Out of Darkness: Two Remain World Premiere
Channel: The Atlanta Opera
Date: 2019-07-15

Go behind the scenes of the making of the World Premiere of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer‘s OUT OF DARKNESS: TWO REMAIN, a moving two-act opera which centers on Holocaust survivors visited by ghosts of their past. 

In Act I, Krystyna shares her gripping story of survival with a journalist, and is helped by the ghosts of Auschwitz who were inspired by her written lyrics. In Act II, Gad Beck is visited by his first true love, the poet Manfred Lewin, who perished in Auschwitz. As Manfred implores Gad to remember and celebrate their love, the painful truth of their stories and fates emerges. 

Based in part on the true stories of two Holocaust survivors: the Polish dissident Krystyna Zywulska (1914-1993) and the gay German Jew, Gad Beck (1923-2012).

MUSIC Jake Heggie
LIBRETTO Gene Scheer

CONDUCTOR Joseph Mechavich
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Tomer Zvulun
CHOREOGRAPHER John McFall
ASST. CONDUCTOR Rolando Salazar

SCENIC DESIGNER Christopher Dills
COSTUME DESIGNER Joanna Schmink
LIGHTING DESIGNER Thomas C. Hase
WIG & MAKEUP DESIGNER Melanie Steele

CAST (In order of vocal appearance)

KRYSTYNA ZYWULSKA Maria Kanyova
KRYSIA Bryn Holdsworth
ZOSIA Elise Quagliata
EDKA Gina Perregrino
MARIOLA Jasmine Habersham
MANFRED LEWIN Ben Edquist
GAD BECK Tom Key

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Brenna Corner
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Brian August
STAGE MANAGER Skylar Burks
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Renee Varnas
MUSICAL PREPARATION Kirk Severtson, Valerie Pool

INSTRUMENTALISTS

THE LORAINE P. WILLIAMS ORCHESTRA CONCERTMASTER CHAIR Peter Ciaschini
PRINCIPAL CELLO Charae Krueger
PRINCIPAL BASS Lyn DeRamus
PRINCIPAL FLUE James Zellers
PRINCIPAL CLARINET David Odom
PIANO Kirk Severtson

OUT OF DARKNESS: TWO REMAIN | An Opera in Two Acts
Copyright ©2018 Bent Pen Music, Inc.

Based, in part, on the true stories of two Holocaust survivors: the Polish dissident Krystyna Zywulska (1914-1993) and the gay German Jew, Gad Beck (1923-2012). Source material for the libretto includes documents and journals in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Zywulska's "I Survived Auschwitz" (1946), as well as various interviews, including several collected from the film "Paragraph 175," directed by Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman (Copyright Reflexive Image, Inc. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.)

This opera was commissioned by Music of Remembrance (Mina Miller, founder and artistic director) and made possible by a generous award from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Music of Remembrance Commissioning Circle.

Film by Felipe Barral/IGNI Productions