Artistic Director

**Tesla Experiments In Opera: A Spectacular Seance at the Grand Gotham**

Join us for an unforgettable evening at the Guggenheim's Works & Process series on Monday, April 15th, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. for a performance that promises to transport you to an abandoned New York City at the end of time. "Tesla Experiments In Opera" is a unique blend of music, theater, and film, lasting approximately 90 minutes, including a talkback session with the creators.

This groundbreaking work features music and words by Phil Kline, with a story concept developed by Kline and acclaimed filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. The performance includes films by Jarmusch in collaboration with Deco Dawson, under the direction of Emma Griffin and musical direction by David Bloom.

Set in the ruined ballroom of the once majestic Grand Gotham Hotel, a small group of survivors gathers for a seance to encounter the ghost of Nikola Tesla, the hotel’s most famous resident. Through a series of vignettes, the audience will join Tesla in a ritual circus of life, exploring his dreams through spectacle, absurdity, avant-garde film, blackout comedy, and musical theater.

Tesla, portrayed by Anthony Roth Costanzo, is remembered as a brilliant scientist and engineer, whose life was a blend of immense success and profound solitude. The cast also includes Jennifer Zetlan as Katharine Johnson, Amanda Lynn Bottoms as Sissieretta Jones and Djuka Tesla, Timothy Stoddard as Thomas Edison, James Harrington as J.P. Morgan, and Clementine Kline as Young Tesla, among others, with an ensemble featuring top musicians.

Don't miss this mesmerizing exploration of Tesla's dreams and the parallel world of his imagination. Get your tickets now for an evening of innovation, history, and artistry.

Location: Works & Process at the Guggenheim, New York City
Date: Monday, April 15th, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Duration: Approx. 90 minutes, including talkback

For tickets and more information, visit our website. Join us for a night where music, words, and film converge to celebrate the legacy of Nikola Tesla in a way never seen before.

Tesla Experiments In Opera

Guggenheim

La Calisto, first performed in 1651 in Venice, is the best known of Pier Francesco Cavalli’s 40+ operas and is an astonishing example of early Baroque opera. Based on a libretto by Giovanni Faustini, it’s a wild, bawdy romp through the libidinous underbelly of mythology. The first story is the Ovidian myth of Calisto, in which the nymph is seduced by Jupiter disguised as Diana (a gorgeous reminder that people have been exploring gender on stage, and in life, for hundreds of years). The second story is the myth of Endymion, whose love of Diana is secretly reciprocated by the chaste goddess. Decidedly unchaste complications ensue as gods, satyrs, nymphs, and fools twist and turn within a raucous, unraveling plot. La Calisto’s synergy of sublime music and extravagant emotion feels modern and fresh today - undeniably one of the greatest music-dramatic pieces in the operatic repertoire.

Emma Griffin

Artistic Director

Events

Apr 15, 2024

Tesla Experiments In Opera · Experiments in Opera

18 - 20 Nov, 2022

La Calisto · Abrons Arts Center

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