Mimeo (2024)
written for the Atlanta Opera’s 96-Hour Opera Project
libretto by David Davila
Mimeo is a short opera written for the Atlanta Opera as part of the 96-hour Opera Festival. The libretto is by playwright David Davila.
The Atlanta Opera presented the world premiere of Mimeo at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College on Monday, June 17, 2024.
Rumpelstiltskin (2018)
opera in one act
music by Ruby Fulton and George Lam
libretto by John Clum
Music by Ruby Fulton and George Lam
Libretto by John Clum
Based on the Rumpelstiltskin fable
May 11 - 19, 2018
124 Bank Street Theatre
124 Bank St, New York, NY
Overview
To celebrate their 10th Anniversary of creating and producing brand-new chamber operas, the NYC-based opera company Rhymes With Opera chose one of the oldest fairy tales in western culture. The story of Rumpelstiltskin, collected by the Brothers Grimm, dates as far back as the 17th century. A mysterious creature makes a bargain with a young woman to grant her the power to turn ordinary straw into gold. In return, Rumpelstiltskin asks for her first-born child. When she refuses, Rumpelstiltskin gives her a seemingly impossible way out: “find my name, and you may keep your child...”
In this production, themes of greed, bargaining, magic, and unconditional love combined with elaborate costumes, queer drag culture, and loud makeup transformed a very old story into a new, modern opera, inspired by the San Francisco performance troupe, The Cockettes. The fantastical title character of Rumpelstiltskin grapples between the two sides of their personality, and was portrayed simultaneously by two singers. In fact, this unique take on Rumpelstiltskin’s duality was very much reflected in the opera’s creative process: the music was a unique collaboration by Rhymes With Opera co-artistic directors Ruby Fulton and George Lam, with an original libretto by Chicago-based John Clum.
This world premiere production of Rumpelstiltskin featured Rhymes With Opera ensemble members Elisabeth Halliday (Woman/Rumpelstiltskin), Bonnie Lander (Girl/Queen), Robert Maril (Man/Rumpelstiltskin), and guest artist Timothy Stoddard (Witch/Father/King). Rumpelstiltskin’s production team included Laine Rettmer (director), Luke Miller (choreographer), Ryan Leitner (costume designer), and Conrad Chu (conductor) who led the Rhymes With Orchestra.
Production
Laine Rettmer, director
Conrad Chu, conductor
Luke Miller, choreographer
Andrea Merkx, set designer
Ryan Leitner, costume designer
Amanda Ringger, lighting designer
Kevin Connell Muth, makeup designer
Sarah Brown, stage manager
Christopher Denver and Justin Hsu, assistant stage manager and props master
Cast
Elisabeth Halliday (Woman / Rumpelstiltskin)
Bonnie Lander (Girl / Queen)
Timothy Stoddard (Witch / Father / King)
Robert Maril (Man / Rumpelstiltskin)
Rhymes With Orchestra
Jeffrey Young, violin
Nick Pauly, viola
Jennifer Girone-Virgilio, cello
Zach Herchen, saxophone
Lana Norris, piano
Maiko Hosoda, percussion
Heartbreak Express (2015)
opera in one act
libretto by John Clum
Chamber Opera in One Act
Libretto by John Clum
Overview
Inspired in part by Tai Uhlmann’s documentary film For The Love Of Dolly, the opera follows four Dolly Parton “superfans” waiting to meet their idol for the first time. Sisters Darlene and LuAnne entered an essay contest and won the chance to meet Dolly Parton in person. Darlene thinks that this encounter with Dolly will change their lives for the better, but LuAnne is not so sure. Longtime partners Don and Travis have amassed a huge collection of Dolly memorabilia. They poured their life savings into making a new Dolly doll, and came to get Dolly’s blessing to manufacture the new dolls. The opera follows the four fans as they meet in the waiting room and ends in a quintet (with Dolly’s mysterious Assistant) as they describe their life-changing encounters with the superstar.
This premiere production of Heartbreak Express featured the Rhymes With Opera ensemble with special guest artists, marking the culmination of RWO’s multi-year development for the work that saw excerpts presented at NYC’s Roulette, York College CUNY, the Cornelia Street Cafe, the Firehouse Space, the National Opera Center, Baltimore’s City Arts Gallery, and the historic 124 Bank Street Theater in New York’s West Village.
Reviews
Alan Sherrod, Arts Knoxville (October 22, 2022)
Steven Jude Tietjen, Opera News (February, 2016)
James Jorden, Observer (November 18, 2015)
Performances
Marble City Opera
October 20 - 22, 2022
Old City Performing Arts Center
Knoxville, Tennessee
Marya Barry, director
Logan Campbell, conductor
Whitney Wells (Luanne)
April Hill (Darlene)
Min Sang Kim (Assistant)
Ben Rorabaugh (Travis)
Daniel Spiotta (Don)
Brooke LaFontant, violin
Emily Walker, viola
Jackson Sharp, cello
Matt Rhoten, saxophone
Don Lordo, percussion
Dustin Lin, piano
Rhymes With Opera
Friday, November 13 - 21, 2015
124 Bank Street Theater
124 Bank Street, New York City
Ashley Tata, director
Conrad Chu, conductor
John Callison (Don)
Robert Maril (Travis)
Elisabeth Halliday-Quan (Luanne)
Karen Hayden (Darlene)
Peter Thoresen (Assistant)
Lisa Casal-Galietta, violin
Nicholas Pauly, viola
Jennifer Girone-Virgilio, cello
Zach Herchen, saxophone
Maiko Hosoda, percussion
Kristin Samadi, piano
Ross McElwee's "Sherman's March" (2014)
chamber opera in one act
after Ross McElwee’s film “Sherman’s March”
Chamber Opera in One Act
Commissioned by the Black House Collective (Kansas City, MO)
Libretto based on a transcript from an excerpt of Ross McElwee’s film Sherman’s March, used by permission of Ross McElwee.
Team
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone; Violin, Cello, Flute, B-flat Clarinet, Percussion (Vibraphone and Glockenspiel)
Featured performers in the recording above from the premiere:
Victoria Botero, soprano (Didi)
Josh Lawlor, baritone (Ross)
Anna Louise Hoard, mezzo-soprano (Charleen)
John James Pearse, conductor
Matthew Bennett, violin
David Boese, cello
Amy Hearting, percussion
Molly McLaughlin, flute
Sharra Wagner, clarinet
Preface
Ross McElwee originally intended his documentary film Sherman’s March to retrace General William Sherman’s famous 1864 campaign of destruction from Atlanta to Savannah. After going through a painful breakup that took place at the beginning of filming, however, McElwee shifted the film’s focus to the various women he met as he followed General Sherman’s route through the South, meditating on the futility of searching for love.
I often write operas that document life, using collected oral history and existing documentary films as inspiration. I am interested in combining the genres of opera and documentary to highlight the relationship between reality and artificiality in both. For Sherman’s March, I used an excerpt from the film and replaced the soundtrack with an operatic accompaniment, setting a simplified transcript of the dialogue to music that would be heard concurrently with the film. The excerpted scene from Sherman’s March centers on the emotional pleas by Charleen, McElwee’s friend, that he pursue a new romantic interest.
Ross McElwee’s “Sherman’s March” (1986) (my title for this piece) was commissioned by the Black House Collective for a concert of five “film operas” on the theme of love. The work was first performed at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO in August 2014. Mr. McElwee was also present to film the rehearsals and performance.
Heard
August 22, 2014, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Black House Collective
The Persistence of Smoke (2011)
opera in one act
libretto by John Justice
Chamber Opera in One Act
Music by George Lam
Libretto by John Justice
First Performance
April 15 and 16, 2011
Golden Belt
Durham, North Carolina
Presented in a double-bill with Kathleen Bader’s Tentative Embrace; part of the Duke University Department of Music’s Encounters concert series, in association with the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies and the Duke University Graduate School.
Cast
Sandra Cotton (Skylar)
David Weigel (Curtis)
Scott MacLeod (Kevin)
Nakia Verner (Woman)
George Lam, conductor
Jay O’Berski, director
About the Opera
The Persistence of Smoke began as a documentary opera. The libretto is based on interviews with various individuals related to the former Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company headquarters in Durham, North Carolina.
The cigarette industry once dominated Durham, but saw its decline in the 1990s as the link between cancer and smoking became increasingly clear. The American Tobacco Company and the Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company were once the biggest cigarette manufacturers in the city. As these companies left Durham, their factories and tobacco warehouses first sat vacant, but were gradually preserved and transformed into new spaces for offices, apartments and restaurants.
This project focused on the former Liggett and Myers headquarters along Main Street, a collection of buildings now known as “West Village”. I interviewed current and former Durham residents who had a connection with these buildings, including local business representatives, community leaders, former Liggett employees, historians, current residents in the downtown area, municipal urban planners, journalists, and an architect. These interviews were given to local playwright John Justice, who created a libretto based on the themes that emerged.
The opera’s story focuses on Kevin, an architect about to unveil his visionary master plan for redeveloping several defunct cigarette factories in an unnamed city. As Kevin leaves his newly renovated apartment for the press conference, he is confronted by his estranged father Curtis, a former cigarette worker who desperately wants to reconcile and reconnect, deliriously recalling the glory days of tobacco and the money that followed.