Idaho State University Theatre and Dance to present world premiere of contemporary opera in Pocatello then California

The world premiere of "Double Blind Sided," a contemporary opera inspired, in part, by Franz Kafka's "The Trial" and Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," will be performed at 7:30 p.m. May 22-25 in the Rogers Black Box Theatre in the Stephens Performing Arts Center.

There will be an additional matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 25. A post-performance panel discussion with the composer, librettist and directors will be held Wednesday and Thursday, May 22-23.

Admission is by donation.  All donations will support the tour of the work to the July 2013 Santa Cruz Fringe Festival.

Five years ago, ISU Theatre and Dance faculty Josephine A. Garibaldi and Paul Zmolek invited composer Robert Fruehwald of Southeast Missouri State University and poet G.B. Waldschmidt from Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne to collaborate on the creation of an original music/theatre/dance work inspired by Kafka's novel. Creating variations upon the motifs from "Pictures at an Exhibition," Fruehwald created emotionally moving music for Waldschmidt's witty text for the opera, creating a non-linear montage of anachronistic scenes connecting Kafka's novel, Weimar Germany's slide into Nazism, the Vietnam War and current economic and political events.

The Callous Physical Theatre collaborative team of Joséphine A. Garibaldi and Paul Zmolek utilized a collaborative devising methodology with the eight performers to create movement directly linked to the text.

"The performers are singing, dancing and acting throughout the entire show.  It is really jam-packed.  I am so impressed with them," said Garibaldi.

The cast, drawn from ISU Theatre, Dance and Music students, has been coached by Vocal Director Diana Livingston Friedley. Julie Sorensen conducts a wind ensemble performed by Andrew Erickson, Michael Helman, Shandra Helman and Cassie Vandersloot, which is supplemented by electronic score. Livingston Friedley and Sorensen are ISU music  faculty.

For information contact Garibaldi, 233-2494, or garijose@isu.edu.

"Double Blind Sided" was made possible, in part, by the generous support of National Endowment for the Arts, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Pocatello Arts Council, Callous Physical Theatre and the Cultural Events Committee, ISU Department of Theatre and Dance, and the Humanities and Social Science Research Committee of Idaho State University.

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