Double Bill of BLACK WATER & SAVIOR Comes to City Lyric Opera

City Lyric Opera will present Black Water by Jeremy Beck and Savior by Amy Beth Kirsten, a double bill of gripping chamber operas that interrogate female agency across time. Running May 15–18, 2025 at the Frank Shiner Theater in the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, this production continues CLO's bold and artist-centered programming. These bold, contemporary works explore the complexities of female identity, power, and sacrifice across centuries.

Both operas were selected through CLO's artist submission-based model—an initiative launched in the 2023–2024 season that empowers local artists to propose and lead projects with full organizational support of the organization. This double bill was championed and brought to CLO by sopranos MaKayla McDonald (Black Water) and Ciera Cope (Savior).

Jeremy Beck's Black Water, based on Joyce Carol Oates's novella, is a gripping psychological portrait of a young woman's final moments. Directed by Michelle Beck—an acclaimed director, writer, and filmmaker whose work explores social justice, race, and gender—the opera illuminates the fractured inner world of Kelly Kelleher as she reflects on love, politics, and betrayal while trapped in a sinking car. Soprano MaKayla McDonald brings her expressive artistry to the role, alongside dancer Havanna Fisher and pianist Amber Scherer. The production is conducted by Stephanie Leotsakos, a Greek-Colombian-American conductor and educator whose work spans opera, choral, and orchestral repertoire.

In Savior, Amy Beth Kirsten's electrifying score reimagines the final reckoning of Joan of Arc, casting her story through a searing, contemporary lens. The titular Joan—sung in triplicate by Ciera Cope, Abagael Cheng, and Rebecca Sacks—embodies strength and vulnerability through visceral music layered with electronic and pre-recorded sound design. Directed by Brazilian-born experimental opera director Jen Pitt and conducted by Broadway and experimental music veteran Julianne Merrill, Savior reframes martyrdom as a feminist anthem that echoes across centuries. The instrumental ensemble features flutist Emily Duncan, cellist Jules Biber, and percussionist Colleen Bernstein.

Though centuries apart, both heroines raise the same question: What happens when a woman dares to speak, lead, or love in a world determined to silence her?