Cannibals, Lobotomies, Lethal Birds: A Tennessee Williams Opera
The New York Times • • entertainment
Key Points:
- The Fisher Center at Bard secured rights to adapt Tennessee Williams's play "Suddenly Last Summer" in 2023 under conditions that allowed editing and cutting but prohibited adding text or making it a full musical.
- The adaptation, created by composer Courtney Bryan, director Daniel Fish, and artistic director Gideon Lester, is an opera that premiered at Bard SummerScape and will be co-produced with Opera Philadelphia later in the year.
- This opera marks Courtney Bryan's first work in the genre, aligning with her New Orleans roots, the setting of the play, and her background as a MacArthur "genius" grant recipient.
- "Suddenly Last Summer" is noted for its intense, gothic atmosphere, characteristic of Tennessee Williams's style, with the play originally debuting in 1958 and described as a move into the grotesque by biographer John Lahr.
