Scenic Design

LIBRARY OF MAPS

by Pauline Oliveros

Directed by James Darrah

RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach Opera, 2025

Music Director Christopher Rountree

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Step aboard the iconic RMS Queen Mary for the landmark premiere of a new performance edition of Oliveros and Roth’s groundbreaking opera—only the second presentation since its debut in 2001. Audiences will have the chance to experience one of Oliveros’ most inventive, improvisational and poetic operas set against the ocean liner’s storied 1960s backdrop. This new production pays tribute to Pauline Oliveros' experimental spirit, bringing together actors, singers, visual art, dance and deep poetic meaning with a rare orchestral ensemble featuring a diverse chamber ensemble of common and unusual sounds. The two performances, each slightly distinct, offer an immersive encounter with Oliveros' decades of boundary-dissolving musical innovation, all within one of Long Beach’s most treasured historic venues.

 

As the fictional ocean voyage progressed, enhanced by Prairie T. Trivuth’s set design and Chrisi Karvonides-Dushenko’s costumes, the atmosphere gradually descended into a madcap celebration — imagine the ghostly ball in Titanic colliding with the stateroom scene from the Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera.  — SF Classical Voice

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Scenic Design by Prairie T. Trivuth

Costume Design by Chrisi Karvonides

Lighting Design by Kaitlin Trimble

Sound Design by Nathan Grater​

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Photographs:  Prairie T. Trivuth, Jason Altaan