Doubt Takes the Stage in Opera Parallèle’s 2025–2026 Season

Composer Douglas J. Cuomo’s 2013 opera Doubt is set to receive its Bay Area premiere from Opera Parallèle next year

Excerpted from article by Janos Gereben

For SF Classical Voice

Photo credit: Better Rugged Photography

Opera Parallèle, San Francisco’s small but mighty champion of contemporary opera, is continuing its musical crusade for the 16th year.

The company’s 2025–2026 season will feature three “bold productions” that represent a continued “commitment to innovative storytelling and community engagement,” according to an official press release.

The season will see the world premiere of Hello, Star by composer Carla Lucero and librettist Jarrod Lee, an encore presentation of Philip Glass’s La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast), and the first Bay Area performances of Doubt by composer Douglas J. Cuomo (based on librettist John Patrick Shanley’s play of the same name).

Before becoming an opera, Doubt, which tells a story of faith, morality, and uncertainty within a Catholic school, was a Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning hit — adapted first, in 2008, into an Oscar-nominated film starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Viola Davis.

“Both Brian and I know Doug Cuomo very well,” says Paiement, “and have had interest in reworking his opera Doubt, which had a great success in [its 2013] premiere at Minnesota Opera.

“One of our missions is to work on reorchestration and at times [adapt contemporary operas] so that they can be accessible to smaller venues and companies. It brings intimacy to the pieces and also can provide a new life for the work.”

Presented in collaboration with the Presidio Theatre, Doubt is scheduled for May 29–31, 2026.

Read full article in SF Classical Voice here.