With thanks to the CCO for this announcement:

On May 15, at 8 p.m., at the National Opera Center, the Center for Contemporary Opera presents Falling Angel by J. Mark Scearce and Lucy Thurber….

Tickets are available here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1413820

Falling Angel, adapted from William Hjortsberg’s classic novel by composer J. Mark Scearce and librettist Lucy Thurber, follows detective Harry Angel as he investigates a series of brutal murders in post World War II New York City. As Harry moves further and further into his investigation he uncovers that the murderer may be himself and he may not be who he believes himself to be. Falling Angel is a story about identity, selling your soul to the devil and complicated family emotions. Here is what the New Orleans Times Picayune has to say about [the] production, [in which a film is transformed to an opera].

The commission of Falling Angel was made possible by a generous grant by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. This work also represents our first collaboration with Brevard Music Center, the details of which can be found here.

J. Mark Scearce is one of our nation’s most recognized and performed composers. Recipient of the 2010 Raleigh Medal of Arts and the 2009 International Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Music Composition, Scearce has sixty active titles in his catalogue, including musical settings of more than two hundred texts by forty poets. Scearce’s many works for orchestra, band, chorus, opera, chamber, and ballet have been performed throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. The recipient of five advanced degrees in music, philosophy, and religion, including the doctorate in composition from Indiana University, Scearce has won six international music competitions and his music is available on seven commercial recordings. He is presently a professor in the College of Design at North Carolina State University where he also served as the Director of the Department of Music for nearly a decade.

Obie award winner Lucy Thurber is the author of ten plays performed across the country. She was the recipient of the 2000-01 Manhattan Theatre Club Playwriting Fellowship. She was a guest artist at Alaska’s Perseverance Theatre twice and was one of three playwrights in residence at The Orchard Project, summer 2007. She is published by Dramatists Play Service. Thurber is a member of New Dramatists, 13P, MCC Playwrights’ Coalition. She has been commissioned by Playwrights Horizons, and she is currently writing a new play under a commission from Yale Rep. Thurber was also the librettist for the opera Faustine by Arlene Sierra which was also presented by CCO as part of its Development Series. She is the recipient of the 1st Gary Bonasorte Memorial Prize for Playwriting 2008 and a proud recipient of a Lilly Award. Lucy currently teaches at NYU and Sarah Lawrence College.

Michael Ching, Conductor
Dean Anthony, Stage Director
Thomas Bagwell, Pianist

Jessica Harika, Stage Manager

Cast (in alphabetical order):
Kearstin Piper Brown, Epiphany Proudfoot
David Gordon, Doctor Fowler
Antoine Hodge, Toots Sweet/Louis Cyphre
Jeremiah Johnson, Harry Angel
Michael Kuhn, Johnny Favorite
Patrick McNally, Young Soldier
Margaret O’Connell, Margaret Krusemark
George Sommerville, Ethan Krusemark

Ensemble: Jon Olsen, Kathryn Supina, Julia Snowden, Matthew Yohn

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Details of the BMC production will appear in CVNC‘s calendar in due course.

Posting revised 5/17/15,