Arbeit Opera Theatre (AOT) and LOFTrecital’s World AIDS Day event on December 1 at LUSH is an evening of remembrance and awareness inspired by musical stories centered around the AIDS crisis.

The production will feature the Midwest premiere of Mark Campbell and Marisa Michelson’s chamber opera The Other Room alongside selections from Ricky Ian Gordon and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. We are thrilled to also introduce our Community Partner for this event, Clare Housing. They will be on-site to share their impact on affordable and supportive housing for those living with HIV/AIDS in our own communities.

The Other Room is a 30-minute musical monodrama set in 1990 in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood during the AIDS crisis. Lena, an out lesbian and visual artist, has come to the apartment of Steve, her best friend, to assist him with his suicide. While Steve has taken the necessary dosage of Seconal in his bedroom (the “other room”), Lena waits for it to take effect, knowing that she will have to help him along if it doesn’t work completely. While she waits, she works on an abstract painting of the tree outside Steve’s window and muses on their friendship; their early days when they went to clubs together, the sudden change in their lives when Steve became sick, their engagement in political activism and finally to this day, when their profound bond is being tested by Steve’s choice.

This production will feature Victoria Vargas in the leading role with James Barnett, pianist and music director; Rebeccah Parker Downs, cello; David RadamésToro, stage director; with a live in-person talk-back with Librettist Mark Campbell following the performance

Angels in America, excerpts by Ricky Ian Gordon, is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Exploring the lives of those affected by the AIDS crisis in the 1980’s and 90’s, the story’s themes combine realism and metaphor to vividly depict the complexity of this time in American history.

In these monologues, we meet Harper Pitt, the wife of Joe Pitt, a mormon working as a Republican clerk in Washington, D.C. It is an unhappy marriage, as Joe has confessed he is gay and Harper copes with her agoraphobia through her valium addiction. Harper retreats into drug-induced escapist fantasies, searching for safety and sense elsewhere. This presentation will feature Bergen Baker as Harper and James Barnett, pianist.

ABOUT AOT

Arbeit Opera Theatre (AOT), was founded in January 2018 by Producer/Artistic Director Kelly M Turpin, and has already captured the attention of not only the arts community, but the attention of human rights non-profits. Their inaugural production of The Consul last November received the praise of having “thrown down a gauntlet…”(Star Tribune). Their mission is simple: To produce socially-relevant works in order to break down the barriers of the classical art form and bring communities together. AOT strives to inspire and inform their audience on the issues that surround them, provide an artistic voice for the people those issues affect, and to do so with as many Minnesotan artists as possible. AOT actively engages communities both inside and outside the venue. At their productions, audience can take part of post-show talk backs with local organizations and cast/crew. Off the stage, their Opera Immersion classes work with youth and adults through storytelling, education, and interactive performances.

WEBSITE: www.arbeitoperatheatre.com

ABOUT LOFTRecital

Founded by Artistic Director and pianist James Barnett in 2012, LOFTrecital has quickly become a mainstay of the Minneapolis Fine Arts Community. LOFTrecital’s events were named in the Star Tribune’s “10 Best Classical Concerts” for two years in a row (2017,18) and the Twin Cities Arts Reader called the organization “One of the hottest tickets in the Twin Cities classical music scene.” Stated within the organization’s mission, LOFTrecital is an artistic experience dedicated to promoting a wide range of musical repertoire, curating both rare and acclaimed works for an engaged and curious audience. Presented in an intimate and inviting social environment, LOFTrecital encourages the unique connection between artist and audience while cultivating a diverse community that hungers for artistic excellence.

WEBSITE: loftrecital.org