New Opera BOTH EYES OPEN to Premiere at the Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center
The work by Philip Kan Gotanda is set to play from June 24th through the 26th.
By: Marissa Tomeo Apr. 02, 2022
First Look Sonoma, Paul Dresher Ensemble, and Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center will present the world premiere in San Francisco of a new opera, Both Eyes Open, by composer, Max Giteck Duykers and librettist, Philip Kan Gotanda. Directed by Melissa Weaver and conducted by Benjamin Makino. An open dress rehearsal/preview is set for Friday, June 24, 2022 at 2:00pm, while the show premieres on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 8:00pm and Sunday June 26, 2022 at 7:00 pm. All performances take place at the Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center, 99 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, California, in Presidio National Park.
Tickets range from $20-$50 and are available to purchase here or by calling or emailing the box office at 415-960-3949 or boxoffice@presidiotheatre.org. For transportation/parking options, visit The Presidio. More information can be found here, here, and here.
San Francisco, California: First Look Sonoma, Paul Dresher Ensemble and Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio proudly present the world premiere of Both Eyes Open for in-person audiences Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 24, 25 and 26, 2022, at various times. After 10 years in the making and the past two years on hiatus due to Covid, Both Eyes Open will open at the newly renovated, state of the art theater located in San Francisco's famous Presidio National Park at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Plan a trip to these popular destinations and enjoy world class entertainment. Advance ticket purchase highly encouraged. Ticket holders should check presidiotheatre.org for safety protocol updates
About the author, Philip Kan Gotanda:
"[Gotanda's] work is graceful, elegant, open-hearted, and economical. His intentions are serious, his ambitions are worthy, and his observations about human nature are particularly acute. These are surprising, beautiful plays, deserving of both readers and audiences." - Tony Kushner.
Philip Kan Gotanda is the author of one of largest bodies of Asian American themed works in American theater. After 40 years as a writer of the experiences of Japanese Americans, especially their incarceration during WWII, he wanted to develop a new performative style to contemporize their history with current issues of anti-Asian violence. After Gotanda saw renowned tenor, John Duykers, perform in the solo opera, Mordake, by Erling Wold, he proposed a project to Duykers and the director, Melissa Weaver. Duykers introduced him to his composer son, Max Gitech Duykers. Max and Philip clicked and began collaborating ten years ago. The current iteration of this opera is more abstract and poetic than the original versions, with the content evolving organically along with their artistic relationship. Gotanda says, "What I love about Max, he's eclectic, open, with a strong sense of social justice. As he composes, he tries a lot of things we both have to approve. It's a true collaboration-we don't tell each other you have to do it this way. He's been very generous." The two creators also see eye-to-eye on the telling of the story of the fictional hero, Jinzo Matsumoto, a farmer taken from his land in Stockton, California, and sent to a Japanese American internment camp in Rohwer, Arkansas.
Philip Kan Gotanda's own family were among the 120,00 persons of Japanese ancestry residing on the West Coast whose incarceration was authorized by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066 in 1942. After the war, growing up in Stockton, he would only hear references to this event when his mother would meet another Nisei and ask, "What Camp were you in?" His family did not speak of their incarceration, which was common. They went on with their lives. Philip went on with his, attending UC Santa Cruz in the late 1960's. The collective spirit of his generation and the political movements of Third World countries were happening. Native Americans, Chicanos, Blacks and the newly named Asian Americans began demanding to be put in the center of the story. This new intellectual thinking allowed Philip to begin relating to his own community. And he went home, like many others, and asked his parents what happened. He listened to stories of his roots-of people like George Shima, the California Potato King and first Japanese American millionaire, who innovated farming in the Central Valley. He sensed a deep undercurrent of emotional pain within their hearts and minds. It motivated him to write about what he learned from his elders and what he uncovered on his own. San Francisco Chronicle Datebook feature by Brandon Yu of March 20, 2022, explains this topic in detail. It is titled "Ansel Adams' 'Manzanar' at Sonoma County museum exposes long-hidden Japanese American internment." Read full article.
About the Opera:
Both Eyes Open is a hyperreal tale of love, ambition, injustice and betrayal. The company of musicians, singers, directors and visual artists are collaborating to bring this entertaining, yet searingly honest, portrayal of this tragic time to the stage now as racist fears keep reemerging to this day. The telling of Gotanda's story and the references to spiritual customs are being interpreted through the music of Max Duykers and under the direction of Melissa Weaver of First Look Sonoma. The company's style of working with theater and opera music is further infused with Kwame Braun's stunningly animated video projections--mastered by Matthew E. Jones.
The music is scored for baritone (Suchan Kim); soprano (Kalean Ung); and tenor (John Duykers) with a chamber ensemble consisting of clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, piano and Marimba Lumina, a programmable MIDI controller, developed by Don Buchla, built by percussionist Joel Davel. This allows Davel to augment from an extensive library for a larger choral sound and supplement the live performers. Spoken dialogue, singing, acoustic instruments and electronic samples move across video and lighting cues to complete a dynamic, meta fictional account of a Japanese American coming to terms with unbearable loss of dignity, faith and country in order to save his soul.
Both Eyes Open revisits a pivotal era in American history which became a catalyst for civil rights progress. The year 2022, marks the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. Although unofficially rescinded by President Roosevelt in December of 1944, not all the camps closed until the end of 1946. However, the order was not formally terminated until February 1976, by President Gerald Ford. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, extending a presidential apology and $20,000 to each surviving U.S. citizen or legal resident of Japanese ancestry who was incarcerated. Read more details here.
About the new venue:
A March 23, 2022, article titled Presidio Theatre Thrives Under Martin's Leadership. Robert Martin, Executive Director of the Presidio Theatre told audiences that we should expect more ground-breaking productions in the future: "With the relaxed mandates taking hold in The Bay Area, we can expect a flourishing of the arts here at the Presidio." Read full article. The fully restored 600-seat theater has three lobbies, a plaza, two concessions lounges, rehearsal spaces, huge bathrooms, dressing rooms, rehearsal spaces, storage, loading dock, catering, green room, plus a 48'w x 26'deep x 17' high with projection screen. It is perfect for a contemporary chamber opera with the latest stagecraft like Both Eyes Open.
Presidio Theatre: In 1938, the United States Army began construction of the Presidio Theatre on the Main Post of the Presidio of San Francisco. Constructed with funding of the WPA, the Presidio Theatre functioned as a movie theatre and assembly space during World War II through the Cold War. When the Army left the Presidio in 1994, the building was one of the few non-residential structures that maintained its overall use and floor plan. In 2019, with the donation by the Margaret E. Haas Fund and in partnership with the Presidio Trust, the Presidio Theatre was reborn as a home for dance, theatre, music, cinema and performing arts.
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