PAUL'S CASE

Subsisting in grimy turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh, a misfit high school boy finds an escape. Swept up by dreams of a more glamorous world, his flight and ultimate dissolution are chronicled in the New York premiere of the chamber opera, Paul’s Case. With music that superimposes new and old styles—post-minimal and baroque—composer Gregory Spears and playwright Kathryn Walat’s poignant operatic adaptation of Willa Cather’s short story traces Paul’s voyage from his repressive surroundings to New York City’s lavish Waldorf Astoria Hotel. A timeless story with a gripping climax, Paul’s Case reveals one young man’s destructive blend of defiance and fragility. Based on the short story “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather.

SUPPORT: Paul’s Case premiered in UrbanArias production in Washington DC. Developed and produced by American Opera Projects in part with funds from TheAndrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts

In Paul’s Case[...] the composer Gregory Spears combines minimalism, baroque gestures, and extended vocal techniques into a distinctive and pungent musical language.
The Wall Street Journal

Creative Team

COMPOSER — GREGORY SPEARS

LIBRETTIST — KATHRYN WALAT & GREGORY SPEARS

CONDUCTOR — ROBERT WOOD

DIRECTOR — KEVIN NEWBURY

SCENIC DESIGN — TIM MACKABEE

COSTUME DESIGN — AMANDA SEYMOUR

LIGHTING DESGIN — ERIC SOUTHERN

FEATURING — JONATHAN BLALOCK, AMANDA CRIDER, KEITH PHARES, ERIN SANZERO, JIM SHAFFRAN, MICHAEL SLATTERY, MELISSA WIMBISH, KEITH CHAMBERS, AMERICAN MODERN ENSEMBLE


BASED ON THE SHORT STORY — PAUL’S CASE BY WILLA CATHER