Ahead of the world premiere of Stonewall, get a taste of the new work in the video above, taken during a recent workshop presentation. The piece, from composer Iain Bell and Pulitzer-winning librettist Mark Campbell, will make its world premiere with New York City Opera June 21–28.
Set in 1969, the opera features an array of characters—including a lesbian facing harassment, a city clerk who moonlights as a female impersonator, an English teacher fired from a Catholic school, and a transgender woman celebrating the anniversary of her transition—who convene in the Greenwich Village bar that became the impetus for a movement.
The cast features Andrew Bidlack, Liz Bouk, Lisa Chavez, Michael Corvino, Jessica Fishenfeld, Marc Heller, Brian James Myer, and Jordan Weatherston Pitts. Carolyn Kuan will conduct the production at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater, with direction by Leonard Foglia and choreography by Ricahrd Stafford.
The presentation commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and takes the stage as NYC Pride hosts this year’s WorldPride celebration. The opera is the third presented as part of NYCO’s ongoing initiative to present an LGBT-focused work each June, following last year’s Brokeback Mountain and 2017’s Angels in America.
