CAST: Danielle Buonaiuto and Adanya Dunn | PHOTO CREDIT: Michael CooperCAST: Teiya Kasahara and members of the COC Chorus | PHOTO CREDIT: Michael CooperCAST: Teiya Kasahara (from the 2019 production) | PHOTO CREDIT: Dahlia Katz View more photos below - click here OVERVIEW Title: PomegranateComposer: Kye MarshallLibrettist: Amanda HaleCommissioned By:
Louise and Glenn talk about their daily rituals. Re-energized, Louise wants to get back to climbing again. She starts muscling her way upward, urged on by thoughts of fame. Glenn’s focus turns to his various medications and need for isolation. Glenn feels a sharp pain and struggles to support Louise.
The Celebrity is hosting a party. He calls out to Glenn and persuades him to play the piano with him for his guests. The guests gossip about the past performances and bad reviews while simultaneously applauding the artist.
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 encounters The Teacher at the window. The Teacher instructs on the development of rigorous, meticulous technique. Discussion of artistic philosophy is included in the training. Glenn recalls his own teacher.
Louise, a young talented artist, arrives and prepares for her first climb. She is seeking excellence, precision, and beauty. It is a quest toward attaining perfection in her art. Louise connects with her inspiration, support and icon: Glenn Gould. Their journey together begins.
The combined spirits of Qu Yuan and Father return and ask the audience to release them from their servitude. That freedom granted, they ascend into the heavens triumphantly.
Xiao Lian performs the Qingming ceremony to honour the spirit of her departed father and mother. Love and fellowship combine in the running of a dragon boat race. Xiao Lian joins her friends and crosses into her future.
All hope is lost as the villagers return and collect Qu Yuan’s possessions. They take the scrolls containing his famous poetry to the Daoist temple, where they will be preserved forever. Xiao Lian returns to the present at the bedside of her dying father. With his encouragement and love, she
Xiao Lian’s father bitterly reveals that he will die soon. Xiao Lian’s mother appears in spirit form and asks her to forgive her father. She speaks of their happiness together as a family in earlier times. As a child, Xiao Lian had a close connection with the Dragon Boat Festival,
A young Chinese/Canadian woman (Xiao Lian) faces a difficult choice: Honour her family’s traditional past or embrace a more modern future. Her father dwells on the memory of his deceased wife and honours her by performing the Qingming funeral tradition. Meanwhile, Xiao Lian’s two friends want her to get out
CAST: Andrea Ludwig | PHOTO CREDIT: Dahlia KatzCAST: Lauren Pearl | PHOTO CREDIT: Dahlia KatzCAST: Lauren Pearl | PHOTO CREDIT: Dahlia Katz View more photos below - click here OVERVIEW Title: Gould’s WallComposer: Brian CurrentLibrettist: Liza BalkanLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRun Time: 60Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description LouisehighA♯3 (opt.
A businessman is waiting for a streetcar, with his back to an unhoused woman. The two silently judge each other. The man is annoyed at seeing someone who wants something for nothing, and the woman is feeling judged for a situation she has no control over. The two finally acknowledge
OVERVIEW Title: Where You LiveComposer: Iman HabibiLibrettist: Michael PollardCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera's Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRoles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description The Street PersonhighC4-Ab5A street personThe Business PersonmiddleF3-C5A business person Please Note: The table above has content that is scrollable left to right.Orchestration: Piano SYNOPSIS A businessman is
In the afterlife, Henry Ford invites Robertson to present his screwdriver. Ford is rapturously impressed, and offers Roberston a deal – but with the catch that Ford would then own the rights to his invention (as Ford puts it, he demands “complete submission”). Phillips reveals himself and makes a sales
Ford and Phillips celebrate while Robertson is chagrined and depressed by his failure to get the contract. Amalia finally finds the screwdriver aisle in the store.
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.
OVERVIEW Title: The Perfect ScrewComposer: Abigail RichardsonLibrettist: Alexis DiamondCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera's Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRun Time: 40Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description P. L. Robertsonmiddle-lowG2-Bb4Inventor of the Canadian ScrewAmaliahighBb3-D5Modern-day woman, building furniturePhillipsmiddleC3-D5Inventor of the American ScrewHenry Fordmiddle-highG3-F#5Founder of Ford Motor Please Note: The table above has content
OVERVIEW Title: The Call of the LightComposer: Iman HabibiLibrettist: Bobby TheodoreCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera's Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRun Time: 4Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description LortiemiddleG#2-F#4Canadian Forces corporalChorushighF#4-C#5VictimChorusmiddle-highE4-B4VictimChorusmiddle-lowA3-D#4Victim Please Note: The table above has content that is scrollable left to right.Orchestration: Piano Video Recording View more videos below
Her health fading, Shanawdithit wonders if she’ll be welcomed into the spirit world after so much time with the colonists. Cormack tells her he must leave, and Shanawdithit gives him a sketch of his house to carry with him. He leaves the room to pack. Shanawdithit hears the spirits of
Shanawdithit describes the last days of her family as they were pushed from their land and then hunted. She asks Cormack not to speak of their death, but of their life. Cormack is ecstatic and gets lost in the memories Shanawdithit paints. She breaks his reverie with the cold fact
The taking of Demasduit weighs heavy on Shanawdithit’s heart. Cormack, unsure of what to do, tries to comfort her, saying Demasduit was treated well. Shawnadithit asks if white people actually care about her people, her story, because Cormack’s words are betrayed by the actions of his fellows, and indeed, his
Cormack’s study in St. John’s, now Shanawdithit’s room. “Nancy April” reveals she can speak English quite well, and tells Cormack her real name: Shanawdithit. Cormack asks her where the rest of her people are, where her home is. Shanawdithit says simply: they are no more. Shanawdithit reflects on the loss
Cormack meets Shanawdithit for the first time. She’s been working as a servant for Peyton for five years under the colonial name of Nancy April. Cormack is awed; he believes this woman is the last of the Beothuk. Peyton gives her to him, saying she’s useless.
OVERVIEW Title: ShanawdithitComposer: Dean BurryLibrettist: Yvette NolanCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera and Opera on the AvalonLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry Opera and Opera on the AvalonRun Time: 80Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description Shanawdithitmiddle-highA3-G5Beothuk woman, believed by the colonizers to be the last of her peopleWilliam Cormack middle-lowA2-F4An explorer and anthropologistKwe/Spirit Chorus
OVERVIEW Title: Morning PrayersComposer: Afarin MansouriLibrettist: Jessica Murphy MooCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera's Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRun Time: 7Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description TenormiddleG2-G4An Iranian man Please Note: The table above has content that is scrollable left to right.Orchestration: Piano Video Recording View more videos below - click
Manli and Lai Gwan decided to make a life together in Canada. As they collect and bury the bones of Chinese workers they remember all the dead, including Ama and Nichol.
In the explosion rubble, Lai Gwan and Nichol declare their love depsite Ama’s warnings. Nichol dies as the workers rescue Lai Gwan and Manli, who declares his renewed love for his daughter.
As Manli and Lai Gwan argue about their situation, Lai Gwan tells of Ama’s death, which crushes Manli. He decides to set the next explosive charge himself. Nichol and Lai Gwan recognise their love and follow Manli into the tunnel.
The Chinese workers decide to strike, led by Lai Gwan, after another death with no proper funeral. The strike is put down and Nichol stops Lai Gwan from being hung by Manli. She discovers Manli is her father.
While she is bathing in a stream, Nichol disovers Lai Gwan is a woman – she asks for his help to find her father and to keep her secret. Manli interrupts them before Nichol decides what to do.
The Chinese workers are led in and a disguised Lai Gwan challenges Manli the Bookman’s authority. He seeks revenge by assigning Lai Gwan to the most dangerous work in the camp: planting dynamite on the mountain face while suspended in a basket.
In Ottawa, Canadian politicians and moguls toast the launch of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Railway Foreman James Nichol encourages the workers until the impenetrable Rocky Mountains block their way. The Bookman comes to supply the cheap Chinese labour that will allow Nichol to conquer “The Great Divide.”
Aboard a ship taking Chinese workers to British Columbia – they are hungry & thirsty. Ah Lum starts a fight with Lai Gwan, who is disguised as a young man, but they stop as the coast comes into view.
Before dying, Ama tells Lai Gwan of her father, gives her a wedding dress, and urges her to go to North America to find her father – but always remember Chinese traditions.
OVERVIEW Title: Iron RoadComposer: Ka Nin ChanLibrettist: Mark BrownellCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera and CBC Radio-CanadaLanguage: Cantonese, EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRun Time: 150Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description Lai GwanhighA3-Eb6A young Chinese womanAmamiddle-highB3-E5Lai Gwan's motherJames NicholmiddleB2-Bb4A white railway manManlimiddle-lowG2-F#4A broker of Chinese workers and Lai Gwan's fatherSir John A. MacDonaldmiddle-lowB2-E4Canadian Prime
OVERVIEW Title: Harper’s FloeComposer: Norbert PalejLibrettist: Charles HayterCommissioned By: Tapestry Opera's Composer-Librettist LaboratoryLanguage: EnglishProducer: Tapestry OperaRoles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description HarpermiddleB2-B4Prime MinisterMr. ValernikovhighD4-G5A Russian Seal Please Note: The table above has content that is scrollable left to right.Orchestration: Piano SYNOPSIS A historical reenactment: Prime Minister Stephen Harper sets
Beth reads Andrew a memo from a political figure denying the murder of innocent people and claiming that suspensions of civil liberties are essential. Beth and Andrew go downstairs for dinner, where Malcolm has prepared them a live monkey.
Some years prior, Eugene and Antoine enter the residence, Malcolm, their new houseboy (who does not speak much English) helps them unpack. Antoine and Eugene ask Malcolm if he is married, and he replies that he wants Eugene to be his girlfriend. Malcolm asks Eugene to teach him words.
Malcolm tells Eugene and Antoine that he wants to go to university and asks for a letter of recommendation. Antoine tells him that he should stay in the house with the people who love him.
Beth and Andrew are moving into the residence. They begin a conversation with Malcolm similar to that of Eugene and Antoine in scene 2. Malcolm explains that he once had scholarships to university because of a good recommendation letter.
Malcolm and Eugene are dancing, but we quickly learn that they are practicing English. Malcolm asks if Antoine has written the letter of recommendation yet. Eugene tells him he is not ready yet. Malcolm grows frustrated.
The action continues from scene 3. Beth and Andrew are waiting for their guest, Duncan, but Antoine arrives instead and cuts into the live monkey’s skullcap without hesitation. He recounts how he almost wrote Malcolm a letter of recommendation.
Malcolm works on his university application; Eugene is sick. Antoine arrives telling them he has been promoted to ambassador, but that they will remain in the country they are currently stationed in.
The political situation is worsening, and Andrew and Beth decide to invite Antoine, the ambassador, over for drinks. Violence errupts in the streets as Malcolm has gone out to the garden. He returns holding the body of a child.
Eugene is dying. He has left some of his and Antoine’s things for Malcolm, but Malcolm is growing angrier at Antoine who still will not write him a letter of recommendation.
Beth and Andrew demand Antoine that they be allowed to leave. He will keep them there forever because he wants to see them all become heroes and redeem his initial banishment with Eugene. Antoine grabs the dead monkey and begins to dance with it. A bullet explodes through the window,
Upstairs, Malcolm reads another memo from Antoine. Beth rushes in to tell him that it’s time to leave. Andrew and Beth leave the house, but Malcolm remains in the house, still surrounded by violence.
CAST: Marcus NanceCAST: Fides Krucker & Curtis SullivanCAST: Marcus Nance View more photos below - click here OVERVIEW Title: ElsewherelessComposer: Rodney SharmanLibrettist: Atom EgoyanCommissioned By: Vancouver New MusicLanguage: EnglishProducer: Vancouver New Music Association and Tapestry OperaRun Time: 70Roles: Role Voice Type Range ? Character Description AntoinemiddleG#3-Bb4The AmbassadorBethmiddle-highA3-F#5A young diplomatEugenemiddle-lowA2-D#4The Ambassador’s partnerMalcolmlowE2-C#4The
The Vagabond Theatrical Troupe presents! Jeremiah gives George an ultimatum but has to prove himself first in more ways than one, and all is wrapped up in the finest paper package.
George has a proposal for Lily. Henri has a confession. The Great Recorder Smackdown happens, and Lily is caught in the crossfire. Lily sends them all away without answering.
Brigitta is in love with Jeremiah. Jeremiah, Freddy, and Brigitta retrieve Jeremiah’s birth certificate from the Taylor house where Brigitta found it. Jeremiah gives Freddy a note for Lily – he and Lily are leaving town when Jeremiah gets his fortune.
A francophile from Toronto walks into a café in downtown Montréal. His coffee order and small talk with the barista turns into a political rift that eventually leaves him lost in translation.