Creative Team
Composer
MICHAEL GORDON
Librettist
DEBORAH ARTMAN
Director
DANIEL FISH
Conductor
DANIELA CANDILLARI
Scenic design
AMY RUBIN and JIM FINDLAY
Lighting design
BARBARA SAMUELS
Video design
JOSHUA HIGGASON
Costume design
TERESE WADDEN
Sound design
GARTH MACALEAVEY
Dramaturge
MICHAEL JACKSON
MICHAEL GORDON
DEBORAH ARTMAN
DANIEL FISH
DANIELA CANDILLARI
About
In the new opera Acquanetta, the spirit of 1940s horror movies is turned inside out in a bravura, one-act deconstruction of the genre that explores how vision relates to identity. Characters include the mad scientist Doctor, the insistent Ape, the reluctant Brainy Woman, the visionary Director and the beautiful Acquanetta, aka Mildred Davenport, an actress who disguised her identity.
Acquanetta examines the ways the movie camera manipulates how we see and are seen. In soaring, sometimes comic and always indelible songs that capture the heightened drama of horror films, these vivid characters reveal their inner longings and emotional shadows in what is ultimately a haunting meditation on the meaning of identity, transformation, stereotypes and typecasting, set in the heyday of Hollywood gloss.
Support
Produced by Beth Morrison Projects in association with Bang on a Can and Trinity Church Wall Street. The world premiere chamber version was commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects with lead commissioning support by Linda & Stuart Nelson. Additional support from Chris Ahearn & Marla Mayer, Miles & Joni Benickes, Stephen Block, Sarah Brown & Thomas P. Perkins III, Emilie Corey, Jeanne Fisher, Marian Godfrey, Joel Graber, Raulee Marcus, James Marlas & Marie Nugent-Head Marlas, Jill Matichak, Charles & Jane Morrison, and Anna Rabinowitz. Originally premiered in a Grand Opera form in 2006 in Aachen, Germany. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Made possible by PROTOTYPE 2018 sponsor, Meyer Sound and co-presented with Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center.
![The West Coast premiere of TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD marked another successful addition to the rich legacy of collaborative efforts between Beth Morrison Projects and LA Opera (@laopera)! We're looking back at some of our favorite productions over the years to celebrate!
DOG DAYS - DOG DAYS marked the first production of the whirlwind partnership in 2015. Hailed by the New York Times as a riveting, soon-to-be “groundbreaking American classic,” the post-apocalyptic tragedy made waves at its LAO presentation and put BMP on the West Coast map.
P R I S M - P R I S M marked another milestone in our joint history. Not only did Ellen Reid’s (@ellenreidmusic) debut opera make its world premiere with LA Opera at REDCAT (@calartsredcat), but this collaborative project would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2019. It was a major development for BMP, LAO, and, of course, Ellen Reid, who “[took] her place among the host of promising young American opera composers” (The Financial Times).
ANGEL'S BONE - Another Pulitzer Prize-winning BMP production, ANGEL'S BONE, was planned as part of the 2020 season. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation pivoted, becoming the first in our history to be presented digitally. The show was streamed by 20,000 people, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our bond with LAO.
TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD - Finally, Emma O’Halloran’s (@emmamohalloran) TRADE/Mary Motorhead made its West Coast premiere last month at REDCAT. We're thrilled to celebrate another year of BMP and LAO sharing boundary-pushing, cutting-edge opera with this incredible production starring Naomi Louisa O’Connell (@naomi_louisa_oconnell), Marc Kudisch (@marckudisch), and Kyle Bielfield (@bielfield)!](https://bethmorrisonprojects.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)