Review: THE SONG POET at Minnesota Opera

THE SONG POET

MARCH 9-26, 2023

MUSIC BY JOCELYN HAGEN
LIBRETTO BY KAO KALIA YANG

A father's love, a family's journey.
The first Hmong story adapted for the operatic stage, St. Paul writer Kao Kalia Yang's memoir The Song Poet comes to life in this world premiere. It tells the story of Yang's family and her song poet father as war drives them from the mountains of Laos into a Thai refugee camp and ultimately on to the challenging world of life as a refugee. With his poetry, Kalia's father inspires hope in his family, polishing their reality so that they might shine.

Sung in English and Hmong with English and Hmong captions projected above the stage.

I attended the opening night of The Song Poet. The show started off with sharing some facts, as this is the first Hmong story adapted for the operatic stage, the 50th MNO original, and female creative. It was all exciting to hear.

The cast was so talented and to see a majority of AAPI singers tell this new story was refreshing.

Creative Team

Conductor | Tiffany Chang

Stage Director | Rick Shiomi

Scenic Designer | Mina Kinukawa

Costume Designer | Khamphian Vang

Lighting Designer | Karin Olson

Sound Designer | Rachel Brees

Choreographer | Penelope Freeh

Intimacy Director | Alessandra Bongiardina

Cast

Bee Yang | Museop Kim

Chue Moua | Corissa Bussian

Youa Lee/Dawb Yang | Hai-Ting Chinn

Joua Thao / Kalia Yang | Laura Sanders

Hue Yang | Nathan Romportl

Young Bee Yang | Huiyin Tan

Lion Dog | Haozhen Wen

Jackie Chan Dog | Xi Yuan

Young Kalia | Mina Moua, Lavender Vy Truong

Young Dawb | Audrey Mojica, Clare Luoxi Kruger

A Supervisor | Charles H. Eaton*

*MN Opera Resident Artist

The luminary arts center is a intimate space. The set consisted of mountains and set pieces were brought on to represent the factory, home in America, and office. The costumes went from traditinal time period of the war to modern day in American in Minnesota. The music was beautiful and added to the story.

The Song Poet is a must see! I would recommend seeing this original AAPI story on the Minnesota Opera stage.

For more tickets and informaiton, please click the ticket link button below.

All photos were taken by Cory Weaver Photography