HEARTBEAT OPERA extends its LADY M soirées on Zoom after selling out the first 18. 14 more have been added from May 27-June 6.
From Heartbeat Co-Artistic Directors Louisa Proske and Ethan Heard: "Heartbeat Opera was founded on the principle of meeting restrictions with creativity and imagination. We aim to lead the way in innovating the art form towards a leaner, but no less potent expression. Today, we are facing our biggest restriction yet-the inability to meet and share work in a physical space. We are devastated by the human toll of this crisis, and by the threat it poses to the livelihood of the performing arts scene-and we feel it is our duty to seize this moment and find new modes of creating together online. We see this as vital research for an uncertain future. The urge to express ourselves prevails, and we take pride in creating work for artists during this time of uncertainty."
Lady M wants more. More power, more money-more of whatever will make her happy. She drives her husband, whose stock is rising, to eliminate the competition. But in a city of glass towers, where there is always more to desire, satisfaction-and sleep-are slippery.
HEARTBEAT OPERA-the daring young indie opera company whose unconventional orchestrations and stagings of classic operas have been called "a radical endeavor" by Alex Ross in The New Yorker-concludes its sixth season with its first adaptation of Verdi: LADY M, a reimagined and re-orchestrated work-in-progress, envisioning the story of Macbeth through the eyes of Lady Macbeth.
In light of COVID-19, Heartbeat Opera takes its LADY M rehearsals and performances online. Rather than cancel its production, the company launched a 10-day Remote Residency with their artists collaboratively rehearsing in self-isolation, followed by a series of intimate Virtual Soirées through Zoom video conferencing from May 11-June 6.
Music Director Jacob Ashworth, Arranger Daniel Schlosberg, and Electronic Sound Designer/Performer Senem Pirler collaborate to breathe fresh life into Verdi's music. The band features piano, violin, clarinet, trombone, guitar, percussion, each doubling on an impressive array of additional instruments. Their adaptation distills Verdi's chorus of witches down to a virtuosic trio, the Weird Sisters, honoring Shakespeare's original text and endowing each sister with a soloist's importance. Picking up where Heartbeat Opera's Der Freischütz left off, Lady M continues to explore the realm of electronic music and sound design, especially as it pertains to evil and magic. Audiences can expect processing, contemporary vocal techniques, and other experimentation with electroacoustic sounds.
Each intimate 60-minute soirée includes:
A welcome toast, live performances by two cast members (on a rotating schedule), screenings of a new behind-the-scenes documentary and a music video
of Lady M's Sleepwalking Scene, and Q&A.
Tickets:
$30 per household; $10 for students
Comps for those experiencing financial hardship during this crisis
heartbeatopera.org/lady-m
Videos