Libretto:
Written by Judith Fein
Synopsis:
Opera in 3 Acts. Each act of the work is a complete story within itself and can be performed alone.
Act One: Adam and Eve's adventures in Hotel Eden, which involve Adam's "first wife," Lilith.
Act Two: Admiral and Mrs. Noah come to Hotel Eden on New Year's Eve. Admiral Noah is retired from the sea and a recovering alcoholic.
Act Three: Sarah and Abraham have been coming to Hotel Eden for 41 years. Sarah, feeling old and sad that she has never been able to have children, suddenly finds herself pregnant.
Duration: ~ 2 Hours
Roles:
EVE/EMCEE/NURSE 1 Soprano 1
WAITRESS/MRS. NOAH/HAGAR Soprano 2
LILITH/NURSE 2 Mezzo-Soprano 1
CLEANING GIRL/SARAH Mezzo-Soprano 2
ADAM/REPAIRMAN/DOCTOR Tenor 1
NOAH/DOCTOR Tenor 2
BELL HOP/CHEF Baritone
ABRAHAM Bass-Baritone
Instrumentation Notes:
Flute(Pic), Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Violoncello, Contrabass, Electric Bass, Piano (Synthesizer), Percussion
Reviews:
Not so much an opera as a glitzy, hip, sometimes tender, often tuneful piece of musical theatre... a feminist reading of three stories from the Old Testament. Its three acts, which seem to take place in the lobby and a bedroom of the Miami Airport Hilton, are "Lilith," focusing on a confrontation among Adam, his Talmudic pre-Eve wife, Lilith, and Eve; "Mrs. Noah"; and "Sarah," dealing with the Sarah-Hagar-Abraham triangle. Issues include male domination, women's liberation, women spurned, substance addiction, late-in-life babies and surrogate motherhood. The music [ranges] from rock to jazz to Menotti, Bernstein and "Goodbye, Old Paint."
-William Ratliff, OPERA NEWS
...A lark of an opera... Judith Fein has gone back to Genesis for her characters... The treatment they get from Fein and Mollicone recalls such romps as Angelique by Jacques Ibert and Les Mamelles de Tiresias by Francis Poulenc, but a thoughtful note at the end, when two characters appear dressed as a Jew and an Arab, remin |
