Creative Team
Composer
MICHAEL WEBSTER
Text
EILEEN MYLES
Director
DAVID CHAMBERS
Conductor
JONATHAN YATES
Video & Stage design
PETER FLAHERTY
Costume design
ALIXANDRA GAGE ENGLUND
Lighting design
MARCUS DOSHI
Featuring
MATTHEW CHELLIS, PATRICK COOK, DANIELLE FREEMAN, DANIEL GUNDLACH, MEGAN LOOMIS, DAVID ADAM MOORE, JULIANA SNAPPER, MICHAEL TURAY and AMELIA WATKINS
MICHAEL WEBSTER
EILEEN MYLES
About
An opera-theatre piece by composer Michael Webster and poet Eileen Myles, Hell premiered at Performance Space 122 in March 2006. Grounded in contemporary politics, this multimedia work takes Dante’s Inferno as a point of departure to explore free speech and the role of poetry in post-9/11 America. By returning poetry to a place of central importance in performance, Hell reminds audiences of the necessity of this unique art form in a democracy. At times beautiful, funny, and horrifying, this rich work reflects on war as a tragic alternative to communication in a highly relevant and timely avant-garde opera.
Support
Produced by Beth Morrison Projects. World premiere at Performance Space 122 (PS122) in 2006.
![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)