Performance Dates
03 Oct - 05 Oct 2019
Location
State Opera Studio
Performance Language
English
DESCRIPTION
“A FORCEFUL ACCOUNT OF AN ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A PERSON AND HIS MEMORIES….”
Madeline Lee tells the story of B24 bomber Lady Be Good and her nineman crew who disappeared without a trace over Libya, North Africa in 1943 following their first and only combat mission. Taking elements of the story as portrayed in the tele-movie Sole Survivor, Madeline Lee explores how memory, isolation and identity are affected by traumatic events. The opera concentrates on the relationship between the dead crew and the Major, who heads the search and rescue party sent to survey the wreck. The revelation of their intertwined fate culminates in a dramatic re-enactment of the Madeline Lee’s final bombing mission over the Mediterranean and the recovery by the Major of his suppressed memories of the event.
Critics called it “one of those rare operas where music, drama and emotion synthesize into moments that feel incredibly immediate and real…a truly riveting piece.”
Madeline Lee music by John Haddock, libretto by John Haddock with Michael Campbell was premiered by Opera Australia in 2004, directed by Michael Campbell and conducted by Tom Woods.
The Major
Warwick Fyfe
The Boy
Robert Macfarlane
Lieutenant
Nicholas Cannon
Pat
Eddie Muliaumaseali
Ben
Pelham Andrews
First Officer
Thomas Millhouse
Second Officer
Joshua Rowe
Third Officer
Robert England
Composer
John Haddock
Libretto
John Haddock With Michael Campbell
Director
Douglas McNicol
Conductor
Warwick Stengårds
Designer
Candice MacAllister
Lighting Designer
Nigel Levings
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