his career portfolio when he joined the opera faculty at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. In 2011, he was hired as the Director of Opera Studies at Boston Conservatory. In addition to directing productions and providing leadership for the opera program, he revised the graduate curriculum to serve as a model for the training of young singers, focusing on the skills necessary for a career in today’s opera industry. He taught various courses, including Characterization, Audition Techniques, and The Business of the Opera Business. He also created and led the Boston Conservatory Opera Intensive at Valencia from 2017-2019. This 3-week summer program, featured in Opera News in the summer of 2019, was held on the Berklee Valencia campus and served talented students from a wide range of countries. He took early retirement from the conservatory in June of 2021, but continues his professional directing work as well as teaching workshops and masterclasses for a variety of companies and training programs.
Writing has become an important part of his creative life in recent years. As mentioned above, he wrote Carmen Inside Out with Kirstin Chávez, and has adapted the screenplay for the film version, currently in development. Also with Ms. Chávez, he was written Living the Dream: Building a Sustainable Career in the Performing Arts, which will be published by Routledge in early 2024. This book offers practical insights and guidance about how to navigate the business aspects of a career—material that is rarely taught in most artist training programs. He has also written the libretto of a full-length comic opera, which is currently in development, as well as two-character theatrical song cycle.
Johnathon has a special affinity for the Czech repertoire, having received a Fulbright Research Grant in opera and theater to the Czech Republic in 1994. He is a long-standing member of SDC—the Stage Directors and Choreographer’s Society—and AGMA—the American Guild of Musical Artists, as well as the Performer Development Network with Opera America.
Johnathon grew up in a small town in Southern Illinois at a time when conformity was essential. As somewhat of a unicorn in that world, he was able to excel, even when it was not especially easy to thrive. Fortunately, throughout his life he has learned (sometimes the hard way!) the power of listening to your intuition, trusting your truth, and partnering with whatever new opportunity the Universe provides.