THE FALLING AND THE RISING - a new opera
GMTWP Alum Zach Redler (Cycle 18) had his new opera The Falling and The Rising produced at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York City this past January.
Produced as part of Alvin Ailey's New Works Forum, The Falling and The Rising is based on interviews Jerre and I conducted with active duty and veteran soldiers at Walter Reed, Ft. Meade, and Ft. Myer alongside Sgt. First Class Ben Hilgert of the US Army Field Band & Soldiers' Chorus. It tells the story of a Soldier, a young mother posted in a conflict overseas, whose world is forever changed by an improvised explosive device shortly after sending a video message to her daughter for her 13th birthday. Throughout the story, she makes her way through a coma-induced dreamscape punctuated by powerful encounters with other fellow service members, each on the brink of discovery. Together, they must find clarity, consciousness and communal hope inside a strange and ever-shifting universe. The Falling and the Rising is a story of family, service, and sacrifice inside a period of great uncertainty.
The production was directed by Jerre Dye with musical direction by conductor Tyson Deaton.