Ray sings of the ambivalence his parents felt towards him as a child.
Ray frantically tries to calm himself by reciting scientific jargon, while a being claiming to be his own child self tries to open the door.
Sophie, the manifestation of Ray's soul sings an extended aria explaining how she has been locked away from Ray since he was a child.
Sophie, the manifestation of Ray's soul sings an extended aria explaining how she has been locked away from Ray since he was a child.
In a letter, Jaan asks if Noor still loves her.
A woman makes an appeal that the metal of her bell shouldn't be used for a war machine.
Jackie demands Alex say something, but Alex doesn't. Erica paces.
Having escaped forced confinment in a basement, a girl approaches a stranger. She asks if the stranger knows her, as she tries to remember her past.
An old drunk recounts his failed marriage.
A bar manager recounts the night she heard Frederick Chopin play piano, and the effect it had on her relationship with the bar’s resident piano player.
A man recounts his prior murders.
A woman cryptically remembers her past as she is briefly examined by three different people.
A waltz is cut short. Ava discloses how far she’s fallen, and how difficult she finds caring for her son.
Ava bemoans Paul's lack of understanding, and her need for luxury.
James and Sydney start their journey. Sydney remembers being young and playing in the forest with her friend Penny. One day, they are both captured, and the family herd is shot.
Sydney on her first day at the zoo. Frightened and alone, she thinks of her homeland.
Sydney and James arrive in Tennessee, remembering their 22 years together. They say goodbye.
Shanawdithit, dying, speaks to her ancestors. She is ready to leave this world.
Cormack presents his findings about Shanawdithit to the members of the Beothuk institute.
Shanawdithit reprimands Cormack for his saviour complex.
Excited by the possibility of a night with a new lover, Sumana anxiously expresses her anticipation.
Agnieska questions why all of her previous relationships have failed.
Waking early, Agnieska admires her new lover Sumana as she is sleeping.
Hope grows up quickly, climbing out of her crib as a woman of twenty-one. She sings to herself, wanting to leave the house.
Hope introduces the pilot to her family. He leaves, and Hope argues with her parents about going with him.
A deconstruction of moments in The Sound of Music.
A celebration of iconic Hitchcock film moments, sampling from The Man Who Knew Too Much, Psycho, and The Birds.
Using quintessential recordings of Maria Callas arias, an aspiring soprano engages with the full and intense presence of her idol. What begins as suffocation and frustration ends as confidence as the soprano gains a deeper understanding of her idol: she’s human. They both are.
A celebration of iconic Hitchcock film moments, sampling from The Birds.
A short scene, sampling the wedding scene where Elaine screams for Ben.
Daniel sings of his fear at the prospect of going down into the cellar of his childhood home, after his father has died.
Judith sings angrily at her brother when he expresses his desire to leave their childhood home after their father has died.
The Queen of the Amazon Ants laments the fallen state of her realm to her lone remaining subject. She decides she must find a mate.
A young woman, Laurel, runs through a dark forest, filled with anxiety and haunted by disturbing memories.
Laurel stabs the Stranger, killing him. As his body slides to the ground to rest at her feet, she begins to feel a new sense of freedom, not realising that it is at the cost of her conscience and her humanity. The aria should be performed with an improvisational blues quality over the regular pulse of the accompaniment, to convey both this se...
Robertson demonstrates the new “automatic spiral ratchet spring-loaded screw driver,” affectionately called the “Yankee.” The demonstration is cut short when the driver slips off the single slot screw, injuring Robertson’s hand.
Robertson in his shop, Amalia (present day) in her bathroom with her antique vanity, Phillips in his workshop, also injured by a screw driver slip.
Phillips sings the praises of his new screwdriver.
Amalia dreams of what can be accomplished with hardware.
In the afterlife, Henry Ford invites Robertson to present his screwdriver.
Amalia critiques the two screwdrivers and chooses the Robertson.
Wandering in a big box store, Amalia dreams of what can be accomplished with hardware.
Amalia critiques the two screwdrivers and chooses the Robertson.
Robertson, still sad, hopes his screwdriver will still be of use to others.
Allegra has lost her engagement ring.
Raoul still hasn't paid off his debt. Allegra arrives and tells him she has lost the ring, not knowing that he is also Hernando.
The Shaman introduces the audience to his newest clients, a Man and Woman hoping to have a child.
The Shaman explains the end of the couple's tale.
Traumatized by her experiences, Alessandra reflects on her work as a translator in an American military prison.
Colonel Crane, Alessandra's supervisor, tersely tells her to lose what her perceives as her naive sense of morality: "We are just here to win."
Queen Liz imagines what it would be like to be free.
Drag performer Charlie sings a number in the persona of the Virgin Mary.
The Virgin Mary explains to Charlie why he has been chosen to carry the child of God.
Charlie sings gently to his child, the Messiah, who he has been chosen to bear.
Charlie performs the first number of his act: Mother Mary in the nativity scene, with the worries of a new mother carrying the son of god.
The performer sings a poem by Aphra Behn (1640-1689) about an androgynous queer lover.
La Maupin introduces herself to the audience, sharing some of the gossip that has been spread about her.
Maupin takes to the stage of the Paris Opéra.
Maupin challenges a rude nobleman to a duel.
Maupin remembers her romance with the Countess de Florensac.
The performer echoes lines poetry from the Prologue, reflecting on the meaning of Maupin's story.
Medusa sings from beyond the grave, reaching out to her children and her two sisters. She tells the story of her rape by the god Poseidon and murder by the hero Perseus.
Pegasus recounts a dream in which their mother Medusa asks them to find her severed head. They reflect on the harrowing circumstances of their birth and their relationship with their brother Chrysaor and father Poseidon.
Qu Yuan wanders into the southern wilderness. As he travels, he composes a lament for himself and his lost position in court. In the present, Xiao Lian’s Father senses his end is near. Summoning up his strength, he joins with the spirit of Qu Yuan to tell the final chapter.
The Mother appears at the window. She shares memories, loving praise and admonishments. The development of her child's talent and success has been her life's focus.
Louise is ready. She chooses a climb, exploring and unleashing her own full voice as she travels upward.
The Goddess of Music reconciles the tribe of the arco violin players with the tribe of pizzicato players, inviting them to make music together.