I PROMISE TO BE GOOD

Music by Matthew Triplett

Manifesto on the ledge

Music by Anna Meadors
Libretto by John Paul Carillo

Directed by Machele Dill

Excerpt from "Manifesto On The Ledge"

Scene from "I Promise To Be Good"

Elisabeth Halliday and Megan Ihnen. Photo by Janette Pellegrini.

Scene from "I Promise To Be Good"

Elisabeth Halliday and Meghan Ihnen. Photo by Janette Pellegrini.

Scene from "Manifesto On The Ledge"

Elisabeth Halliday and Robert Maril. Photo by Janette Pellegrini.

Scene from "Manifesto On The Ledge"

Elisabeth Halliday, Robert Maril and Megan Ihnen. Photo by Janette Pellegrini.

Overview

In the 2014-15 season, RWO presented the world premiere of Anna Meadors’s Manifesto On The Ledge and Matthew Triplett's I Promise To Be Good, two operas commissioned by Rhymes With Opera and written specifically for our ensemble.

Matthew Triplett’s I Promise to Be Good is a setting of two letters exchanged between the Symbolist poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud during the summer of 1873. Manifesto On The Ledge centers around Melinda, a salesperson in a dead-end job, who has grown unhappy at work and fantasizes about her days in the Navy. Her lover Ronaire, a mysterious poet and thinker, is puzzled by her growing ennui. When Melinda decides to go on personal strike, forcing Ronaire to go to work instead, they each discover unexpected truths about their lover.

The production was directed and designed by Machele Dill and conducted by Alex Wen; it featured Rhymes With Opera founding members Elisabeth Halliday and Robert Maril and guest artist Megan Ihnen, accompanied by the Rhymes With Opera Orchestra. The program inlcuded a performance of Frederic Rzewski’s Attica (part two of his seminal work Coming Together).

Performances

May 29 - 31, 2015
124 Bank Street Theatre
124 Bank Street, New York City

Cast

Featured

Meghan Ihnen

Elisabeth Halliday-Quan

Robert Maril

The Rhymes With Opera Orchestra

Lisa Casal-Galietta, violin
Ruby Fulton, violin
Gregory K. Williams, viola
Nicholas Pauly, viola
Jillian Bloom, cello
Zach Herchen, saxophone
Thomas Lee, saxophone
Maiko Hosoda, percussion
Kristin Samadi, piano

Production

Alex Wen, conductor
Machele Dill, director and designer
Alyssa Meyers, production stage manager
Tara Moses, production / company manager

Supporters

Thank you to the following donors who made this production possible:

Derek Bermel
Benjamin Crawford
Mike Sworakowski
Eydie Triplett
Three Red Crowns