Vertical Player Repertory (VPR) presents fully staged opera in extraordinary venues, and has earned a reputation as a vital alternative presence on the operatic scene. Founded in 1998 by Judith Barnes, VPR began life in a storefront in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn and made the transition from its intimate black box origins to the wide-open space of the Brooklyn Waterfront with two site-specific productions outdoors at the Red Hook Container Port, sponsored by American Stevedoring Inc. Il Tabarro, performed aboard an oil tanker, and Les Contes d'Hoffmann, performed atop tons of raw lumber in an amphitheatre made of huge shipping containers, reflect the company's pioneering spirit. VPR continued its exploration of unusual urban venues with La Calisto, performed in the courtyard of a 19th Century Brooklyn factory complex on the banks of the Gowanus Canal.
