New Opera West returns to in-person performances with its annual Pop-Up Festival, featuring seven newly composed opera vignettes by composers and librettists from all around the world!  

From an epic lover's quarrel in the middle of Burning Man, to a brash interview with an Olympic champion... from a comic retelling of an ancient myth, to the worst dinner ever with ALL your exes —this diverse set of works is bound to delight both the opera novice and the opera aficionado!

Where:
The Broadwater Main Stage Theater,
1076 Lillian Way, Los Angeles

When:
Saturday3/5 at 7:30 pm PST
Sunday 3/6 at 2 pm PST

Tickets:
General Admission: $17
Students, Seniors and Artists: $11

IT’S A TRAGEDY
Music and libretto by Marc L. Vogler
A German composer rehearses scenes for his newest tragedy, a short opera based on Friedrich Nietzsch’s The Birth of a Tragedy, with a French soprano and a pianist. What could possibly go wrong? In It’s a tragedy—literally everything. It’s a Tragedy is a satire on what happens behind the curtain of a show, in short, an opera about the making of an opera.

  Director: Chris Halsted
Pianist: Kathryn Eames
Soprano: Angel Riley
Composer: Anthony Moreno

Toxic X
Music and libretto by Ben Stevenson
What if all your exes came back into your life? What if they all came back at once? The horrible ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/non-binary lover is someone that essentially everyone can relate to. As humans, we have to fumble around until we figure out what/who we are looking for in life, some of us fumbling much longer than others, while some find what/who they are looking for early on and never look back. This opera is about one person's past ex-boyfriends/girlfriends/non-binary lovers all coming back to haunt them, just when it seems like they have found what/who they are looking for.

  Director: Chris Halsted
Pianist: Kathryn Eames
Blake: Edmond Rodriguez
Taylor: Emily Thebaut
Toxic X: Kasper

Desert Games
Music by Nicola Straffelini
Libretto by Carlo Canine
As Wendy and Murphy are walking through the desert under the blazing sun, they decide to play a childish game to pass the time. What starts out as fun and goofy game soon turns into an epic lover’s quarrel. Desert Games takes a fresh and comedic look at the classic operatic love duet.

Director: Chris Halsted 
 Pianist: Sky Lee
Wendy: Maria Elena Altany
Murphy: Anthony Moreno

Diana and Narcissus
Music by Matt Frey
Libretto by Jami Brandli
Diana and Narcissus takes a comedic spin on the mythological tale of Narcissus in which the goddess Diana attempts to avenge Narcissus's dismissal of her favorite nymph, Echo. Diana tracks him down in the forest only to be in awe of his physical magnificence. Will Diana avenge Echo, or will she become another victim of Narcissus’s beauty?
Director: Chris Halsted
Pianist: Sky Lee  
Narcissus: Jon Keenan
Diana: Maria Elena Altany

Par for the Course
Music by Lisa Neher
Libretto by Kendra Leonard
One of the greatest athletes of all time, Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias excelled at every sport she tried. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 summer Olympics and later turned to golf, winning ten Ladies Professional Golf major championships. She often faced sexism in her work from reporters who criticized her involvement in athletics and her “unladylike” personality. Known for her brash confidence, she would often say at competitions, “Okay, Babe’s here! Now who’s gonna finish second?” In Par for the Course, she learns that her request to compete with men in the upcoming U.S. Open golf tournament has been denied.

Director: Jayongela Wilder
Babe: Emily Thebaut

“Soliloquy” from L’AMOUR FOU
Music by Jenni Brandon
Libretto by Oliver Mayer
Opera is made for love -- the wilder the better. When the eccentrically brilliant pianist/composer Erik Satie fell head over heels for the vibrantly ambitious painter and former trapeze artist Suzanne Valadon, even the Paris art scene of the late 19th century had to stop and take notice. In his tiny cash-strapped Montmartre apartment on the Rue Cortot, Satie and Valadon have just made love for the first time. While Valadon sleeps, Satie contemplates how she has changed his life forever.

Director: Chris Halsted
Pianist: Sky Lee
Satie: Edmond Rodriguez

Ain’t That About A-
Music by Marcus Norris
Libretto by Adamma Ebo
Ain't That Bout A - is a satirical comedy that centers on Raenia, a woman who's main joy in life is leaving work in corporate America and taking her Black ass home - to the community she knows and loves. But all of that is thrown into peril when a new neighbor moves in, leaving a trail of craft beer and seemingly altruistic intentions in his wake.

Director: Jayongela Wilder
 Pianist: Katie Eames 
Barney: Jon Keenan
Raenia: Angel Riley
Zola: Kasper