FREE – Q&A Panel Discussion with the Creators, Artistic Team, and Cast of Hometown to the World
Join Hawai’i Opera Theatre’s General Director Andrew Morgan for a FREE panel discussion about the Digital World Premiere of Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed’s Hometown to the World.
The panel will feature Ms. Kaminsky and Ms. Reed along with Maestro Benjamin Makino, Director Karen Tiller, and the cast – Sarah Lambert Connelly, Maya Hoover, and Ian McGuffin.
Space is limited.
About the Opera
We are not that far removed in history from the events of Hometown to the World, and immigrant rights remains a painful point of division for many countries.
On May 12, 2008, Postville, Iowa was the site of the single largest workplace raid in US history at the time. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) agents arrested 398 employees at the largest Kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in the country, for suspected undocumented immigrants, aggravated identity theft, and child labor law violations. Those numbers represented 25% of the population at the time, and another 25% left the town in the days and weeks following the raid, devastating the town’s economy which had seen a resurgence with the establishment of the plant.
HOT favorites Sarah Lambert Connelly and Maya Hoover are joined by newcomer Ian McGuffin as three individuals whose lives are turned upside down yet find a path for healing. Karen Tiller returns to direct and Benjamin Makino makes his HOT debut as conductor, leading six musicians from the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra. While the pair share connections to Memphis Opera and HOT, this is their first time working together. The production was filmed by Dave Hunt of Sky Legend Films, who has brought to life all of the HOT Digital productions this season.
Hometown to the World
Music by Laura Kaminsky
Libretto by Kimberly Reed
Commissioned by The Santa Fe Opera through Opera for All Voices
Co-Commissioned by Hawai’i Opera Theatre
By arrangement with Bill Holab Music
Watch the digital world premiere of Hometown to the World
Hometown to the World premieres on HOT Digital on May 21, 2021 (1:00pm HST) and will be available thereafter for purchase.