Georgia O’Keeffe’s “White Place” located in New Mexico near Abiquiu (photograph by Larry Lamsa, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license)
At the end of next month, Opera Parallèle (OP) will present the world premiere of an 80-minute chamber opera, “Today it Rains,” composed by Laura Kaminsky working with a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. This will be the second of the three innovative productions that OP has planned for its 2018–2019 San Francisco season. The libretto was inspired by the train ride that O’Keeffe took from New York to Santa Fe, beginning on April 29, 1929. She made the trip with fellow artist Rebecca Strand, and her first encounter with the southwest desert would have a significant impact on her work for the rest of her life. The libretto imagines O’Keeffe’s personal journey over the course of that train ride, during which she reflects on her tumultuous marriage to photographer Alfred Stieglitz, her artistic stasis, and her need for new inspiration to guide her work.
Staging will be by Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel. OP founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement will conduct a cast of eight singers and an ensemble of eleven instruments. The role of O’Keeffe will be sung by mezzo Blythe Gaissert, and soprano Marnie Breckenridge will sing her traveling companion Strand. Baritone Daniel Belcher will assume the role of Stieglitz. Vocal resources will also include and “ensemble” of four vocalists, soprano Maya Kherani, mezzo Kindra Scharich, tenor Elliott Paige, and bass Gabriel Preisser. Staufenbiel’s direction will incorporate projections designed by Reed.
“Today it Rains” will be given its world premiere at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 28. It will be followed by three additional performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 29, and Saturday, March 30, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 31. All performances will take place at Z Space, located in NEMIZ (the NorthEast Mission Industrial Zone) at 450 Florida Street, between 17th Street and Mariposa Street. The performances will be supplemented by a lobby installation entitled “Georgia & the Rebels.”
The theme of that installation will provide the basis for several auxiliary events. Every performance will be preceded at 6:30 p.m. by a conversation with a Creative Rebel, who will then be featured during a post-show reception including a champagne toast and a cash bar. The evening of the premiere performance will begin at 6 p.m. with a champagne toast to honor the production’s creative team.
Finally, the “Georgia & the Rebels” installation will open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27. Hors d’oeuvres of New York City street food will be served, and Z Space will provide a cash bar. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the Z Space stage beginning at 7 p.m. The panelists will be moderator Bettina Aptheker, Chair of Feminist Studies the University of California at Santa Cruz, librettist Reed, choreographer Nicole Klaymoon, artist Sadie Barnette, and actor Margo Hall. At 8 p.m. the panelists will take questions from the audience, followed by a reception at 8:30 p.m.
Z Space has created a single event page for all online ticket purchases. Tickets for the world premiere of “Today it Rains” will be sold for $175 in Premium seating, $150 in Standard seating, and $125 in Select seating. Ticket prices for the remaining three performances will be $125 (Premium), $90 (Standard) and $65 (Select). Each date has a seating chart showing which tickets are available at which prices. Standard admission to the opening of “George & the Rebels” will be $30. Students with valid identification will be admitted for $20. Those purchasing tickets to the opera performance will also be admitted for $20, but that discount will be applied automatically at check-out.
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