Canadian Opera Resource
Canadian Opera Resource
COR
Excerpts
George celebrates the 25th anniversary of his paper mill with an important announcement. Lily is introduced. Freddy gets some bad news.
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.
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.
A box office worker longs to be on the stage. When the lead of the production is injured, she begs for her chance in the spotlight.
A famous blues singer is warming up in her dressing room before the show. Her partner, Jack, enters and a fight begins.
A dying father and his son drink their last bowl of water. They need oil for the machines that will keep them alive and purify their water. A truck rolls past with a huge barrel of oil in the back. The son flags it down, only to discover the person driving the truck is a monstrous creature from the nation they’re at war with.
Democracy lies dead in a coffin, mourned by two citizens... But slowly Democracy raises her weak head and begs the two citizens to keep her alive by executing a difficult but necessary task.
Each of two brother bulls attempts to convince the other to enter the barn. Neither wants to go, knowing their lives are at stake. The two flatter, dare, and challenge one another, until a race finally settles it: first one to the barn wins. Sort of.
Soloists and chorus sing the numbers attributed to HIV-1 and HIV-2 by the International Comitte of Taxonomy of Viruses.
Recounts the presumed origin of the HIV virus, initially as SIV non-human primates in Central Africa.
As the Democratic Republic of Congo fights for its independence, patients are being hospitalized and dying from AIDS-related illness.
A group of people discuss the dynamics of Polygyny before the arrival of colonizers and missionaries.
An intimate description of sex.
Soloists list conspiracy theories about the origin and spread of HIV, while the chorus laughs in the background.
An ode to alcohol and cocktails that devolves into a listing of medications.
A funereal narration accompanied by a choral requiem.
It's lunchtime in the schoolyard.
Elijah and Keisha tell Miriam about Billy the bully. Billy bullies Elijah, then Miriam stands up to Billy.
The kids all make up and fly Elijah's restored kite.
Beth and Andrew are getting ready for bed. Malcolm enters suddenly, claiming that someone will be there soon and leaves as suddenly as he arrived.
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.
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.
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.
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, hitting Antoine and he falls to the ground.
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.
A son gets caught sleeping with his father's girlfriend, Eva. A three-way fight erupts, the son professing his love for Eva and vice versa, while the father warns they’ll betray each other soon enough. They leave, and the father grieves the loss of them both.
Two explorers close to the north pole - the explorer Peary becomes confused.
An ill and delirious Peary reminisces about his polar days; his wife remembers their early love.
Peary is unsure if they have reached the North pole.
The explorers make a plan to bring the Inuit to America to make money.
Peary and Henson once again try to confirm they are at the North pole.
Henson helps Minik reach the land of the dead; Peary and Josephine argue about Peary's Inuit children.
Peary and Henson believe they have reached the North pole.
Robert helps Charlie, who is sick, check his stool and be calm in the face of death.
An interrogator turns his lurid eyes on an imprisoned female activist. Purposefully misunderstanding her movements as seduction, he convinces himself of something horrid.
Lucifer taunts the Child in a cell. She doesn't understand what she's done wrong.
A cleric prepares for confessional. Someone enters the booth. The cleric realizes it’s a man with whom he shared a mutual attraction. The man has recently finished gay conversion therapy and wishes to resume some kind of a relationship.
The Child is bored. She reads several books in an effort to learn all the things she shouldn’t do, say, feel, or see. Lucifer simply asks her why, attempting to get her attention on him instead of books. She finds a name, Iblis, and taunts him.
As Lucifer tries again to get the Child to go with him, the Child finds out who Lucifer is in one of the books of the cell.
The Child questions Lucifer’s role as tempter, while he tempts with growing intensity. He chastises the Child for bowing to authority. She erupts in anger, pushing the books aside and leaving the cage.
A distraught woman is trying to report her sexual assault to a policeman. She admits she’s had some alcohol. Instead of pursuing justice, the policeman arrests her for illegal possession of alcohol. The Child witnesses all of it.
Lucifer is enraged at the unfairness put upon him. The Child sees, and has an idea. Perhaps the system should be broken. When Lucifer realizes the Child has seen his truth, he tries to hide his emotions.
A watcher looks over a group of faithful. His irritation turns to hatred as he accuses them of subversion. He claims to have proof hidden in some papers, but the Child has destroyed them. The Child proclaims “I know what to do,” and the tension between authority and people escalates. The Child begins taking pages and notes from all the surroundi...
The Child creates her own book from pages of other books. She hands out her new rules to the audience.
Zach's class studies the Canada Food Guide, making Zach's tummy grumble.
Zach longs for a lunch of junk food!
The Cafeteria Worker sets out orderly rows of premade junk food in her spic-and-span kitchen. Just then, a trio of Chefs show up and toss all of the junk food out!
Zach and the Cafeteria Worker are perplexed by the Chefs' new healthy homemade menu. They promise Zach that eating this way will be delicious and good for him, too! Zach passes out from hunger and empty calories. He is so hungry!
Zach's hunger-hallucination, Part 1: A life-size Chocolate Bar entices him... only to turn into a Carrot!
Zach's hunger-hallucination, Part 3: Sultry French Fries interrupts the Trio to tempt Zach, but is pulled up short by Big Cheese. There's a new Sheriff in town.
Zach's hunger-hallucination, Part 4: Big Cheese tries to convince Zach to eat healthy by crooning a song oozing with cheesy puns.
Zach's hunger-hallucination, Part 5: Food fight! The healthy and unhealthy foods fight over Zach. In the melee, Apple is struck by an airborne French fry.
Zach's hunger-hallucination, Part 6: Apple expires in true operatic fashion in Zach's arms. Zach grieves.
Zach wakes from his hallucination a changed boy. Now open to trying new options, he samples the new menu. Zach's tummy rumbles in appreciation!
A brief anthem to healthy eating.
A couple fights as a woman leaves to pursue her dream.
Cindy, Mindy, and Tyler revel in the newfound freedom of university life. Cindy delights in being single, Mindy says goodbye to her parents, and is excited for more privacy and time with Tyler... who is looking forward to playing more Fortnite.
Dorm RAs lay down the laws of drinking and sex, which are incredibly different for the boys vs. the girls.
Tyler lets the guys know he’s free for the night. They roast him, and head to the pub.
Mindy tries to understand if she was raped at the party. She can't make herself contact anyone, but seeks information online; Cindy slips a morning after pill under the door.
George and his wife Martha have three very different versions of a difficult conversation over breakfast.
At 4 a.m., a composer stands looking out the window, his tools nearby. Across town, a librettist is doing the same. Both are just slightly panicking about their latest work: an opera about a dog named Harley.
Filled with regret over his life, Manli sings of an abandoned love.
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.”
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.
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 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.
Lai Gwan dreams of the conflicting desires of her mother, father, Nichol and herself.
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.
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.
Whites celebrate the finishing of the railway and officially dismiss the Chinese, who blame Manli for abandoning them.
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.
A mother with postpartum depression leaves her husband and son.
A child walks on a beach, in search of their parents.
Dahlia's father encourages her to seduce Jason, and promises her she can have anything she wants.
Jason, M'dea, and the soldiers return from war to a celebratory crowd. Some do not trust the new foreigner, M'dea.
At a party, the Corporal mocks Jason for needing M'dea to help him win and for bringing her home.
M'dea and Jason commit to loving each other and helping each other recover from the war and memories that haunt them.
Jason and M'dea are expecting a baby. Citizens gossip about the couple.
At the President's office, Jason and the President discuss family, how to be a good father, and a possible future for Jason in politics.
A family outing to the beach turns into a photo op for the paparazzi.
The President invites Jason to be his running mate, and begins to remake him. This process sidelines M'dea and Chase. Dahlia and Jason are attracted to one other.
Dahlia's father encourages her to seduce Jason, and promises her she can have anything she wants.
The party is about to announce Jason's candidacy. Jason and Dahlia dance together, oblivious to all the others. Enraged, M'dea smashes a glass wall, showering fragments over the party guests.
Jason and Dahlia are getting married. The citizens gossip.
The President threatens M'dea with prison or the loss of her son if she doesn't do as he wants. He warns her not to cause trouble for Jason.
M'dea has a breakdown and brings Chase to the fountain at Jason and Dahlia's, where she sees the ghost of her mother. She is discovered by Jason and Dahlia, and a fight ensues.
Dahlia convinces Jason to send M'dea away.
M'dea tries once more to get Jason to stay with her, but he believes he will never forget his war crimes if she is in his life. M'dea eventually agrees to go back to her country.
The President gives an election victory speech.
Just before the wedding, Jason discovers Dahlia and the President murdered.
Pursued by Jason and the guards, M'dea and Chase climb a cliff by the ocean. When they reach the top, they play a version of their make-believe game, and jump off.
On a solitary walk a Man gets buried by an avalanche; a Woman thinks his absence means he is cheating on her.
James, an eye doctor wanting to keep his new x-ray vision, argues with his colleague Sam and accidentally kills him, as his assistant Diane watches.
Westerner Jackie and sherpa Pasang summit Everest without using oxygen cannisters. Soon their victory turns into a culture clash as they argue about their affair and the mountain, and slowly die of hypoxia.
In a video game, two mice are navigating through a house when suddenly they encounter a giant squirrel.
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