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and then himself, not being able to live without Maleine nor what he had done. The King concludes the story singing to Petite Allan, who we finally find out has been Queen Anne’s son from a different marriage all along, and he explains to him to learn from his family’s mistakes and to be better. We conclude the opera with the Fool’s sentiments of who is to say truly how one’s life will go?

ACT II

Our story continues with the engagement of Maleine and Prince Hjalmar. They rescue a big water hound named Pluto. Maleine starts to grow ill and the Fool sets a prophecy that she may have life inside of her. Meanwhile, Anne meets with the Doctor to fetch poison to knock out both her husband and Maleine so she can sneak into her room late one night. There is a storm and Maleine is frightened, she begins to feel the affect of the poison. Anne comes into her chamber and wraps her wedding lace around her throat, strangulating her. Pluto runs to get help and Prince Hjalmar and Aleta come to the room, but it is too late.Hjalmar stabs Anne and then himself, laying to rest in Maleine's death bed. The Doctor confesses he administered the poison to Anne, and this was Maleine's fate all along. Petite Allan, the bastard son of Queen Anne wonders what is to come of all this. The Fool explains our fate is carved into stone, and we can not escape it.

One Night of Excess [ 2017 ]

for chamber ensemble

and three female voices

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SYNOPSIS

Prepare to be lured into a world of pleasure and escapism...

Opera on Tap and The Curiosity Cabinet present an evening of tantalizing voyeurism in a surrealist retelling of the shockingly erotic and blisteringly sacrilegious 1833 short story Gamiani, with original music and concept design by Whitney George (composer/conductor) and libretto by Johnny Call at National Sawdust, curated by composer Daniel Felsenfeld.

Gamiani (Heather Michele Meyer), a wealthy but mysterious Countess, throws a lavish party in her enormous mansion. The Baron (Joy Jones) — one of the guests — develops a deep and lustful obsession with her when he hears a rumor that Gamiani is a lesbian. Soon, after the guests all leave, the Baron hides himself in the wardrobe of Gamiani’s private chamber, hoping to see the Countess engage in congress with another woman.

His patience is rewarded when Gamiani brings in Sophie (Sara Noble), a beautiful but naive young woman who has been stranded at Gamiani’s manor because of a storm. Gamiani seduces Sophie and the two women engage with one another (much to the Baron's delight and frustration). Driven wild by such an erotic display, the Baron is unable to keep himself hidden any longer. He steps out of the wardrobe and reveals his presence to the women, engaging in their eroticism along with them....

The Yellow Wallpaper [ 2010 rev. 2016 ]

for chamber ensemble

soprano, baritone, and dancer

Karjaka Studios - The Wallpaper - Low-12

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SYNOPSIS

Witness one woman's journey on the road to madness, presented by Fresh Squeezed Opera and The Curiosity Cabinet. Whitney George’s hauntingly beautiful interpretation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper lends itself to a unique multi-disciplinary experience.

The story depicts the effect of extreme loneliness and solitude, common to women of that station, on the narrator's mental health and her descent into psychosis. She becomes obsessed with the wallpaper. "It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw – not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things. But there is something else about that paper – the smell! ... The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell."

Denise Crawfort’s electric performance highlights the relevance of a story about a trapped woman to modern society. Whitney George leads the Curiosity Cabinet in a humbling, thought-provoking show. Performed at the DiMenna Center, this opera transcends its Victorian setting to become resonant with contemporary audiences.

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SYNOPSIS

Guy de Maupassant’s “La Parure,” (“The Necklace”) famously explores the price of vanity but its celebrated ending suggests something far more disturbing. When Mathilde discovers that she ruined her life to pay for an expensive necklace to replace one bedecked with faux diamonds, she comes face to face with the possibility that life (even a life in which one attempts to pay for one’s moral failings) is meaningless. Thus the Whirligig of Time Brings in its Revenges uses Maupassant’s story as a vehicle to explore the ways in which the moments of a life fail to cohere into a meaningful whole. The reimagined story fragments into a non-sequential presentation of the moments in Mathilde’s life that led to her confrontation with the possible emptiness of all endeavor. Thus what was a simple ironic twist in the Maupassant here becomes the crux of an existential crisis.

And Thus the Whirlgig of Time Brings in his Revenges [ 2012 ]

for chamber orchestra & chorus

Alphabephobia: Something Goes Wrong Everyday [ 2007 ]

for chamber ensemble, theater, animation, and dance