Disabled – COR

COR

Operas

Blind Woman

A blind dancer and the shadow of her former sight share a final dance.

Composer: James Rolfe

Librettist: David Yee

Jacqueline

Content warning: terminal illness

This is not a biographical opera, it is an exploration of an emotional journey. At age 5, Jacqueline has instant chemistry and sparks fly when she meets her cello. Their relationship grows stronger and closer, and Jacqueline matures into a charismatic and likeable teen, powerful on major stages. Soon she is a...

Composer: Luna Pearl Woolf

Librettist: Royce Vavrek

Merk’s Dream

Content warning: death, ableism

Old Merk feels his age. He will die soon. He tries to prepare Pauline, his mentally disabled adult daughter, for the inevitable. What, if anything, will she remember of him? Of the house they share? Of their life together? Will she remember her father’s love? Will she remember the embrace of home? Will she unde...

Composer: Elisabeth Mehl Greene

Librettist: Nick Carpenter

Playing Ball

An estranged father and daughter re-establish their relationship after he has suffered a stroke and can no longer speak. He tries to convey to her that he loves her and is sorry for the harm he caused her. She is still too hurt from their past to see what he is trying to say. Instead, she passes the time by reading a book. He finds another way o...

Composer: Norbert Palej

Librettist: Marcia Johnson

COR

Excerpts

Blind Woman – The Blind Woman

A blind dancer and the shadow of her former sight share a final dance.

Jacqueline – “Bathing in the Sea in October” – voice and cello

Jackie tells us how she can blur the lines between fantasy and reality at will. She can escape the confines of her chair by dreaming of bathing in the sea. She wonders where Daniel is, and who he’s seeing.

Jacqueline – “Psychoanalysis” – voice and cello

Jacqueline experiences symptoms, but her physical illness is undiagnosed, and she is instead told it is hysterical or psychosomatic.

Jacqueline – “Cancellation” – voice and cello

Angry and frustrated at her physical inability to play, Jacqueline cancels her remaining performances.

Merk’s Dream – Merk’s Dream

Sitting by the fire, Merk tries to discover what his mentally disabled daughter will remember when he is no longer with her.

Playing Ball – Playing Ball

Tabitha helps her father Ken, who has had a stroke. She combs his hair and helps him with his therapy ball, retrieving it each time he drops it.