The next production from Fresno’s professional Shakespeare company promises to be even more ambitious than the first as the troupe prepares to take on what was likely the Bard’s last play.

Chanticleer Shakespeare Co.‘s production of “The Tempest” opens April 24, with an eight-show run that includes one show dedicated to students. A dramatic turn from the darker 2025 production of “Richard III,” the fantasy-comedy comes complete with music performed by members of the Fresno Philharmonic, said artistic director Blake Ellis.

“To turn a phrase that might feel like a pun, it is spellbinding,” Ellis told GV Wire. “Just on the page, when you read it, it’s absolutely magical, but when you think about these plays as things that are meant to be experienced, meant to be heard out loud and performed on stage, I cannot wait for this audience to see what we have for them.”

With the collaboration and nationwide interest since the company’s debut production in 2025, Ellis said his goal of creating a community around professional  theater is happening faster than he expected.

“The Valley needs to have a professional theater that these young people can be exposed to and to see that not only is professional art a viable path in life, but it’s also something that we can facilitate right here in their hometown,” Ellis said.

Tickets are on sale now.

Production Brings Fresno Phil Together With Shakespeare

“The Tempest” tells the story of a sorcerer exiled from his hometown of Milan, Italy, seeking revenge on his brother. Chanticleer’s production will modify that lead role, casting return actor Jacqueline Antaramian, a respected Broadway and television veteran, as Prospera — a gender-swapped role for the main character.

Antaramian, who was born in Soviet Armenia, grew up in Fresno, Ellis said.

Antaramian is no stranger to Shakespeare, performing in 2025 as Queen Elizabeth in Chanticleer’s “Richard III.” She’s also performed on Broadway alongside Denzel Washington in “Julius Caesar.” In 2006, she won a Barrymore Award for Best Actress for her performance in the one-woman show “Nine Parts of Desire” about nine different Iraqi women.

Following Prospera’s change comes one for her sibling, the treacherous Antonia, played by Fresno State alum Tracy Hostmeyer.

Ellis said viewers will identify with themes that permeate through the ages.

“It’s a play about someone being betrayed by their sibling and harboring resentment and then coming face-to-face with the fact that you will eventually become the thing you hate and learning to let go of that and to forgive and to find redemption,” Ellis said.

Original Music Score by London Duo

Accompanying the actors is an original score. Chanticleer reached out to London-based TwoTwentyTwo (Daisy Coole and Tom Nettleship), who are writing the music “from scratch,” Ellis said.

A percussionist, a flutist, and a cellist will join actors on stage to help create the magic of the island. This kind of collaboration hasn’t happened since the Fresno Grand Opera, Ellis said, and almost certainly not with a Shakespeare production.

“This is already a thing that’s being talked about by people in Los Angeles, by people in Sacramento. This is definitely something that Fresno can be proud about,” Ellis said.

Arts Thrives in Adversity: Ellis

In building Fresno’s professional theater scene, Ellis wanted to also reach out to students. That’s why one matinee performance will be limited to only students from the region’s school districts. Staff created a study guide teachers can use in the lead-up to the show, and after the performance, students will have a chance to meet with cast members and some of the technical crew, Ellis said.

“Not every district can afford to pack up all their students and send them to Ashland, Oregon, to go experience the Oregon Shakespeare Festival,” Ellis said. “Now, they don’t necessarily have to do that because Fresno is right here.”

Chanticleer also involved college-age students, qualifying for a Mellon grant to facilitate a professional internship with Fresno State’s award-winning theater program.

The production comes amidst turmoil in the Fresno arts community following allegations of embezzlement of Measure P sales tax funds against a former employee at the Fresno Arts Council. Like Warnor’s and the Fresno Philharmonic, Chanticleer is also a Measure P recipient.

Ellis said it’s now especially essential for artists to demonstrate to Fresno what they can do.

“It’s vital that we are banding together and showing that artists thrive in adversity, that’s when the best art is created. When we have to problem-solve on the fly, that’s when the best art is created,” Ellis said. “When organizations like this band together to help pull each other across the finish line, that’s how a community comes together and makes sure that the audience is being served.”