Theater Pieces

Republicans, op. 201

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Cabaret song for duo, words by composer,

inspired by but not based on Jean Reizner’s “Barry’s Boys”

premiered at Kutsher’s June 18, 2011 by Helene Williams & composer

viewable on YouTube at

Superspy!: The S-e-c-r-e-t Musical, op. 95A

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Book: Joel Shatzky; Lyrics: Composer & Shatzky

revised as one-act cabaret for 2 people (48′) 14 numbers:

1) The Real Realpolitik

2) I Am I… Or Am I? – Why Do I Love Him?

3) We’re Right Because We’re Right

4) The Geneticist’s Song

5) The SDI Waltz (arr. of op. 87, text by composer)

6) Deniability

7) Side by Side with Cyanide

8) Just a Little Favor

9) A Girl Without Morals

10) Tell Me, What Is Love? [expanded version]

11) Superspy

12) A Cure for Everything

13) An Upbeat Ending

14) Superspy-Realpolitik (Encore)

prem. by Helene Williams & composer,

US Peace Committee-Paris 7/7/89; NY 11/18/89

also perf. 2/22/90 Nassau Community College Little Theater;

Chelsea Mansion, E. Norwich (Nassau Cty Ofc of Cultural Dev) 10/20/90;

and Turtle Bay Music School, sponsored by Center for Contemporary Opera

11/17-18/90; command perf for Tom Lehrer, Santa Cruz, 12/91.

Superspy!: The S-e-c-r-e-t Musical, op. 95

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Book: Joel Shatzky; Lyrics: Composer & Shatzky

for Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, 2 Baritones & Piano; 18 numbers, 2 acts, c. 2 hrs.

1) I Am I – Or Am I?

2) We’re Right Because We’re Right

3) Why Do I Love Him?

4) The Geneticist’s Song

5) The SDI Waltz (arr. of op. 87, text by composer)

6) Deniability

7) Side by Side with Cyanide

8) Just a Little Favor

9) A Girl Without Morals

10) Act I Finale

11) I Am I – Why Do I Love Him?

12) Tell Me, What Is Love?

13) Superspy

14) The Real Realpolitik

15) Superspy – Realpolitik

16) A Cure for Everything

17) The Glorious War Song

18) Act II Finale: An Upbeat Ending

#11, 2, 5, 9, 6, & 13-15 previewed by Helene Williams & composer 3/6/88

at Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra chamber concert and

on “Contrasts” concert series at Tom O’Horgan’s in New York;

first complete public reading at First St. Playhouse, Ithaca, NY 3/20/88

Revised as op. 95A, q.v.

Birthday of the Bank, The, op. 97

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one-act opera based on composer’s translation of Chekhov’s

Yubilei for SMTBarB (& Extras), commissioned by

Opera America for Lake George Opera Festival,

prem. there 8/3/88 – excerpted,

staged & introduced by Rosalind Elias

(quotes from her signature tune,

“Must the Winter Come So Soon,”

from Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, among other things);

28 numbers (50′);

prem. staged & conducted by composer 6/12/98 concertante,

Adelphi Univ.;

semi-staged:

6/21/98 Glenwood Presbyterian Church, Glenwood Landing;

NYU Theater 6/22/98 – all 3 part of LICA’s EastEuroFest;

staged:

9/6/99 Jewish Arts Festival of Long Island, Commack NY

9/30/99 Queens College

with Ronald Edwards, Peter Ludwig, Maro Partamian,

Janis Sabatino Hills, Benjamin Spierman/Nathan Bahny,

Natalia Jitomirskaia; videotaped by Helene Williams

Zelophehad’s Daughters, op. 100 #3

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#3 of Sisters, op. 100 – last of 3 Biblical monologues;

for solo soprano & piano or 9 instruments (3’40”)

or SSMAA Quintet & piano or 9 instruments (4’53”);

prem. separately 6/12/89 National Council of Women,

Time-Life Bldg, NYC; also performed widely in Florida

and in Europe by Helene Williams;

prem. w/dancers: 6/23/91 Merkin Hall by Helene &

Wendy Osserman Dance Co., viewable on YouTube:

Lot’s Wife, op. 100 #1

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#1 (6’45”) from Sisters, op. 100 – 3 Biblical monologues (1989)

for Female Voice & Piano or 9 instruments;

performed separately by Helene Williams & composer at piano,

Theater unterm Dach, E.Berlin 6/27/89,

Dresden Center for Contemporary Music 7/1/89, and at

Downtown Music Productions Holocaust Mem concert 3/5/90

Sisters, op. 100

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3 monologues based on first-person stories of Biblical women

(1989) 16’11” for Female Voice & Piano or 9 instruments

recorded by Helene Williams & composer at piano

on “Songs of Conscience” (1990):

1) Lot’s Wife

2) Miriam

3) Zelophehad’s Daughters

prem. 6/14/89 Weill Recital Hall

prem. with dancers: Cadmon Hill-Clinton Dance Choir,

Paulina Kent Dennis, dir.; Temple Sinai, Roslyn 8/20/89;

prem. of complete solo version: Golden Fleece Ltd.,

Theater 22, 3/31/90

prem. of complete solo version w/cl.-bc.-alto sax, vc, pno,

perc. & synth: LICA, Bryant Library 3/21/93

New World, op. 102

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subtitle: An Opera About What Columbus Did to the “Indians”

(100′) 55 numbers, in 1 or 2 acts;

commissioned by Puffin Foundation in honor of

50th anniversary of American Music Center

and Columbian Quincentennial;

libretto by composer & Joel Shatzky

(credit withdrawn at his request 11/30/92);

7 soloists, 2 rappers, pno, perc., 3 synthesizers

+opt. Chorus, Ballet, Tpt, Tb, Conchs.

Separable numbers:

#1 Kaytawari’s Monologue #2 Crew’s Entrance

#3 Columbus’s Aria #6 Nudity Chorus #9 Prayer

#11 Rodrigo #16 Isabella’s Bolero #17 Quartet (Act I)

#26 Guarionex #27 Yuisa #29 Kaytawari’s Vision

#30 George #32 Columbus-Isabella Duet #34 Quartet (Act II)

#37 De Torres #44 Rap Number #46 Tainos’ Mourning Chorus

partial performances:

#16 by Helene Williams at Golden Fleece Ltd. Composers’ Chamber Theater

Square One program @Theater 22, NYC 3/31/90;

#1, 3 by Ronald Edwards at

Union Theological Seminary CALC 25th anniversary 7/22/90

& WBAI 10/12/90;

#2, 6 chorus preview:

Second International Naturist Opera Workshop,

Belezy, France 7/90;

#16 at Third International Naturist Opera Workshop,

Belezy, France 7/92 and at

Haus der Kirche, Berlin 9/1/92

& Dresden Center for Contemporary Music 9/5/92;

#3, 16, 37, 32 LICA concert, Heckscher Park, Huntington 8/6/91

All of the above previewed on WQXR’s

“The Listening Room” 10/12/91 10pm;

Suite of excerpts broadcast on WBAI 10/14/91.

#11 sung by Ivan Thomas, broadcast on WBAI Arts Magazine 2/8/93

complete performances:

full concert premiere by After Dinner Opera Co.

(& Meet The Composer) @ Lincoln Center 10/12/91;

staged premiere co-sponsored by LICA, East End Arts Council

& NYFA S.O.S. Grant, Puffin Foundation

Hngtn & Suffolk County Arts Council,

Heckscher Park, Huntington 8/11/92;

N.Y. City staged premiere co-sponsored by

East End Arts Council-NYFA S.O.S. Grant

& Meet The Composer, Donnell Library 2/9/93;

Music received rave review from George Wallace in

Opera Monthly. Casts also included Mark Wolff,

Eugene Green, Elliott Z. Levine, Robert Ross,

Peter Ludwig, Shirley Perkins. Staged by Benjamin Spierman.

Production photos at

http://www.ljlehrman.artists-in-residence.com/NewWorld.html

Rabbi & the Rich Man, The, op. 116

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aka “The Parable of the Mirror,”

setting for voice & piano of text based on Hassidic legend,

used by S. Ansky in The Dybbuk

and by Bernard Malamud in Suppose A Wedding;

incorporated into one-act opera based on Malamud, op. 125.

Premiered 3/2/95 as part of A Blitzstein Cabaret,

Medicine Show, NYC; also at NOA Boston convention

symposium on Blitzstein’s Sacco and Vanzetti, 12/2/95

Suppose A Wedding, op. 125

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one-act opera (53′) after Scene from a Play

by Bernard Malamud, 4/96

concert premiere 9/2/96 IJAFLI, Suffolk Y, Commack

co-sponsored by LICA, Puffin Foundation,

East End Arts Council-NYFA SOS Grant;

staged premiere 6/1/97 LICA concert at

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Manhattan

for soprano, mezzo, character tenor, high baritone,

male one-liner, piano/orch; publisher: Theodore Presser

as part of trilogy, Tales of Malamud –

intermezzo between Idiots First, op. 37 & Karla, op. 38

or independent work; includes Leon’s Arietta (2’30”)

and “The Rabbi and the Rich Man,” op. 116 (q.v.)

Cast: Ronald Edwards, Lenora Eve/Lucy Sorlucco,

Benjamin Spierman, Janis Sabatino Hills, Joel Ackerman;

directed & conducted from the piano by the composer

videotaped by Helene Williams – soon to be on YouTube

Booby Trap, The, op. 146

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subtitled: Off Our Chests

musical with texts by Sydney Ross Singer & composer

on the link between bras & breast cancer

for 2 men, 2 women, and a piano (and optional cello),

based on A Little Breast Play

by Singer & Soma Grismaijer, Dec. 2000-Jan. 2001;

asterisked numbers* added, 2005;

written for & performed by Helene Williams, Cary Bair,

Peter Kacalanos/Leonard Lehrman,

Sarvamangala/Susan Blake/Kathryn Wieckhorst

Excerpts:

Overture*

Doctors*

Think Pink*

Barbie Blues

Baby Breasts

The Boobs Blues

Pusher Bra*

Fiji*

Silicone Sal

Breast Play

Quartet: Pillow Talk

It’s Tough Bein’ a Tittie Today*

A Break*

The Trouble with Breasts*

The Test

Bras, Not Genes*

Working It Out

Stuffed Bras (Off Our Chests)

concert prem. (of 8 numbers) Golden Fleece Ltd., Theater 22, 5/13/01

full concert prem. Eastover, Lenox, Mass. 8/23/01

performances with additional numbers:

8/11/05 Empire Haven, Moravia NY

5/19/06 PeaceSmiths, United Methodist Church,,Amityville NY [SB]

5/19/07 United Methodist Church, Islip NY [SB]

8/10/07 Eastern Naturist Festival, Empire Haven, Moravia NY

8/12/07 Ithaca Commons, NY Green Fest [SB]

8/25/07 Custer Institute, Southold NY [SB]

5/17/08 WomanSpace, Great Neck Senior Center [KW]

10/20/08 Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck NJ [KW]

—during Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Sacco and Vanzetti, op. 148

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3-act opera (2 hr. 45 min.) begun but left unfinished by

Marc Blitzstein (1959-1963)

commissioned by Ford Foundation,

optioned by Metropolitan Opera, completed 1978-Feb. 2001

published by Theodore Presser;

6 excerpts (asterisked) published by Boosey & Hawkes;

first complete performances in concert with piano:

Aug. 17, 18, 19, 2001, White Barn Theatre, Westport CT

Excerpts performable separately:

*1. Sacco’s Act II Aria, “With a Woman to Be” (4’40”-7’03”)

*2. Sacco-Rosa Act II Duet (2’04”)

*3. Vanzetti’s Last Statement (3’07”)

*4. Vanzetti’s First Aria (2’29”)

*5. Sacco’s “The Whole Shoe” Aria (5’11”)

6. Sacco-Mrs. Evans Duet

7. Sacco-Rosa-Vanzetti Trio (1’45”-2’00”),

also performable as Sacco-Rosa Duet,

music based on Blitzstein’s “The Hills of Amalfi”

*8. Mary Donovan’s Aria,

inspired by “Hymn” from Blitzstein’s Juno

9. Act I Quartet Finale

music derived in part from “Have Yourself a Night”

from Blitzstein’s Reuben Reuben

10. Memorial Day Parade (1’37”)

music based on Blitzstein’s setting  of Alfred Hayes’s

“Into the Streets May First”

11. Thompson’s Act III Aria, “Secrets”

#1 recorded on Premier PRCD 1005

#2-5 recorded on Original Cast Records OC 4441

#1, 7 & 10 recorded on Original Cast Records OC 6127

Wooing, The, op. 158

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one-act opera for SATB (24’07”)

libretto by Lewis Allan (Abel Meeropol), originally for Elie Siegmeister,

one-act opera after Anton Chekhov’s Medved’, premiered by

Helene Williams, Tara Venditti, Gregory Mercer, Gregory Rahming

conducted by composer, Queens College, 2/23/03

recorded on Original Cast Records CD 6055

The Abel Meeropol Centennial Concert

Conspiritor Reality, op. 184

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aka “Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been,”

part of a projected opera, Alger, based on the story of Alger Hiss.

libretto by Kim Rich; premiered in solo version

by Helene Williams & composer, Tamiment Library NYU 6/13/07

premiere of choral version 6/17/10 by members of

Metropolitan Philharmonic Chorus & NY City Labor Chorus

at Local 802, viewable on YouTube at