DARK SISTERS director Rebecca Taichman, conductor Neal Goren and composer Nico Muhly discuss the challenges of staging a contemporary opera, how the score guides the staging process, creating characters in opera, and the use of hymns in the music.

Dark Sisters Opera

Dark Sisters: Staging A Contemporary Opera, Part 1

DARK SISTERS is a new American opera, with music by Nico Muhly and libretto by Stephen Karam. Co-commissioned and Co-produced by Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group and Opera Company of Philadelphia. DARK SISTERS is a suspenseful, emotional, and lyrical depiction of one woman's struggle with life and faith and the universal dilemma of whether to stay or leave.The opera opens a window into the lives of Eliza and her sister wives, members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamous sect based in the southwestern United States. Creators Muhly and Karam have drawn inspiration from the crush of media attention surrounding two of the many raids on FLDS compounds (the 2008 raid at the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, TX and the 1953 raid at Short Creek, AZ), as well as from the stories of the more than 80 wives of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Our Soundcloud page will feature interviews with the opera's creative team and historian Ken Verdoia, giving insights into the background of DARK SISTERS and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a new opera. Final workshops begin on September 6, 2011. World Premiere from November 9 to November 19, 2011, at the Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College.

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Dark Sisters Opera