HOT Offstage – Lifeboat, a modern opera experience

Honolulu, Hawaii –  HOT Offstage returns with Matthew Peterson and Emily Rollers’s Lifeboat, a one-act opera for three singers. Lifeboat was commissioned for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative and premiered on January 16, 2017 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. HOT’s production will star Young Artists Program members Jordan Weatherston Pitts and Samuel Chiba, along with Orvis Opera Studio member Blythe Kelsey. The production will be directed by Jordan Cho and feature Maika’i Nash on piano.

Lifeboat will be accompanied by a selection of songs and arias with performances by members of the Orvis Opera Studio. Performances will take place on November 30 and December 1 at 8:00pm at The ARTS at Mark’s Garage as part of its Month of Empowerment series.

Pre-Sale Tickets are available online at HOTOffstage.Eventbrite.com for $15. Tickets will be $20 at the door. 

Story

Three refugees are stranded in an inflatable lifeboat out in the open ocean; they are the sole survivors of a shipwreck. After three days, tensions erupt between the strangers, who each fled the same conflict for different reasons. As their pasts are revealed, cooperation – and survival – seem unlikely. Lifeboat explores and challenges the ideals of courage, social justice, and service; can these ideals overcome major divides between people of different backgrounds and experiences? Can we all live in the same boat?

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Since 1961, Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT), formerly a division of the Honolulu Symphony Society and incorporated in 1980, has served to enhance the quality of life in Hawaii by presenting opera performances of the highest standards, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. HOT’s educational programs for youth serve as both catalyst and active participant in the artistic education of Hawaii’s youth.  Opera for Everyone provides a special performance of each opera for a large and enthusiastic audience of students.  Opera Express takes operas specially adapted operas, into elementary and middle schools with special tours to all neighbor islands.  HOT’s Opera Residency program takes our education and production staff members into an elementary school to work with students and teachers to compose an opera production centered around curriculum components. Adult education is offered with Opera Highlights, a non-credit course at the University of Hawaii; Opera Previews, at the Honolulu Museum of Art; pre-performance Lanai Lectures on the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall lanai; and other presentations at venues throughout the state.  

Media Contact:  Jason Walter | 808-596-7372 ext. 211 | j_walter@hawaiiopera.org