Archive
As part of our mission to make opera more accessible, we provide full recordings of some of our projectsfor free, here and on our YouTube channel. Whenever licensing restrictions permit us to publish a recording of our work, we will do so!
These shows were made with the great efforts of our production team and the incredible artists we work with. Making art isn’t cheap, so we humbly ask that if enjoy these free recordings, kindly consider donating so that we can continue to produce exciting and relevant new opera. Thank you!
A note for our audience:
Sally Ride
a new opera about queer love and the first American woman in space
Music by Dana Kaufman, libretto by Aiden Feltkamp
Cast:
Ashley Biehl - Dr. Sally Ride
Jenny Green -Dr. Sally Ride
Myah Rose Paden - Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy
Sarah Fletcher - Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy
Frances Bigelow - Ensemble Soprano, Childhood Friend, Wendy
Gabriella Garcia - Ensemble Alto, Wendy’s Mother, SRS Receptionist
Jeronimo Thomas - Ensemble Tenor, News Correspondent, Notary Public
Robin Wyatt Stone - Ensemble Bass, Mission Control, Doctor
Sam Peters - Collaborative Pianist
Crew:
Eliza K. Woodyard - Stage and Musical Director
Kate Posey - Stage Manager and Production Coordinator
Sam Peters - Pianist
Ari Bell - Set Design and Supertitling
Haley Posey - Livestream Operator
Matthew Joseph - Audio Visual Recording
Mike Powers - Booth Operator
Trina Wright - Lighting Designer
Zayn Mir - Booth Operator
Sally Ride is a new opera by composer Dana Kaufman and librettist Aiden Feltkamp. This opera follows the real-life story of the first American woman and the first LGBTQ+ person to go to space. Narrated by her life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, who consulted on the creation of this work, the opera illuminates parts of Ride’s life that remained hidden until her death, while celebrating her immense contributions to the field of physics, to the US space program, and to science education.
Sally Ride explores the thrills, disappointments, humor, and secrets of Ride’s life, taking the audience on a journey of personal exploration and triumph.
Sweets by Kate
A chamber opera in two acts
When Elizabeth Brigmann’s father dies suddenly, she decides to return to the small town that shunned her for coming out as gay twelve years earlier. Amid the outwardly cheery glow of 1950’s rural America, Elizabeth and her partner, Kate, must navigate the lurking disapproval of the town, the teetering success of Elizabeth’s family business, and her family's (quite literal) deals with the Devil.
The Devil’s dirty (and downright Mozartian) scheme to run the young couple out of town hinges on his assertion that ‘American prejudice’ is immovable and that he can make the townspeople hate what they don’t understand with the smallest nudge. But – as Kate already knows and the Devil himself fears – people will surprise you.
Music by Griffin Candey, libretto by Thom Miller
Cast:
Ashley Biehl - Kate Mayfield
Sarah Larkworthy - Elizabeth Brigmann
Adam Womack - Carl Silverton
Karen Dunstan - Doofey MacLaran
Christine Oshiki - Mrs. Webster
John An - Joe Brigmann
Olivia Kerr - Woman 1 / Souffle Lady / Denise
Katrina Finder - Woman 2
Cassidy Cheong Priest - Woman 3
Robin Wyatt Stone - Man 1
Terence Mejos - Golf Man
Olivia Sutherland, Cary Lee - Townspeople
Sam Peters - Collaborative Pianist and Co-Music Director
Crew:
Kate Kelley - Stage and Co-Music Director
Mike Powers - Stage Manager and Sound Designer
Becca Pauza - Lighting and Set Designer
Jared White - Lead Set Builder
Julianna Bernado - Muralist
Haley Posey - Livestream Operator
Composition by Dana Kaufman, libretto by Aiden K. Feltkamp
Cast:
Kirby Burgess - Emily Dickinson
Christine Oshiki - Sue Gilbert, ensemble soprano
Eric Angus Jeffords - Thomas Wentworth Higginson, ensemble tenor
Robin Wyatt-Stone - William Austin Dickinson, ensemble bass
Haley Posey - percussion
Crew:
Eliza Woodyard and Ashley Biehl - Co-Directors
more than friends
a triptych on queer love through the ages
Emily & Sue
Emily & Sue is an a cappella pop opera that uses texts from Emily Dickinson’s best-known poetry and love letters between Dickinson and Susan Gilbert to chronicle two days fraught with grief, hope, and sapphic yearning.
Achilles & Patroclus
Through flashes of intimate memories, Achilles remembers his life with the love he lost in this achingly beautiful, unabashedly queer chamber opera for two voices.
Composition by Erika Meyer, libretto by James T. Washburn
Cast:
Revere Taylor - Achilles (Friday cast)
Jae Bernado - Patroclus (Friday cast)
Robin Wyatt-Stone - Achilles (Saturday cast)
Eric Angus Jeffords - Patroclus (Saturday cast)
Sam Peters - piano
Crew:
Kate Kelley - Director
Composition by TJ Rubin, libretto by Laura Barati
Cast:
Christine Oshiki - Jaq (Friday cast)
Cee Adamson - Jaq (Saturday cast)
Karen Dunstan - Jill (Friday & Saturday casts)
Sam Peters - piano
Crew:
Molly Anders - Director
Thirst
Thirst is a 10-minute chamber opera that offers a magical realist exploration of intimacy and the tension between one’s desire for partnership and one’s desire for independence.
#adulting2
here we go again
#adulting2 continues our beloved roommates’ journeys in unpacking the notion of modern adulthood while exploring the queerer sides of relationships, sex, pronouns, and more. Come see “the gayest opera in existence”™, in an SNL-meets-Mozart format with Onion levels of absurdity.
Composition by John Ervin Brooks, additional composition by Austin Nuckols
Libretto by Natalie Stewart Elder, Stefan Melnyk and Austin Nuckols
Cast:
Devorah Detzer - Tae
Eric Angus Jeffords - Tony
Olivia Kerr - Bucket
Alex Luque - Drew
Christine Oshiki - Ruth
Amy Korver - ensemble
Nic Varela - ensemble
Sam Peters - accompanist
Crew:
Kate Kelley - Director
Eliza Woodyard - Assistant Director
Composition by Lingbo Ma, libretto by John de los Santos
Cast:
Eliza Woodyard - MARThA
Anjul Bansal - Tricia
Tina Tran - Holly
Crew:
Kate Kelley - Director
MARThA
MARThA is a jovial affair that lifts up women’s voices and perspectives, while normalizing therapy. In this slice-of-life opera, two female-identifying roommates turn to a therapy app when their differences cause a tense living environment.
Recording unavailable
Diary of a Madman
based on the short story by Nikolai Gogol
Set in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1835, the opera follows the descent of a low-ranking Russian official — Aksentiy Ivanovich Poprischin, the “Madman” — into the insanity and despair Gogol hauntingly depicted in diary format almost two centuries ago.
Composition and libretto by Dana Kaufman
Cast:
Devorah Detzer - Aksentiy Ivanovich Poprischin
Jared White - Head of Department
Kayla Wilkens - Sahfee
Megan Cullen - Medji
Biraj Barkakaty - Fidele
Anjul Bansal - Fidele (cover)
HyeYeon Kim - accompanist
Crew:
Eliza Woodyard and Kate Kelley - Directors
Windows
a set of monodramas: unrequited love from unstable individuals
Composition by Zach Redler, libretto by Sara Cooper
Cast 1 — Katie Kelley, Director
Anne LaBella -Count to Ten
Scott Gilchrist -Installing Your Blinds (featuring Olivia Kerr)
Joseph Badore -Shush, Love
Jessica Soltero -She Frowns
Sammie Gorham -Magnanimous
Shuang Elinor Qiao -Con Man
Cast 2 — Christine Oshiki, Director
Olivia Kerr -Count to Ten
Seth J. Robertson -Installing Your Blinds
Eric Angus Jeffords -Shush, Love
Sarah Kathryn Curtis -She Frowns
Christina Bernardoni -Magnanimous
Emily Anderson -Con Man
Cast 3 — Nic Varela, Director
Olivia Kerr -Count to Ten
Nathan Haltiwanger -Installing Your Blinds (recording by Matt Riley)
Diann Spicer -Shush, Love
Rebecca Benitez -She Frowns
Lara Semetko-Brooks -Magnanimous
Kate Saik -Con Man
Cast 4 — Katie Kelley, Director
Andrea Bickford -Count to Ten (recording by Claire Noonen)
Darrell J. Jordan -Installing Your Blinds (featuring Michael King-Leiferman)
Jorell Williams -Shush, Love
Christie Lynn Devoe -She Frowns
Sammie Gorham -Magnanimous
Alonso Jordan Lopez -Con Man (video production by Allais Media)
Crew:
Dr. William Bryant - Accompanist
Alice Carli - Production Manager
Nick Tankersley - Technical Director
Jeff Talbot - Promotional Video Editor
Haley Posey - Audio Engineer
Alice Carli and Christine Oshiki - Closed Captioning Producers
Take a dark turn into the inner human psyche with this series of monodramas depicting “unstable individuals”. Windows offers a glimpse into a myriad of twisted fantasies, which surround a universal human experience — unrequited love. From fantasizing about bashing in the skulls of rude, ungrateful men, to taking too much pleasure in waxing off your car, Windows runs the gamut of depraved experiences.
Recording unavailable
Breakfast
The kitchen table can serve as a positive space for families to gather and foster connection. In Breakfast, however, this space becomes the epicenter of a family’s demise. This one-act chamber opera portrays a middle-aged couple, Ange and Gretta, and their adult child, Stu, trying to enjoy a morning meal together. There are only two problems: they’re out of juice, and they can’t leave their house, because the outside world is a post-apocalyptic hellscape of “dust and electric storm”.
Music by Zach Redler, libretto by Sara Cooper
Cast:
Sammie Gorham - Stu
Katie Kelley - Gretta
Nic Varela - Ange
Crew:
Christine Oshiki - Director and Video Editor
Dr. William Bryant - Accompanist
Haley Posey - Audio Engineer
Recording unavailable
#adulting
Composition by John Ervin Brooks, libretto by Natalie Stewart Elder
Additional music and libretto by Stefan Melnyk and Austin Nuckols
Cast:
Christine Oshiki - Ruth
Jared White - Drew
Eric Angus Jeffords - Tony
Krissy Terwilliger - Bucket
Nic Varela - Couch
Kate Kelley - Siri
Ava Linvog - accompanist
Crew:
Kate Kelley - Director
Christine Oshiki - Assistant Director
Lowbrow Opera Collective returns to 18th & Union with the revival of the wildly successful farce on growing up, #adulting. Follow the journey of four roommates, recently brought together via Craigslist, through their first forays into adulthood. Ruth, Tony, Bucket and Drew come across many challenges — mainly their own lack of practical life skills.
#adulting is equal parts self-deprecating humor and a giant middle finger to anyone who says millennials can’t get shit done. Mostly absurd and just a little raunchy, the opera portrays vignettes of modern lives, from the joy of a first apartment to the horror of an icky stain you find on the only couch you could afford.
