The McKittrick Hotel to Present New York Premiere of Heartbeat Opera's QUANDO

The McKittrick Hotel (530 West 27th Street, NYC), home of Sleep No More, announced today that the New York premiere of Heartbeat Opera's QUANDO, a short film and live performance mashup, will play a strictly limited engagement starting on April 7. Just five performances will be offered in The Club Car through April 9.

Presented by The McKittrick Hotel, Heartbeat Opera's QUANDO is co-produced with Long Beach Opera, Directed & Edited by Tee Vaden, and Produced & Conceptualized by Associate Artistic Director, Derrell Acon, with Photography Direction by Kathryn Boyd-Batstone and Production Design by Yuki Izumihara.

The film stars Lauren Michelle, Brian Vu, and Shelley Washington, and the live event features Mx. Oww and Jessie Cox. Musical Director Daniel Schlosberg arranged the film score for a mix of instruments and electronics.

During the 75-minute presentation, audiences will be challenged to re-examine their perceptions of art and its role in societal transformation. Some of the most beautiful and famous music from the operatic canon becomes the landscape for this fierce social satire of sex, activism, and the performance of everyday life.

Music from Giuseppe Verdi's operas La Traviata and Don Carlo and Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice are repurposed and refashioned into a 25-minute short film that follows a starry-eyed young couple as their night on the town unravels into a surrealist swirl of decadence, intrigue, and ultimately, vengeful justice.

"This film challenges issues of representation, inequity, and self-serving actions that plague so many industries and movements, not by simply calling out the problem but by showing what is possible, while asking viewers to interrogate themselves and their motivations, which is one of my favorite sorts of call to action," said Director & Editor, Tee Vaden.

While watching the film, live composer-performers will further challenge the audience by disrupting and reconstituting the music from the score for a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience. No two performances and endings are alike.

Performance schedule is Thursday 4/7 at 7:30PM, and Friday 4/8 and Saturday 4/9 at 5PM & 7:30PM. Tickets are $40 for General Admission.

The McKittrick Hotel is committed to providing healthy and safe facilities both for guests and for the members of our shows. Guests attending QUANDO will be required to show proof of full vaccination upon arrival.

Guests are welcome to dine at the hotel's rooftop bar and restaurant, Gallow Green, before or after the performance. Visit www.mckittrickhotel.com/gallow-green for menus, reservations, or to customize a private gathering.

Sleep No More and Speakeasy Magick are also currently running at the hotel. For tickets and information, visit www.mckittrickhotel.com.

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