Nov 28-Dec 1, 2018 at 7:30pm
Composer Heidi Rodewald (Passing Strange) and librettist Donna Di Novelli, working with director Kevin Newbury, have created a propulsive pop requiem for the young lives lost in an endless war. The Good Swimmer sets radically re-contextualized text, salvaged largely from defunct lifesaving manuals and other found texts, to incantatory rock anthems. Representing the cohort of youth that was drafted to the Vietnam war, a chorus of lifeguards performs harmonies with a band led by singer David Driver within an evocative video landscape. In a visceral music-theatre experience, The Good Swimmer explores grief and loss, questioning what is heroic, what is lifesaving, and who we send to war.
Credits
Music by Heidi Rodewald
Lyrics by Donna Di Novelli
Directed by Kevin Newbury
Music direction by Marty Beller
Choreography by Raja Feather Kelly
Set design by Victoria “Vita” Tzykun
Video design by Greg Emetaz
Lighting design by Eric Southern
Costume design by David C. Woolard
Sound design by Brandon Wolcott
Band arrangements by Heidi Rodewald and Marc Doten
Choral arrangements by Marc Doten
Orchestrations and additional arrangements by Dana Lyn
Choir Director: Josephine Lee
Commissioned and presented by BAM. Produced by KiWi Productions.
Executive Producer: New Vision for Opera NYC.
Developed with the support of residencies at Eugene O’Neill Center, Bowdoin College, UCLA Center for the Art of Performance, PROTOTYPE festival, and BAM.
Tickets are $25. Get yours today!