presented by:
Short Works Sampler
Black Mirror meets Black Box Theater
Featuring 10-20-minute opera ‘shorts’ and more…
This program contains adult subject matter and is recommended for mature audiences
“Craigslistlieder” by Gabriel Kahane . What happens when you combine Craigslist personal ads and music? The Craigslistlieder by Brooklyn composer Gabriel Kahane. His style is eclectic, most often mixing his classical background with modern folk-pop influences. This song cycle, built of eight texts taken from personal ads on Craigslist, is quirky and hysterically funny with the music tightly woven to the words and feelings behind them.
“Breaking” by Michael Gilbertson (2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist), with libretto by Caroline V. McGraw. Commissioned by the Washington National Opera, the Premiere was conducted by Anne Manson at The Kennedy Center, Washington DC, in November; 2013. Breaking explores the dark side of the 24-hour news cycle, and the dangerous line between journalism and entertainment. A young reporter finally gets her moment in the spotlight during a live hostage situation, but quickly discovers how harmful a constant stream of information can be. Anne Midgette, from The Washington Post wrote, “Gilbertson’s music referenced a range of styles, from the newscast-y intro to lyrical horn work to the genuinely moving transition from chaos to keening sorrow…”
“Service Provider” by Christopher Weiss and John de los Santos is a sketch about a couple whose anniversary dinner in a restaurant is compromised by the wife’s constant texting and the husband’s lover’s subsequent intrusion. The main role, however, is that of the effete waiter, who lingers lovingly over long descriptions of fare that nobody is particularly interested in eating.
Tickets $20 *limited seating
Thursday, January 10, 2019- 7 PM
Harrison Opera House, Norfolk
Friday , January 11, 2019 – 7 PM
Dominion Energy Center, Richmond – Gottwald Theatre
purchase Richmond tickets
“An American Dream”
By Jack Perla, with libretto by Jessica Murphy-Moo “An American Dream” looks at the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, shown through the prism of Nazi Germany’s contemporaneous treatment of European Jews.
Tickets $20 *limited seating
Thursday, April 4, 2019- 7 PM
Harrison Opera House, Norfolk
purchase Norfolk tickets April 4