LA Opera Presents NOAH'S FLOOD, 5/6

LA Opera professional artists will once again collaborate with nearly 500 amateur members of the Los Angeles musical community to present two performances of Benjamin Britten's Noah's Flood this spring at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Conducted by LA Opera Music Director James Conlon, the performances will take place at 4pm and 7:30pm on Saturday, May 6. The Cathedral is located at 555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles CA 90012.

Thanks to the Dan Murphy Foundation for its longtime leadership support of this program, LA Opera's Education and Community Engagement Department is able to produce Noah's Flood and offer it free of charge as a special gift to the greater Los Angeles community. LA Opera has presented annual community productions at the Cathedral led by Mr. Conlon since 2007; this year's presentation of Noah's Flood will be the sixth time that Britten's opera has been produced in that venue.

Tickets
Admission is free, but advance tickets are required, as these performances typically draw capacity crowds. Tickets can be reserved online at LAOpera.org/Noah. There is a $1 handling fee per order and a four-ticket limit per household, subject to availability. Tickets will be available beginning at 10am on Monday, March 20.

About the Opera
Noah's Flood (Noye's Fludde) is a colorful pageant where children play all the animal roles, parading two-by-two into the ark. Regarded as Britten's most lovable work, the opera is based on one of the famous medieval Chester mystery plays, dating back to the 15th century. Scored for a combination of both student orchestra musicians and a professional chamber ensemble, the opera features inspired and delightful musical innovations; for example, the raindrops are represented by the sound of a series of mugs of varying sizes slung on string and struck by wooden spoons.

About the Artists
Two leading soloists with LA Opera-bass-baritone Patrick Blackwell and mezzo-soprano Milena Kitic-will perform the roles of Noah and Mrs. Noah. Actor Jamieson K. Price will be heard as the Voice of God. The performers will include members of the LA Opera Orchestra, teachers from LA Opera's Opera for Educators, students from LA Opera's Opera Camp, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Choir, CalArts Community Arts Partnership, Colburn Community School of Performing Arts String Orchestra, East Los Angeles Performing Arts Magnet, Harvard Elementary, Hamilton High School Orchestra, Hollenbeck Palms Choralmania, the Masters Ringers of Lake Avenue Church, Narbonne High School, Pasadena Conservatory of Music, Performing Arts for All, Pueri Cantores San Gabriel Valley, Sacred Heart School Choir, Urban Voices Project, and the Zarzuela Project of LA Opera.

Audience members will also be participants in the performance, singing several hymns that are interspersed within the drama.

The stage director will be Eli Villanueva. The creative team also includes scenic designer Carolina Angulo, costume designer Paula Higgins, lighting designer Tantris Hernandez, projection designer Alisa Lapidus, sound designer Jon Gottlieb and prop/puppet designer Melissa Ficociello.

The Story
God decides to destroy sinful man and all living things, save Noah and his family. Noah starts building a great boat according to God's specifications - helped by everyone in his family except his wife, who sits drinking with her friends. Noah is then instructed to collect one pair of every kind of animal. The animals come aboard, two by two. Since Mrs. Noah refuses to board the ark, her sons carry her aboard just before the water sweeps away her gossipy friends. After 40 days at sea, Noah sends a raven to seek for dry land but it does not return. Next he sends a dove, which returns with an Olive Branch in its beak - a mark of peace between God and man. When Noah and his passengers disembark, God sets a rainbow in the sky as a pledge of never flooding the earth again.

Production made possible by a generous grant from the Dan Murphy Foundation.

Additional support from
Los Angeles County Arts Commission
City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Saunders

LA Opera is a non-profit organization
dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community.

Yamaha is the Official Piano of LA Opera.

LAOpera.org