cecil Price Walden'sThe contract player
World Premiere
Presented in English with Chamber Ensemble
approx. 45 min run-time
June 23, 2017
Doors at 6:30 pm, Performance at 7 pm
There will be a reception following the event.
The National Opera Center
330 7th Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY
TICKETS
July 10, 2017
Performance at 7:30pm, Main Stage
Presented by the Dixon Place HOT! Festival
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street
New York, NY
TICKETS LIVE SOON
This World Premiere will mark Cecil Price Walden's first opera. The Contract Player explores the flashbulb and cigarette smoke of post-WWII Hollywood from the LGBTQ+ perspective. Roland Gray, the most successful leading man in the movie business, and Kathleen Sanders, a tough, intelligent woman who is frequently his co-star, share a close bond, eliciting gossip from every corner of the media. Behind the scenes, Thatcher West, a young screenwriter fresh off an Oscar win, harbors a deep love of Roland's films and has written him the role of a lifetime. As filming begins, Thatcher and Roland grow quite close and realize their attraction has become much more than professional. Under the pressure of the HUAC investigating communist activity and reporter Letty Lawrence needing a storybook ending to her column, they are all forced to look at their lives and careers to make some incredibly difficult decisions.
Cecil Price Walden is a composer and pianist based in Oxford, MS. Price frequently writes music dealing with Southern mythology and culture, and in 2011, he was named a Hero of the New South by Southern Living Magazine after a performance of his cantata “Leaves of Greens” at the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival by the Atlanta Opera. 2015 saw the premiere of “Abide with Me: 5 songs of love” by tenor Jos Milton, which will have performances across the country and an official recording in 2016. Price’s first opera, The Contract Player, (with librettist Lane Williamson) will debut in New York City in June 2017 with OperaRox Presents. Other upcoming projects include a commission from the Southern Foodways Alliance to expand his cycle “Let Us Now Praise Famous Cooks” for a release in 2017.
Lane Williamson is a director, actor, playwright, and lyricist from Los Angeles, California. His work as director and actor includes pieces by Beckett, Kander & Ebb, Kushner, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, and Shakespeare, among many others. As writer, his play The Sidewalk was seen in two productions in California, and his lyrics have been heard across the country and at 54 Below in NYC. Lane received a BA in Theatre Direction from UCLA. He currently resides in New York, NY.
Cast
Roland Gray - Nathaniel Sullivan
Thatcher West - Thomas Bailey
Kathleen Sanders - Maayan Voss de Bettancourt
Letty Lawrence - Jane Hoffman
Jack Parkham/Cameraman - Brian Alvarado
Eunice - Melissa Serluco
Crew
Librettist - Lane Williamson
Stage Director - Lane Williamson
Music Director - Jeremy Weissmann
Collaborative Pianist - Shawn Chang
Presented in English with Chamber Ensemble
approx. 45 min run-time
June 23, 2017
Doors at 6:30 pm, Performance at 7 pm
There will be a reception following the event.
The National Opera Center
330 7th Avenue, 7th Floor
New York, NY
TICKETS
July 10, 2017
Performance at 7:30pm, Main Stage
Presented by the Dixon Place HOT! Festival
Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street
New York, NY
TICKETS LIVE SOON
This World Premiere will mark Cecil Price Walden's first opera. The Contract Player explores the flashbulb and cigarette smoke of post-WWII Hollywood from the LGBTQ+ perspective. Roland Gray, the most successful leading man in the movie business, and Kathleen Sanders, a tough, intelligent woman who is frequently his co-star, share a close bond, eliciting gossip from every corner of the media. Behind the scenes, Thatcher West, a young screenwriter fresh off an Oscar win, harbors a deep love of Roland's films and has written him the role of a lifetime. As filming begins, Thatcher and Roland grow quite close and realize their attraction has become much more than professional. Under the pressure of the HUAC investigating communist activity and reporter Letty Lawrence needing a storybook ending to her column, they are all forced to look at their lives and careers to make some incredibly difficult decisions.
Cecil Price Walden is a composer and pianist based in Oxford, MS. Price frequently writes music dealing with Southern mythology and culture, and in 2011, he was named a Hero of the New South by Southern Living Magazine after a performance of his cantata “Leaves of Greens” at the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival by the Atlanta Opera. 2015 saw the premiere of “Abide with Me: 5 songs of love” by tenor Jos Milton, which will have performances across the country and an official recording in 2016. Price’s first opera, The Contract Player, (with librettist Lane Williamson) will debut in New York City in June 2017 with OperaRox Presents. Other upcoming projects include a commission from the Southern Foodways Alliance to expand his cycle “Let Us Now Praise Famous Cooks” for a release in 2017.
Lane Williamson is a director, actor, playwright, and lyricist from Los Angeles, California. His work as director and actor includes pieces by Beckett, Kander & Ebb, Kushner, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, and Shakespeare, among many others. As writer, his play The Sidewalk was seen in two productions in California, and his lyrics have been heard across the country and at 54 Below in NYC. Lane received a BA in Theatre Direction from UCLA. He currently resides in New York, NY.
Cast
Roland Gray - Nathaniel Sullivan
Thatcher West - Thomas Bailey
Kathleen Sanders - Maayan Voss de Bettancourt
Letty Lawrence - Jane Hoffman
Jack Parkham/Cameraman - Brian Alvarado
Eunice - Melissa Serluco
Crew
Librettist - Lane Williamson
Stage Director - Lane Williamson
Music Director - Jeremy Weissmann
Collaborative Pianist - Shawn Chang