Guerilla Opera Kicks Off 2024-25 Season With SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE

Guerilla Opera and the Mosesian Center for the Arts will present Say It Ain't So, Joe, a light tragedy by Curtis K. Hughes, an electrifying musical experience that explores the public personas of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden through the lens of the public broadcast of the 2008 Vice Presidential debate.

This special staged concert performance plays for one night only, and takes place on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 7:30 PM on  the Main Stage Theater of the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA.

Say It Ain't So, Joe was written for Guerilla Opera and premiered by the Boston-based ensemble in September 2009 on the stage of the Zack Box at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The late Larry Phillips of The Boston Musical Intelligencer urged audiences to “run, don't walk” to see the new opera with “great music” upon its premiere. If you're hoping for a Sarah Palin SNL sketch, first consider that Guerilla Opera is known for challenging expectations and turning things on their head. This unique, progressive opera transforms the actual words exchanged between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden from the public record of the unforgettable 2008 Vice Presidential debate into a riveting musical journey.

Founded in 2007, the Guerillas have unearthed this gem from the early years of their unique repertoire to explore the riveting work by Hughes anew, amidst another presidential election more than 15 years later.

Guerilla Opera revives this performance with the original cast from the 2009 premiere and from the studio album released in 2012: Jennifer Ashe as Sarah Palin 1, Aliana de la Guardia as Sarah Palin 2/Diane Sawyer, Amanda Keil as Hillary Clinton/Gwen Ifill, and Brian Church as Joe Biden/Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, and with percussionist Mike Williams, saxophonist Philipp Stäudlin, cellist Stephen Marotto, and clarinetist Amy Advocat making up the 4-piece instrumental ensemble. This is no ordinary concert, featuring lighting design by Keithlyn Parkman (Guerilla Opera's The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage) and video projection design by Tláloc López-Watermann (Guerilla Opera's The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, Gallo, No Exit, and Heart of a Dog) to enhance the experience of this thought-provoking and entertaining exploration of American politics.