ONE-TEN: A Multimedia Opera
music by
LAURA KARPMAN
words by
SHANNON HALWES & M.G. LORD
In ancient cultures, rivers were revered as places of enchantment. The 110 Freeway, which cuts through Los Angeles from Pasadena to the ocean, is a 20th Century river—a pulsing, powerful artery—that unites communities, even as its construction destroyed homes and changed the city’s landscape forever.
Based on true stories collected from the communities that line the freeway, historical documents, and original writing, ONE-TEN opens an intimate window onto 70 years—a lifetime—of Los Angeles history and daily life. The music draws its influences from freeway sounds as well as cultural and historic source material. The singers are characters, but they also make up a freeway chorus that scats and honks its commentary.
ONE-TEN is a work in progress created by composer Laura Karpman and librettists Shannon Halwes and M.G. Lord.
ONE-TEN is a commission of the LA Opera and is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts with additional support from Meet the Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections program. Our workshops were made possible by the talents of these wonderful people:
films by Kate Hackett
soprano Karen Vuong as Susan Tanaka
mezzo-soprano Kyla Page Williams as Shirley Norman
tenor Michael Slattery as Lew Zellman
baritone LeRoy Villanueva as Oscar Gutierrez
piano Rakefet Hak
Special Thanks: Nora Kroll-Rosenbam, Donna Bojarsky, Shayna Rose Arnold, Los Angeles magazine, Robert Ladendorf, Chris Kohler, Laurie Wheeler, Payton Phillips, Carlos Castellanos, and Maricela Ponce.
