When the eccentric patriarch Simon Powers downloads himself into The System, his entire house comes to life around his family and friends. A groundbreaking new production developed by the MIT Media Lab in partnership with the A.R.T., Tod Machover's Death and the Powers explores what we leave behind for the world and our loved ones, using specially designed technology and an expressively animated stage, including a chorus of robots and a musical chandelier. Machover, called “America’s most wired composer” by the L.A. Times, distinctively blends technological and artistic finesse to create a score that is passionately inventive, yet filled with arching melodic lines. Death and the Powers, which received its world premiere in Monaco in the fall of 2010, is supported by Futurum Association (Monaco), and will be presented in collaboration with Chicago Opera Theater, in association with Opera Boston.
Death and the Powers: The Robots' Opera
Multimedia
World premiere performance. Copyright 2011 by M.I.T. Media Laboratory. All rights reserved.
World premiere performance. Copyright 2011 by M.I.T. Media Laboratory. All rights reserved.
World premiere performance. Copyright 2011 by M.I.T. Media Laboratory. All rights reserved.
World premiere performance. Copyright 2011 by M.I.T. Media Laboratory. All rights reserved.
World premiere performance. Copyright 2011 by M.I.T. Media Laboratory. All rights reserved.
In the News
"In Tod Machover's new opera, Death and the Powers, high technology meets high anxiety." - Boston Phoenix
WGBH's "Greater Boston" - A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus is about to have four of her directorial efforts running simultaneously—including Hair, The Donkey Show, Death and the Powers, and Prometheus Bound.
"Ultimately it’s the relationships, the loss, the longing to connect that give this opera its emotional weight." - The Atlantic
"Musician/robot enthusiast explains the human themes behind his futuristic opera." - Time Out Boston
"Having composed pieces for amplified cello and live electronics, Hyperpiano with orchestra and interactive graphics, computer sounds and animated texts, and other electronic wonders, Machover, most noted for his operatic productions, has written a new one, Death and the Powers, which has its American premiere next Friday, March 18" - Boston Musical Intelligencer
"There’s a decent argument that the true onstage stars of “Death’’ are made of wires, metal, and LED lights. These are the robots, including a dozen “Operabots,’’ as Machover calls them, with plastic, pizza box-shaped heads..." - The Boston Globe
"In the new robot opera, 'Death and the Powers,' humans are history. So is flesh and blood- as ‘so over’ as the dinosaurs." - wbur.org
Press Releases
Creative Team
Music by
Libretto by
Story by
Directed by
Conducted by
Production design by
| Choreography | Karole Armitage |
| Costume Design | David C. Woolard |
| Lighting Design | Donald Holder |
| Sound Design | Chris Full |
| Visual and Software Design | Peter Torpey |
| Media Design | Matt Checkowski |
| Sound Technology | Ben Bloomberg |
| Associate Director | Andrew Eggert |
Cast |
|
| Simon Powers | James Maddalena |
| Evvy | Emily Albrink |
| Miranda | Sara Heaton |
| Nicholas | Hal Cazalet |
| The United Way | Douglas Dodson |
| The United Nations | David Kravitz |
| The Administration | Tom McNichols |
The Miseries |
|
|
Yavni Bar–Yam, Julie Chilton, Rachel Coffin, Maru Colbert, Erin Cole, Pete Cormier, Becki Dennis, Kevin Fennessy, Andrea Foertsch, Lori Forman, Laura Hubbard, Olga Karagiozi, George King, Taya Leary, Diana Librizzi, Emily Lonardo, Meg Di Maggio, Maggie Morio, Rebecca Perry, Matt Phillipps, Oliver L. Saffery, Rebecca Schneebaum, John A. Shane, Bob Stachel, Jeff Q, Julia C. Tenney, Lauren Thomas, Larry Vigus, Amy West, Casey Wright, Alina Wysocki |
|
Chorus of Operabots |
|
Orchestra |
|
| Flue/Piccolo | Sarah Brady |
| Oboe/English Horn | Jennifer Slowik |
| Clarinet/Bass Clarinet | Michael Norsworthy |
| French Horn | Whitacre Hill |
| Trumpet | Terry Everson |
| Trombone | Hans Bohn |
| Tuba | Kenneth Amis |
| Percussion | Robert Schulz |
| Keyboard 1 (including live electronics) | John McDonald |
| Keyboard 2 (including electronic triggers for sound and image) | Linda Osborn-Blaschke |
| Violin I | Charles Dimmick |
| Violin II | Annie Rabbat |
| Viola | Joan Ellersick |
| Cello | Nicole Cariglia |
| Bass | Anthony D'Amico |
Additional Credits |
|
| Manager | Sisie Siu Cohen |
| Robot Mechanical Design | Bob Hsiung |
| Robotic Control Systems | Michael Miller |
| Interaction Design | Elena Jessop |
| Assistant Director | Allegra Libonati |
| Assistant Lighting Designer | Rebecca Makus |
| Production Stage Manager | Nancy Harrington |
| Stage Managers | Julie Baldauff |
| Carolyn Boyd | |
| Dana Stremming | |
| Technology Development | Opera of the Future Group, MIT Media Lab |
| Production Team Credits | |
Non-Required Reading
A note from Death and the Powers composer Tod Machover.
A note from Death and the Powers librettist Robert Pinsky.
A note by Peter Torpey, Elena Jessop, and Ben Bloomberg.
A note from Death and the Powers production designer Alex McDowell.
A synopsis of Death and the Powers.
A poem by Robert Pinsky, librettist for Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera and former U.S. Poet Laureate.
An interview with Tod Machover, creator of Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera.
Jenna Clark Embrey on Death and the Powers Production Designer Alex McDowell.
Rehearsal photos from Death and the Powers as it readies for its world premiere in Monaco next week!
PRODUCTION SPONSORS: Rebecca Gold Milikowsky and Nathan Milikowsky; Don and Susan Ware
Discussions:
Tuesday, March 22
Post-show discussion with composer Tod Machover and librettist Robert Pinsky.
Sunday, March 27
An Evening with Robert Pinsky
Join us for an evening with librettist and three-time Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky as he combines poetry with jazz at the A.R.T.'s club theater OBERON. Learn more >>
Extras:
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