American Opera Projects Presents Opera Grows in Brooklyn, 10/18

Two Brooklyn opera companies, American Opera Projects (AOP) and Opera On Tap (OOT), will present the sixth installment of their 'Opera Grows in Brooklyn' series, a 90-minute evening of opera scenes and songs. The evening will feature OPERA ELVIS: A LAMENT FOR THE KING a classical take on the works of Elvis Presley; scenes from HENRY'S WIFE by composer Randall Eng and ROSENKRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, based on the play by Tom Stoppard and adapted as an opera by composer/librettist Herschel Garfein; and 'A Poem Written For the Concrete Beneath the Bridge' by Caleb Burhans. The show will be held on Monday, October 18 at 8pm at Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students/seniors) in advance at www.galapagosartspace.com and $25 at the door.

Henry's Wife

The opera by Composers & the Voice alum Randall Eng takes place on the secluded estate of Henry, a famous, reclusive artist living with his daughter and second wife. A young journalist is summoned to the estate, ostensibly for Henry's first interview in decades, but it soon becomes clear that someone (or something) else is firmly guiding all four characters, leading to a series of events that will turn Henry and his family inside out.

The score is in turn propulsive and lyrical, operatically passionate and theatrically intimate, and is equal parts jazz, opera, and musical theatre.

AOP will present excerpts featuring singers James Sasser & Carla Jablonski. Piano by Mila Henry.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Based on the 1967 play of the same title by Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead retells the story of Hamlet from the point-of-view of two minor characters in the Shakespeare play. Allowed only a highly restricted view of the tumultuous events of Hamlet unfolding around them, and deceived by nearly everyone, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play games to pass the time and tirelessly devise strategies to make sense of their place in the grander scheme. The opera-in-progress by Herchel Garfein is currently in development at AOP.

AOP will present excerpts featuring singers Matthew Burns, Matthew Morris & Carla Jablonski. Piano by Mila Henry.

Opera Elvis: A Lament for the King

Opera on Tap, New York's best and favorite divebar opera company pairs up with Anti-Social Music, New York's best punk-chamber orchestra/ composer consortium to bring Elvis (and opera?) back to life with Opera Elvis: A Lament for the King, favorites from their smash hit Opera Elvis, recently presented at City Winery. OOT and ASM take a contemporary classically-influenced look at the works of America's first great monarch replete with opera singers, impersonators, costumes, and re-orchestrations.

Arrangements by James Barry, Daniel Felsenfeld, Jeffrey Hudgins, Daniel Lasaga, David Mallamud, Mitch Marcus, Pat Muchmore, and Kamala Sankaram. With a special tribute film by Donald O'Finn of late great Freddy's Bar and Backroom fame.

A Poem Written for the Concrete Beneath the Bridge

Composer Caleb Burhans returns to Opera Grows in Brooklyn with the premiere of a monodrama version of his work for solo mezzo-soprano A Poem Written for the Concrete Beneath the Bridge, based on text by Ellen Crow.

Heralded by The New York Times as a "new music virtuoso," composer Caleb Burhans specializes in early music, new music, pop/rock, and improvisations. www.calebburhans.com.

Starring Virginia Warnken and directed by Erin Stoneking, with piano accompaniment by the composer. Caleb Burhans' song "No" was presented as part of AbSynth at Opera Grows in Brooklyn in April 2010.

EVENT INFO:

October 18, 2010 - 8 PM
Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn
16 Main Street (corner of Water St.)
Brooklyn, NY

(just one stop out of Manhattan on the A, C, and F trains!)

RUNNING TIME: Each segment runs approximately one half-hour.

ADMISSION:
ADVANCE PURCHASE - $20.00, $15.00 Students and seniors; AT THE DOOR - $25.00

For over 20 years, American Opera Projects (AOP) has been creating, developing and presenting exclusively new American opera and music Theatre Projects that have appeared at the Royal Opera House, London, the Lincoln Center Festival, Skirball Center at NYU, the Guggenheim Museum, Symphony Space, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and many other national and international venues. AOP, based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, has presented over 15 world premiere operas including Lee Hoiby's THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING (2008), Stefan Weisman's DARKLING (2006), and Paula Kimper's PATIENCE & SARAH (1998). Upcoming and recent productions of AOP-developed projects include SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON, the first opera by Stephen Schwartz, at New York City Opera in April 2011 and the world premieres of Jorge Martín's BEFORE NIGHT FALLS at Fort Worth Opera in 2010 and Tarik O'Regan's HEART OF DARKNESS at The Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio in 2011. For more information, visit www.operaprojects.org.

Opera on Tap's mission is to bring opera to new audiences by performing in bars, rock concert halls, and other alternative spaces. Born in the backroom of a Brooklyn divebar in 2005, Opera on Tap has gained national press recognition, several performance residencies across the city, and regional Chapters in New Orleans, Chicago, Ann Arbor, MI, and most recently Atlanta. In addition to Opera Grows in Brooklyn, OOT hosts a new music concert series called New Brew at Barbes in Brooklyn the first Friday of everyother month and annually co-produces the critcially acclaimed 21c LIEDERBeND in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects and VisionIntoArt. 21c LIEDERBEND was named best of 2009 in TimeOut NY in opera and classical by music editor Steve Smith. For more information visit www.operaontap.com.

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