QUEENS — Opera fans will have a rare chance to see the critically acclaimed opera “Song From the Uproar” free of charge in Jamaica where it will be rehearsed in September.
Beth Morrison Projects, a Brooklyn nonprofit focused on contemporary multimedia productions, will be rehearsing the opera at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center from Sept. 15 to Oct. 2, as the group prepares for its performances at the Los Angeles Music Center in October.
"Song From the Uproar" was written by composer Missy Mazzoli, who was once described by Time Out New York as Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart.
The multimedia opera, featuring a libretto by Royce Vavrek, combines live musical performance and original films inspired by the life of 19th-century adventuress Isabelle Eberhardt.
Eberhardt, born in 1877 in Switzerland, went alone to Algeria at age 19 dressed as a man. She learned Arabic, converted to Islam and traveled the desert on horseback only to later fall in love with an Algerian soldier. She drowned in a flash flood when she was 27.
“We are excited by the prospect of having this dynamic group of creative people in Jamaica for the month of September,” said Hope Knight, president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation which, along with the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, underwrote the group’s residency in Jamaica.
“Having Beth Morrison, who many regard as the Joe Papp of our day, working in Jamaica is a clear indication of the direction in which Downtown Jamaica is going,” Knight added.
Two rehearsals at JPAC — on Sept. 28 and Oct. 1 at 4:30 p.m. — will be free and open to the public. The Sept. 28 rehearsal will be followed at 6 p.m. by a panel discussion with composer Missy Mazzoli, librettist Royce Varek, director Gia Forakis, producer Beth Morrison and performer Abigail Fisher. The panel will be moderated by Wall Street Journal opera critic Heidi Waleson. A Q&A with the artists will follow the Oct. 1 performance at 6 p.m.
The Jamaica Performing Arts Center is located at 161-04 Jamaica Ave.
