Back by popular demand and increasing societal relevance, THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE will return to Long Beach Opera in a brand new production directed by Juilliard-trained actor / director and star of Apple TV’s “The Morning Show” Desean Terry and conucted by Anthony Parnther. The harrowing account of five teenagers wrongfully convicted, incarcerated and eventually exonerated remains a devastatingly relevant indictment on racial injustices in America. LBO’s 2019 world premiere of the opera brought composer and “national treasure” (Opera News) Anthony Davis additional recognition when the score was selected for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Music. “Davis’ supercharged score grippingly conveys the claustrophobia of a racist legal system and society from which there was, for these five innocent boys and their families, no exit.” (Los Angeles Times).

After the critical acclaim of the world premiere and the collective awakening of the Black Lives Matter movement, LBO brings back this important, lauded work in a brand new production, featuring many of the original cast members along with some new additions. Terry’s new production of THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE will reinvigorate the story of five innocent Black teenagers trapped in a Kafkaesque nightmare of the American criminal justice system.

EPSG:4326

The Central Park Five

Jordan High School

Directed by LBO’s Artistic Director and visionary James Darrah, George Frideric Handel’s glorious music and surprisingly relevant drama re-emerges as a site specific, cinematically driven, wildy raucous contemporary party. A story of ill-fated romance, long lost familial relationships and conquerors and their captors, LBO’s GIUSTINO will elevate the ambiguities of gender already present in baroque opera and examine how stereotypes can be shattered even in the most traditional stories. Darrah’s breakthrough stylistic hybrid of cinema-theater recontextualizes the salon-like qualities of Handel’s 18th century work to a transitory, temporal space, further challenging the current norms of 21st century classical music consumption.

The libretto and score will be taken apart and reassembled by Darrah, conductor Christopher Rountree, and exciting young composer Shelley Washington, and will be performed with both authentic baroque specialists as well as contemporary musical and dramatic updates. The action of the scenes will move amongst the audience and to different parts of the location, and will be live-filmed to create a movie within an opera playing at all times. And just as spectators did during the time of Handel, the audience will be encouraged to truly revel in the decadence and transcendence of Handel’s glorious music without the trappings of traditional, staid classical music performances.

Giustino

Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA)

With one of the largest fortunes in all of Europe, Anna Glawari is the most eligible widow in all of Paris. Dozens of suitors try to waltz their way into her heart, in Lehár’s delightfully romantic operetta.

Orson Van Gay

Events

18 - 25 Jun, 2022

The Central Park Five · Long Beach Opera

21 - 28 May, 2022

Giustino · Long Beach Opera

Mar 27 - Apr 10, 2022

The Merry Widow · Pocket Opera

About

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