The Opera Cabal tour of USW that started in Oberlin and passed through Chicago last weekend concluded last night with a bang, selling out the new Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn. If you thought the old Galapagos space was dope, you need to hit up their new DUMBO location. (Speaking of which: DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass -- who knew? How logical! I move to transplant the trend to Chicago. I will hereafter refer to Hyde Park as TPCPWEDLFM, i.e That Piece of Crap Place Where Everybody Drives Like A F@#$ing Moron.)
Last night was a terrific show complete with a few highlights such as ... a magical black dye that enabled us to project images off the water (the floor level in Galapagos rests on top of a large, shallow pool); the looming threat of a wet t-shirt contest (Sarah and I several times came very close to taking a nose dive over the railings into the pool); some last-minute expert pulley rigging by our enormously capable director, Habib Azar; and the death of one last high-backed Ikea chair. Oh, and the orchestra was amplified. Opera Cabal ... got plugged in. It was a massively satisfying end to a great couple of weeks.
New York, thank you for your enthusiastic reception. Even the Galapagos staff told us that what we did was cooler than anything they'd seen there recently. I'll take it!
Pictures soon to follow.
-m.
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a Chicago-based ensemble of interdisciplinary artists bent on the creation and production of experimental works for the stage
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What the Press is Saying
"...one of the most searingly painful and revealing operatic performances in recent times."
Chicago's "most daring and avant-garde" opera company, Opera Cabal "aspires to bulldoze opera's definition."
Chicago Magazine
"A thrilling contrast to Lyric Opera and Chicago Opera Theater...Opera Cabal exhibits the audacity and daredevilry rarely found in anything calling itself 'opera' these days."
Time Out Chicago
"Whatever you want to call it, this production takes its audience on a wild, compelling, multimedia ride..."
Time Out New York
"Opera Cabal showed what’s possible when tradition is eschewed, but that tradition still has something to say, and it helps to contextualize the experiments."
Time Out Chicago
Chicago Magazine
"A thrilling contrast to Lyric Opera and Chicago Opera Theater...Opera Cabal exhibits the audacity and daredevilry rarely found in anything calling itself 'opera' these days."
Time Out Chicago
"Whatever you want to call it, this production takes its audience on a wild, compelling, multimedia ride..."
Time Out New York
"Opera Cabal showed what’s possible when tradition is eschewed, but that tradition still has something to say, and it helps to contextualize the experiments."
Time Out Chicago
Opera Cabal is Ensemble in Residence at
From the Outside Looking In
- Time Out Chicago (Sept 2010)
- Princeton AW (March 2010)
- You're Beautiful NY (March 2010)
- Chicago Hyper Local (Feb 2010)
- Time Out New York (Feb 2010)
- TimeOut Chicago (Feb 2010)
- Chicago Magazine (Feb 2010)
- The Chicagoist (Feb 2010)
- U of Chicago Magazine (Nov 2009)
- Time Out Chicago (Dec 2007)
- The Chicago Weekly (April 2007)
- Marc Geeohoed (April 2007)
- The Chicago Reader (Oct 2007)
- Telecommuniculturey (Oct 2007)
- Princeton : Major Choices
OUR MISSION
Opera Cabal Performing Arts Association NFP is reshaping how opera is imagined, produced and performed in the United States. Composed of a versatile collective of adroit, accomplished young artists, Opera Cabal propels the opera of today by presenting unpredictable new work and modeling new forms of audience involvement. In an era of rapidly changing audiences and shifting musical genres, Opera Cabal embraces interdisciplinary collaboration, new commissions, and intimate and unusual venues. Opera Cabal reaches into to neighboring visual, theatrical and technological communities to broaden the audience for and the definition of opera in a new century, reviving the integrity of a revered art form with an infusion of new energy and eclectic design.
Since its founding in 2006, Opera Cabal has identified and recruited artistic teams working at the highest level in fields traditionally unrelated to opera in order to bring new blood and fresh ideas to the art form. Opera Cabal’s commitment to building a diverse, engaged audience for opera in the 21st century is exemplified behind the scenes by the Hyde Park Salons, a monthly performance series established in 2006 on Chicago’s South Side. The Salons serve as a forum for local artists and scholars, offering a rigorous workshop atmosphere for uncommon contemporary performance. Opera Cabal is also the commissioning force behind the brand new project series, Opera Shop (begun in 2011). In partnership with our co-producer, High Concept Laboratories, Opera Shop introduces each autumn the work of one new team of exceptional artists with a history of working together outside of opera to explore cutting-edge approaches to recombining music and theater.
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