Opera in Eden

American Lyric Theater presents three new one-act operas in concert written by Resident Artists in the Composer Librettist Development Program:

* FOURTH WAVE BEAUTY QUEENS *

Composer: Kathleen Tagg

Librettist: Laura Barati

FOURTH WAVE BEAUTY QUEENS delves into the relationship between Délia, a feminist academic researching extreme beauty treatments, and her mother, Flora. When Délia receives rare prototypes of the latest, miracle anti-aging and weight loss treatments as a gift, she and Flora are forced to face their ultimate temptations. A darkly comedic mother-daughter story, FOURTH WAVE BEAUTY QUEENS explores the competing desires and gordian knot of living within the female gaze.

* GIOVANNI/A *

Composer: Del’Shawn Taylor

Librettist: C.S. Hanson

Secrets. Forbidden love. Dreams that dare not be told. Within the confines of a Benedictine monastery in 16th century Padua, monks Nico and Giovanni are devoted to work and prayer until attraction threatens their peaceful existence. The Abbot, no stranger to friendly spying, just wants to keep things in order. When secrets are unleashed, Giovanni’s truth boldly challenges the rules of the monastic community.

* THE SHADOW *

Composer: Ivette Herryman Rodríguez

Librettist: Samuel Norman

A simple experiment goes terribly wrong. A man accidentally detaches himself from his shadow, which flits off into the night. No matter how hard he tries, he’s unable to recover it, and eventually he is forced to move on… until the evening he receives an unexpected visitor.)Adapted from the twisted tale by Hans Christian Andersen, THE SHADOW explores the fragility of identity, and how easily reality itself can be usurped by a good story.

Conductor: Kelly Kuo

The three operas to be featured on this program have been developed through a workshop taught at American Lyric Theater by composer/librettist Mark Adamo. For this project, each writing team is provided with the same structural outline that serves as a thematic scaffold upon which they develop their operas – but the stories for each opera are completely up to the artists. The structural outline is designed to encourage architectural and motivic thinking by librettists and composers alike. This project has been a core element of ALT’s Composer Librettist Development Program since the program’s inception in 2007 and has proven invaluable in fostering collaboration throughout the writing process – from a work’s early outline – through the development of the libretto – to the composition of the score. This project has not only strengthened composers and librettists’ dramaturgical skills, but has also yielded a wide array of exciting one-act operas, many of which have gone on to full production across the country. Join us for an exciting evening of discovery, with an incredible group of artists who are changing the face of American opera!