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Event
Theatre & Opera Mondays: Dear Erich - A Jazz Opera by Ted Rosenthal
Concert Performance
Monday, August 26 | 7 PM | $30 ($25 for Friends of SAC / $15 for Students)
Q&A to Follow
Music by Ted Rosenthal
Libretto by Ted Rosenthal and Lesley Rosenthal
Translated by Dr. Peter Schmidt
Additional Lyrics by Barry Singer, E.M. Lewis and Edward Einhorn
Theatre & Opera Mondays offer the audience a rare peek into the process behind creating a new musical or opera before full staging. Every Monday in August will present a glimpse into the world of New York theatre rarely seen by the general public.
Dear Erich is inspired by 200 newly discovered letters written in Germany between 1938 and 1941 by Herta Rosenthal to her son Erich, the composer's father. Dear Erich tells a refugee story for our times. How can a family cope as the walls of their nation's hatred close in around them? For those who escape, what lies ahead? Even in the land of the free, are they ever really free? What if they never learn the fate of loved ones left behind and the communications just stopped? What does closure mean, why does remembrance matter, where does hope come from?
Erich, a Jewish academic, escaped Nazi Germany to the U.S. shortly before Kristallnacht. The opera tells the story of a family's dual fates. Erich's journey to a new life in the new world - his studies, jazz and love - while the situation deteriorates in Germany and his family ultimately meets their cruel demise at the hands of the Nazis. Frustrated and powerless to help them emigrate, Erich must live with deep survivor guilt which affects him in his relationships with his wife and children.
Dear Erich addresses these themes walls and wars, refugees and immigrants, survivors and victims, the promise of a new world. Dear Erich asks what is found when a survivor forms a new family, and what gets lost when the next generation is untethered to the past? The opera's scenes of immigration and refugees in crisis raise moral dilemmas that resound to this day. Finally, Dear Erich stands for the power of remembrance, not just to honor the past but also to root us in the present and chart our future.
The New York City Opera world premiere of Dear Erich played to 4 sold out houses with enthusiastic audience and critical response.
This concert presentation features members of the NYC Opera cast with the Ted Rosenthal Trio: Ted Rosenthal - Piano, Martin Wind - Bass, Tim Horner - Drums
"Dear Erich is a moving story, compellingly told, with beautiful music and an excellent cast." - Will Friedwald, The Citiview, New York
"Dear Erich is quite powerful and potent with Rosenthal having a clear pulse on dramatic pacing and invention. The finale is also breathtakingly beautiful in its cathartic grandeur and a strong way to bring the opera to a close." - David Salazar, Opera Wire
www.dearerich.com
Photos © Sarah Shatz
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LocationSouthampton Arts Center (View)
25 Jobs Lane
Southampton, NY 11968
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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