What an incredible weekend! Death and the Powers opened on Friday night at the Cutler Majestic Theater in the epicenter of Boston’s theater district. The air was electric with anticipation. The audience was studded with an only-in-Boston constellation of artists, intellectuals and übergeeks. Spotted in the crowd were M.I.T. President Susan Hockfield, Harvard Provost Steven Hyman, past Media Lab directors Nicholas Negroponte and Frank Moss, Singularity guru Ray Kruzweil, architect Daniel Libeskind (who professed to be a Machover fan), composer Osvaldo Golijov, novelist Leslie Epstein and his poker partner poet Robert Pinsky (who penned the libretto), and the opera’s choreographer Karole Armitage, looking stunningly futuristic in an Issey Mikyake origami frock (we want!). The performance elicited a sustained standing ovation. The team of M.I.T. students who helped design, build and operate the formidable robotic set received especially thunderous applause from an audience that fully appreciated what a technological tour de force it was.
Here’s some of the audience reaction from opening night:
Reviews are starting to come in! First out of the box was the Boston Herald with “Machover’s ‘Death’ is to die for.” The Cape Cod Times came fast on its heels with its own review: ‘Robots Opera’ brought to life through lights, sound.
The extended interview for Time Out Boston is available here: Jim Sullivan Ink.com – The Man-Machine: Tod Machover’s Robot Opera at the Cutler Majestic
And check out this charming post by students from the M.I.T. yearbook.
Opera of the Future 