FEMMINA SUPER Makes Its Debut At The 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival

FEMMINA SUPER, a one-woman modern opera told through classical singing and contemporary monologues, makes its international debut at the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival, Tuesday, June 11, with additional performances, Friday, June 14, Friday, June 21, Sunday, June 23, and Saturday, June 29.

The stirring tale features writer-composer-performer Bethany Hill, playing five instruments and inhabiting multiple ancestral characters from Australia and Europe to tell this semi-autobiographical story of judgment, desire, and searching.

Inspired by the words, music, and life of Barbara Strozzi, a 17th-century Italian composer and a woman ahead of her time, Hill moves from Appalachian dulcimers to her laptop, from classical singing to contemporary sounds, weaving a tapestry of old and new in this modern opera. 

FEMMINA SUPER tells the story of a young woman standing at the altar of her fundamentalist church, surrounded by her devout family, as she questions her role in her impending marriage. In the days that follow, an unexpected email arrives, offering her a place in a music academy. Determined to attend, and without the approval of those around her, she makes the difficult decision to leave her home, her family, and her oppressive background. As she embarks on this journey, she discovers she has traded one form of oppression for another, raising even more profound existential questions and pushing boundaries in a way she had never fathomed. 

“I found a lot of solace in Barbara Strozzi's music when I was figuring out what kind of musician I wanted to be,” said Hill. “The obstacles that she faced echo not only in my life, and in the lives of other women in my family but are certainly common to many women throughout history. Strozzi herself bent compositional rules, and so while an unusual combination, it made sense for me to combine the genres of folks, electronic, and baroque to make this thing we're calling a modern opera. FEMMINA SUPER is for anyone who has something to say and thinks they may need to break some rules to say it.”

“Bethany Hill is an extraordinary talent, and we get to see it all come to life in FEMMINA SUPER,” said director and producer Alek Lev. “She has written all the music, inspired by Barbara Strozzi and sings in her incredible operatic voice, plays the dulcimer, a shruthi box, a metallophone, and a drum, and loops her voice live through a computer – all while inhabiting not only a semi-autobiographical protagonist, but four or five other characters, with four or five other accents as well. It's a tour-de-force, an absolute thrill to get to direct, and it's going to blow the doors off the place.”

FEMMINA SUPER is the second collaboration between Bethany and Alek, after working together on AND THE EARTH TURNS, a dramatized reinterpretation of the traditional song recital.

About the Artists

BETHANY HILL is a versatile and critically acclaimed Australian soprano and theater-maker, now based in the United States. A specialist in 17th and 18th century music, she is also regularly involved in the development of new compositions. Bethany has performed multiple times in the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Notable productions include BREAKING THE WAVES (Scottish Opera), SAUL (Glyndebourne), a solo recital with CHAMBER LANDSCAPES, and the Australian premiere of the opera I HAVE NO STORIES TO TELL YOU (USA).  In 2018, Bethany co-created and performed in the childrens' opera CAN YOU HEAR COLOUR? (Patch Theatre), which premiered in the Festival. Since relocating to the U.S., Bethany has enjoyed performing in the Bay Area as a chamber musician and soloist. She is one half of the folk duo, Turas, who toured to Alaska for the first time in 2023. 

ALEK LEV is a director and producer, working in theater, film, and podcasting. After graduating from Wesleyan University, he studied and toured with The National Theatre of the Deaf and later performed with Deaf West Theatre. Alek directed THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING with mixed casts of Deaf and hearing actors. In 2022, he co-directed the opera ORPHEUS AND ERICA, a new take on the classic tale, for Victory Hall Opera in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2022, Alek also wrote and directed the feature-length, black-and-white silent comedy WHAT?, which played in 23 film festivals across nine countries, winning 20 awards, including four for Best Picture, four for Best Actor, and three for Best Director. Alek is the producer and co-host of the podcast “ARTS EDUCATORS SAVE THEWORLD.”

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