Docu opera. It’s an interesting concept that could allow a stuffy genre that most 20- and 30-somethings feel disconnected with to become relevant again.
Take JOHN ADAMS and PETER SELLARS’s DOCTOR ATOMIC which debuted at the METROPOLITAN OPERA last week. The bleak subject matter: the detonation of the first nuclear bomb in 1945.
Not exactly stuff that went down in our lifetime, but much easier to relate to than THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO. There have also been recent operas about news figures like MALCOLM X, HARVEY MILK and SISTER HELEN PREJEAN of DEAD MAN WALKING fame.
So what we’re wondering is, which true life stories would you like to see adapted into an opera and which ones are still off limits?
Is America ready for an opera about Hurricane Katrina or the 9/11 terrorist attacks?