Opera Parallèle Announces Tickets On Sale For EVEREST: AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Opera Parallèle (OP), the Bay Area's leading producer of contemporary opera, today announced tickets for the company's upcoming Everest: An Immersive Experience, are now on sale beginning with an initial allotment of nine performances spanning February 3 - 12.

This innovative, first of its kind presentation of critically acclaimed composer Joby Talbot and librettist Gene Scheer's alpine opera Everest as an immersive experience, will be presented at the Mission District's Z Space, 450 Florida Street.

At this time, the opening night performance of Friday, Feb. 3 at 7.30 p.m., with pre-performance reception, is available by-invitation-only. Public performances on sale thereafter are: Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7.30 pm; Sunday, Feb. 5 at 3 pm (masks required); Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 2 pm and 7.30 pm; Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7.30 pm; Friday, Feb. 10 at 9.30 pm; Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7.30 pm; and Sunday, Feb. 12 at 1 pm. Anticipating enthusiastic public interest to this bold immersive performance, Opera Parallèle has the capacity to add shows to the schedule. Tickets are priced at $20 (Student); $50 (General Admission); and $75 (Pay-It-Forward). Tickets may be purchased online at: https://www.zspace.org/everest.

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Everest: An Immersive Experience

Opera Parallèle invites the Bay Area to the top of the world to immerse themselves in awe-inspiring landscapes of Mount Everest for a unique, one-of-a-kind operatic expedition. Based on true stories of a dramatic, ill-fated adventure in 1996, mountain-climbers tap into the depths of their physical and emotional selves to realize their dreams and limitations of conquering the Himalaya's legendary Everest. This cutting-edge work fuses the vivid imagery of graphic novels with the visceral power of the operatic voice in a unique multi-sensory environment.

Following the critical success of OP's award-winning, genre-defying animated film Everest - A Graphic Novel Opera in July 2021, the company now offers an entirely new way to experience opera, placing the audience directly into the action, immersing the public in the intricate imagery and soaring sound world of this breathtaking story.

Opera Parallle's Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel explained, "In my effort to eliminate the physical boundaries of theatrical storytelling, I work with OP to create new forms of intimacy and connectivity. This season, with Everest: An Immersive Experience, we continue this quest by putting the audience "into" the story by enveloping them fully within the environment. This will be the first opera of its kind with 360-degree animated visuals and surround sound."

From the moment the public enters the venue, they will be transported into a stylized, animated world. An expansive interactive lobby installation will guide individuals through a snowy tundra to their seat, where they'll be invited to wear white to become part of the projected landscape and be fully immersed into the world of Everest. With a directional surround soundscape of powerful music, the audience will feel every crack of ice, the menacing storms and the powerful voices of the cast.

The Everest: An Immersive Experience features a cast of exceptional singers, all pre-recorded, including Sasha Cooke, Nathan Granner, Kevin Burdette, Hadleigh Adams, Charlotte Fanvu, Matt Boehler, Shawnette Sulker, Whitney Steele and Kevin Gino. The work is sung in English with projected subtitles.

The digital musical forces are helmed by Opera Parallele's General Director and Conductor Nicole Paiement. The production creative team includes director and creator Brian Staufenbiel; illustrator Mark Simmons; projection designer & director of photography David Murakami; sound engineer Miles Lassi; and scenic designer Jacquelyn Scott. The running time for Everest: An Immersive Experience is 68-minutes.

Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer's one-act opera, Everest, was commissioned and given its world premiere by The Dallas Opera (TDO) in 2015 under the baton of Nicole Paiement, who serves as TDO's The Martha R. and Preston A. Peak Principal Guest Conductor. On June 23, 2023, Maestra Paiement will conduct the UK premiere of the opera in a concert version with the BBC Symphony at London's Barbican Centre, directed by Leonard Foglia.

The Shining

Opera Parallèle's 13th anniversary season will continue June 2 - 4, 2023 with the West Coast premiere of Paul Moravec's critically praised supernatural opera, The Shining, set to a libretto by Mark Campbell and based on the novel by Stephen King, in a new production and orchestration at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Individual tickets for The Shining will go on sale January 9, 2023.

Opera Parallèle presents the premiere of a reorchestration of The Shining in a new co-production with Hawaii Opera Theatre and Portland Opera, a consortium of Pacific Rim-based opera companies.

The Shining was commissioned by Minnesota Opera and premiered in 2016, and has since enjoyed popular presentations by multiple opera companies around the country. Opera Parallèle is the first company to create a new production following the success of the original premiere. King's novel of 1977 was the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's celebrated film of 1980, which starred Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duval and Danny Lloyd.

Opera Parallèle's cast for The Shining features Edward Parks, Kearstin Piper Brown, Aubrey Allicock, David Walton, Nathan Granner, Timothy Murray, Eugene Brancoveanu, Christabel Nunoo and Molly Mahoney. The opera also features a vocal ensemble of local singers in supporting roles. The singers and orchestra will be conducted by Nicole Paiement; director and concept Brian Staufenbiel; scenic designer Jacquelyn Scott; costume designer Alina Bokovikova; lighting designer to be announced; projection designer David Murakami; and hair & makeup designer Y. Sharon Peng.

Support for Everest: An Immersive Experience, has been provided by Bob Ellis, Stephen & Diane Heiman, and Marcia Barinaga & Corey Goodman.

Major production support for Opera Parallèle has been provided by Gordon Getty, Paul L. King, Donna Dubinsky & Len Shustek, Scott R. Lord, and The Future Fund.

Major institutional and corporate support for Opera Parallèle has been provided by Adobe, The Dallas Opera, The Lemala Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, City & County of San Francisco Grants for the Arts, and the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.

Programming, casting and performance dates are subject to change. For more information about the 2022-23 season, visit operaparallele.org.

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