The National Sawdust + Chelsea Factory present
BARE OPERA’S
FIRESONGS
By Thomas Cabaniss
Developed with support from CultureHub
Saturday, June 18, 2022
5:30 PM and 8:00 PM
Chelsea Factory, 547 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001
FireSongs is a new music performance work by Thomas Cabaniss that challenges the form of traditional operas and concerts as a multimedia, fully-staged version of this poetic tapestry. With texts taken from prose by Maya Angelou, W.H. Auden, Wendell Berry, Walt Hudgins, Douglas Langworthy, Evelyn Lowe, Josephine Pinckney, Tracy K. Smith, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Mark Strand, the piece explores the edges, limits of all things—ultimately telling the greater story of what it means to be alive. Acclaimed director and newly appointed Creative Director of Bare Opera, Malena Dayen, and music director David Rosenmeyer, guide this world premiere—that will also mark Bare Opera’s return to the “theater”—on June 18, 2022 at the Chelsea Factory as a part of the National Sawdust season programming.
CREATIVE TEAM
Composer Thomas Cabaniss
Co-Composer [Wendell Berry Songs] Mel Marvin
Director Malena Dayen
Music Director David Rosenmeyer
Choreographer Troy Ogilvie
Projections Sangmin Chae
Lighting Designer Devin Cameron
General Director of Bare Opera Kirsten Scott
Artistic Director of Bare Opera Laetitia Ruccolo
ARTISTS
Pianist Dura Jun
Singer Inna Dukach
Singer Shanelle Woods
Singer Eugenia Forteza
Singer Malena Dayen
Singer David Charles Tay
Singer Chanan Ben Simon
Singer Marcelo Guzzo
Singer Anicet Castel
HEROES
Premiered October 1, 2021
Eight companies within the Decameron Opera Coalition commissioned their own short opera films, which will premiere online in three episodes starting October 1, 2021. A $15 ticket gets you access to all three episodes to watch whenever.
HEROES OF NEW YORK
CREATIVE TEAM
Composer Dina Pruzhansky
Librettist Briana Hunter
Videographer Brian Gonzalez
Director Malena Dayen
Lead Audio Engineer Sean Yoo
Audio Engineer Joseph Patrych
General Director of Bare Opera Kirsten Scott
Artistic Director of Bare Opera Laetitia Ruccolo
CAST (in order of appearance)
The Doctor Shannon Delijani
The Oyster Lady David Charles Tay
The Bodega Owner Brace Negron
The Sex Worker Patrice P. Eaton
The Singer Meryl Dominguez
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Piano Dina Pruzhansky
Violin Victoria Lewis
Cello Oded Hadar
Double Bass Pat Swoboda
Drums Arei Sekiguchi
With its great statues and grand architecture, it is easy to overlook the everyday heroes of New York City who are down on the pavement beside us: the real beating heart of this world-renowned metropolis. This opera is a monument for those who have no monument. No single person represents New York City: all New Yorkers are the city. Sometimes they get a bad rap, but nowhere else will you find a community of strangers who can also be as kind, compassionate and caring as your closest friends and family. They wouldn’t survive the constant hustle without each other, and moments of heroism abound daily in the small gestures and unexpected acts of kindness from faces you have never seen before and will never see again.
Heroes of New York explores the ecosystem of this living city, offering us a snapshot of the heroic efforts made by five of the countless unique souls who make the city’s heart beat. It’s only a handful of threads in the tapestry of a place built by nine million heroes, but for a moment we slow down in the dash from the skyscrapers to the subway and get to know the incredible people on the sidewalks around us. Everyone’s story is unique. Everyone’s story is human. Everyone is a hero.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Heroes of New York is funded in part by a generous grant from
Comm. Stefano Acunto.
Our season depends on you. Thank you for your support in any capacity.
