Opera Carolina Casts Livengood and Sampson in Menotti's 'The Medium'

Opera Carolina has announced the cast for its upcoming production of Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Medium," set for a single performance at Halton Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026.

Contralto Victoria Livengood will headline the production. She is joined by Kristin Sampson, Tim Bostwick, and Aubrey Cole, whom the company announced as the principal cast for the one-night presentation. The curtain rises at 8 p.m. local time.

Stefano Vignati, who serves Opera Carolina as both general director and music director, will conduct. Vignati's dual role places him at the center of the company's artistic leadership, and the Menotti presentation adds a dated commitment to his conducting calendar for the 2026 season.

Direction falls to Steven LaCosse, the A.J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor of Opera and artistic director of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. His involvement links the Charlotte production to one of the region's most prominent training programs for opera singers.

Menotti's "The Medium," a chamber opera that has held a steady place in the repertory since its mid-20th-century premiere, gives Opera Carolina a work scaled to a single-theater outing rather than a full multi-performance run — a format reflected in the company's announcement of one date only.

The casting of a contralto of Livengood's profile anchors the announcement. She is the first-named performer in the company's release, followed by Sampson, Bostwick, and Cole, in that order.

The Nov. 14, 2026 date slots the production into a season that Opera Carolina has already mapped out publicly: the company previously unveiled its 2026-27 season and announced Vignati as its new general director, two moves that frame this "Medium" as part of his first full programming cycle at the helm.

For Charlotte audiences, the announcement settles the key creative questions well in advance: who sings, who conducts, who directs, and where and when the performance takes place. What remains to be seen, when the production reaches the Halton Theater stage, is how Vignati's leadership and LaCosse's staging translate into the company's interpretation of Menotti's psychological drama.