Staged Workshop on May 25, 2004 9PM
- New York City Opera VOX Festival 2004 - Encompass New Opera Theater
in the Peter J. Sharp Theater at Symphony Space, 95th & Broadway, New
York City - www.symphonyspace.org.
Staged Workshop on May 25, 2004 9PM
- New York City Opera VOX Festival 2004 - Encompass New Opera Theater
in the Peter J. Sharp Theater at Symphony Space, 95th & Broadway, New
York City - www.symphonyspace.org.
TESLA
Opera
by Carson Kievman
Libretto by Thomas Babe
The opera had its origins in 1986
at the Eugene O'Neill Music-Theater Conference, Paulette Haupt, Director.
Commissioned originally by the American
Opera Theater, Miami Beach, Florida in 1989 - composition still in progress
First public "reading" of scene sketches at Colannade Hotel, Coral
Gables -- April 1990. American Opera Theater, producer. Carson Kievman, director.
Principal Roles: Nikola Tesla (ten.), Thomas Edison (bar.), George Westinghouse
(ten.), J.P. Morgan (bs.), Charles Steinmetz (bar.), Ann Berry (sop.), Tom
(the boy) (boy ten.), Mark Twain (ten.), Small Chorus - Extra Charaters (4-10)
Cast: Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Charles Steinmetz, George Westinghouse, J.P. Morgan, Ann Berry (Tesla's Companion), Mark Twain, Tommie (the boy), Father (Tommie's father). Mrs. Edison and other auxiliary chorus roles: (Enrico Marconi, William Randolph Hearst, Albert Einstein, Samford White, William K. Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Girl Housekeeper, Eleanor Roosevelt).
SUMMARY
This is a story about "the clash of titans." Narrated by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) the opera focuses on the legendary battles between genius inventors; Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. Nikola Tesla was a brilliant, eccentric, dreaming immigrant, who believed in free energy for all and gave away a fortune. Tesla's inventions include, neon light, AC electric current, florescent light, self propelled rockets, laser beams, radio, and, among others, designs for a perpetual motion (energy) machine. Thomas Edison was an all - American genius inventor who, because of his all consuming goal of building an empire, used every tool at his disposal to destroy Tesla and his dreams. It was a tragic irony that the system Edison loved so dearly was also later used, ingeniously against Edison himself. The characters in this opera include the founders of the Twentieth Century: Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse, J.P. Morgan, and Mark Twain.
