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Event
Saga of the 21st Century Girl: A Rock Opera Thriller
The World Premiere of a rock opera thriller by Sheli Nan
Starring Crystal Phillippi, Valentina Osinski, Jo Vincent Parks, and John Duykers, directed by Melissa Weaver
SAGA of the 21st Century Girl- by Sheli Nan
This World Premiere is a Co-Pesentation from
ROCKIT Opera and First Look Sonoma
with Musical Traditions, Inc.
Music and Text by Sheli Nan
Directed by Melissa Weaver
SAGA of the 21st Century Girl is a new piece by prolific composer Sheli Nan. She has crafted a score that draws from her many influences including Baroque, Salsa and Afro-Cuban music. Like many operas, it is a tragedy; in this case, a contemporary tragedy. In the spirit of Kurt Weill and Bertoldt Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera", SAGA of the 21st Century Girl is social commentary through a musical lens. In this tragedy, our heroine becomes the sacrifice that society demands. She is a disturbed and resentful young Girl struggling to cope with her vacuous and self-absorbed Mother and Father. No-one needs her, wants her, or has time for her. As a result, she is energy run wild with no moral compass, bereft of compassion except for herself. She seeks love online and an older man, The Predator (played by John Duykers) who is both hilarious and genuinely frightening. Crystal Philippi portrays The Girl with charismatic spunk while Valentina Osinski vamps as The Mother and Jo Vincent Parks is the gutless and befuddled Father.
The music is achingly beautiful and allows the listener to digest the harsh truth of the underbelly of the very greedy who pursue their own ends to the detriment of their offspring and society. She sings."How did I find myself alone, so full of toys without a home" and we travel with her on her tortuous journey toward self-definition and violence both coming toward her and emanating from her. The music of this operetta at once disarms and places the listener on guard. This piece will feature musicians on tenor recorder, clarinet, violin, electric bass, and piano and each singers' character represents an archetype for human behavior.
Veterans of the New Music Scene in the Bay Area, First Look Sonoma, ROCKIT Opera, and Musical Traditions have made it their mission to share their wealth of experience with young talent and nurture the next generation of performing artists while exploring contemporary cultural and political issues. First Look Sonoma produces and presents new vocal performance art and develops opportunities for emerging performance artists to produce and stage new works. John Duykers and Missy Weaver founded this innovative performance program whose vision is to bring creative artists, performance venues, art patrons, and arts and community organizations together to produce world-class vocal performance art for Pacific West Coast audiences.
We hope you're ready for this exciting musical thriller!
CAST:
Crystal Philippi: The Girl
Valentina Osinski: The Mother
Jo Vincent Parks: The Father
John Duykers: The Predator
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Friday, April 4, 2014 8pm
Saturday, April 5, 2014 8pm
Sunday, August 6, 2014 7pm
VENUE:
Arpeggio Center, Osher Studio
2055 Center Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
First Look Sonoma's Website: www.FirstLookSonoma.com
Composer's Website: www.SheliNan.com
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LocationOsher Studio in the Arpeggio Center (View)
2055 Center Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
United States
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