David T. Little’s Dog Days in Fort Worth and Los Angeles
Multiple US performances of David T. Little’s Dog Days fill out the latter part of the 2014-15 season.
David T. Little is quickly becoming a fixture in American opera. His new work, JFK, in collaboration with librettist Royce Vavrek, is one of the most anticipated operas to premiere in 2016 and has piqued interest through workshops in New York and Philadelphia. But before Fort Worth Opera gives these premiere performances of JFK, the opera community in Forth Worth will get more familiar with Little’s and Vavrek’s work when the company stages Dog Days 24 April – 2 May.
Based on a short story by Judy Budnitz, Dog Days (2012) is a contemporary opera that investigates the psychology of a working class American family against a not-so-distant-future wartime scenario. It asks: is it madness, delusion, or human / animal instinct that guides us through severely trying times? Where exactly is the line between animal and human? At what point must we give in to our animal instincts merely to survive?
The opera is told predominantly from the perspective of the thirteen-year-old Lisa. This post-apocalyptic nightmare shows her family progressively starve, her mother give up on life, her brothers fall into addiction, and her father struggle to fulfill his own myth of the provider. Eventually, the family meets Prince, a man in a dog suit begging for food. Is this man crazy or the only sane one around?
Dog Days, originally commissioned by Peak Performances at Montclair State, was first produced by Beth Morrison Projects in Montclair, NJ in 2012; Fort Worth Opera’s 2015 remount is also produced by Beth Morrison Projects, a well as the upcoming West Coast premiere by LA Opera taking place 11-15 June at Walt Disney Concert Hall’s Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT). Both Fort Worth and Los Angeles productions are directed by Robert Woodruff and conducted by Alan Pierson.
Press from previous performances:
"It's only a matter of time before this riveting show is confirmed as a groundbreaking American classic."
—New York Times, January 2013
"Mr. Little deftly incorporates music theater as well as traditional operatic writing, and the score has a rhythmic pulse that reflects his background as a rock drummer."
—Wall Street Journal, October 2012
"a taut, nuanced work that clawed beneath the surface of every situation...its poetry is indelible and affecting." (...) “Think about it: When was the last time a new opera got under your skin the way an Edward Albee play does?"
—New York Times, October 2012
"It is difficult to think of anything with that kind of power and originality on any other opera stage in the area."
—The Star Ledger, October 2012
At approximately two hours in duration, Dog Days is scored for six singers, one actor, and amplified chamber ensemble.
> Further information on Work: Dog Days
Photo: Merri Cyr