The Damned Thing: Chamber Opera in One Act
Martin Halpern
About this work:
A surreal allegory in which a man and a woman have been assigned to assemble a construction designed by an offstage personage, but who find to their dismay that one of the parts is missing. After some agonizing over this, they finally decide to build around the missing part. When the designer arrives and learns what they have done, he realizes that the construction can never perform its intended function, but sets it in motion anyway. The result is that the construction, to the amazement of all three, begins to produce music which sets the man and woman dancing. The designer leaves, and they continue dancing, faster and faster, until the end. (Note: neither the construction nor the parts with which is assembled are visible. All actions are mimed.)
Version: For Soprano, Baritone, Bass-baritone, Flute and Piano
Year composed: 2007
Duration: 00:35:00
Ensemble type: Opera/Theater:Chamber Opera, Two or More Singers
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Piano, 1 Soprano, 1 Baritone, 1 Bass-Baritone