THE LONG WALK Composer: JEREMY HOWARD BECK | Librettist: STEPHANIE FLEISCHMANN BASED ON THE BOOK THE LONG WALK: A STORY OF WAR AND THE LIFE THAT FOLLOWS BY BRIAN CASTNER
The Long Walk is a deeply personal exploration of a soldier’s return from Iraq where he served as an officer in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. Upon returning from the war, Brian battles with what he calls “the Crazy” as he tries to reintegrate into his family life. Commissioned by American Lyric Theater under the auspices of the Composer Librettist Development Program World Premiere: July 10, 2015 Opera Saratoga Saratoga Springs, New York Upcoming: March 31 – April 1, 2017 Utah Opera Salt Lake City, Utah ROLES BRIAN (Baritone) – A returned Iraq veteran, served as EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) unit captain, home for almost 2 years. JESSIE (Mezzo-Soprano) – Brian’s wife THEIR 3 SONS (Trebles) – Virgil, 10; Martin, 7; Samuel, 5 CASTLEMAN (High Tenor) – Soldier in Brian’s Unit RICKY (Lyric Tenor) – Soldier in Brian’s Unit JEFF (Bass-Baritone) – Soldier in Brian’s Unit IRAQI WOMAN / SHRINK / AUNT SARAH (Soprano) IRAQI WOMAN / PERNEATHA / YOGINI (Soprano) INSTRUMENTATION fl (= picc, afl), cl (= Ebcl, bcl) - 2 hn, 2 tpt (1=picc tpt), tbn, btbn - kybd, 1 perc, 2 egtr - 2vn, va, vc, db (db=ebgtr) DURATION 120’
WORLD PREMIERE CAST & CREW Brian Daniel Belcher Jessie Heather Johnson Virgil Robert Wesley Hill Martin Erick Schuett Samuel Henry Wager Castleman Javier Abreu Ricky David Blalock Jeff Justin Hopkins Iraqi Woman / Shrink / Aunt Sarah Caroline Worra Iraqi Woman / Perneatha / Yogini Donita Volkwijn Steven Osgood David Schweizer Mimi Lien Nancy Leary
Conductor Director Costume Designer Stage Designer
JEREMY HOWARD BECK’s music – described as “sparse and haunting” by NPR’s Weekend Edition – has been performed throughout the country: at Opera Saratoga, the Bang on a Can Marathon, Eastern Trombone Workshop, International Trombone Festival, and at venues throughout his native New York City. He laureates include grants from The MAP Fund, NewMusicUSA, JFund/American Composers Forum; residency at Yaddo (2014); and an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award (2011). His first opera, The Long Walk opened in 2015 at Opera Saratoga to rave reviews: "The plot’s tension is set, taut as a drawn bow." (The New York Times Magazine) "The Long Walk is a masterpiece… a piece like this brings out all the best aspects of opera.” (Metroland) Jeremy was a Resident Artist with American Lyric Theater and a Composer-in-Residence with the Guidonian Hand trombone quartet, whose recording of Awakening is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and bandcamp. He studied with John Corigliano and Christopher Rouse at The Juilliard School and with Mark Adamo and Deniz Hughes at NYU. STEPHANIE FLEISCHMANN is a librettist and playwright whose texts serve as blueprints for intricate threedimensional sonic and visual worlds. Opera libretti include: The Long Walk, music by Jeremy Howard Beck (American Lyric Theater, Opera Saratoga, Utah Opera); After the Storm, music by David Hanlon (Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco); The Property, music by Wlad Marhulets (Lyric Opera of Chicago/Lyric Unlimited); a forthcoming work with composer Christopher Cerrone; and texts for Olga Neuwirth’s “ecstaloop” and “The Cartographer’s Song” (Basel, Berlin, Graz, Stockholm, Aldeburgh). Her opera, The Long Walk, received support from the MAP Fund, OPERA America, and the Aaron Copland Fund. Stephanie has written dozens of music-theater works and plays, which have been seen at HERE, EMPAC, Round House Studio, Soho Rep, and additional venues in New York, London, and Paris. She is published by PLAY, A JOURNAL OF PLAYS, and playscripts.com. Grants and awards include: Howard Foundation Fellowship, 2 NYSCA Commissions, Greenwall Foundation, NY State Music Fund, 2 NYFA fellowships, Whitfield Cook Award, Tennessee Williams Fellow in Playwriting, Sewanee. Residencies: American Lyric Theater, New Dramatists, MacDowell, HARP, Playwrights Center Core Writer, Hedgebrook. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Performance licensing and materials rental for The Long Walk are administered by American Lyric Theater nd 410 W. 42 Street | New York, NY 10036 646-216-8298 | www.altnyc.org | LyndsayWerking@altnyc.org