Alex McDowell, production designer for Death and the Powers, shared these notes with us detailing his experience working on the production design of Death and the Powers. We thought they were worth sharing. Thanks Alex! DEATH & THE POWERS - designing operabots Alex McDowell, March 9 2011 Death and the Powers was my first experience …
Karole Armitage interview and dancing robots
In this delightful interview, celebrated choreographer Karole Armitage discloses how she thought about choreographing the movements for each character in Death and the Powers, including the operabots. You'll gain an appreciation for how she makes each personality vivid and convincing through movement. We include new footage of the Prelude and Nicholas (Hal Cazalet) cavorting with …
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Boston Globe spotlights Operabots
Here's a charming article in the Boston Globe that focuses on the creative and technological efforts that went into the "operabots" in Death and the Powers. The article reveals how director Diane Paulus and choreographer Karole Armitage latched on to some early technical quirks and glitches and used them to imbue the operabots with dramatic …
“Guitar Hero Goes to the Opera” – The Atlantic
"The story is as old as humanity itself. A man—in this case a successful businessman—grapples with his own mortality and wants desperately to leave a legacy after he dies. But this story has never been told as composer Tod Machover tells it." So begins this excellent article about Death and the Powers, just out in …
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Christian Science Monitor delves into Death and the Powers
There's an excellent article, "A thoroughly modern opera: Robots enter a new frontier," just out by writer Gregory Lamb in the Christian Science Monitor. Through his interviews with the creative team, Lamb helps to explicate the many layers of meaning in the technological wizardry of Death and the Powers. Lamb writes, "all this technology, some …
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Preview: Scene 6 – The World Reacts
A new, stranger atmosphere: Miranda, Nicholas, and Evvy are apparently accustomed to it. Evvy is now wearing headphones, swaying a little as if to music, nodding and tilting her head as though channeling Simon’s presence. A delegation from the outside world—composed of The United Way, The United Nations, and The Administration—arrives and wishes to speak …
Preview: Memory download
Each robot now begins a complete transformation into its human character. There is a download of information including fragments of personality and memories. One by one, the human characters emerge from the robots, ready to enact the drama: Video production by Paula Aguilera and Jonathan Williams To be continued... Death and the Powers Preview Series …
Preview Series: Prologue
Approaching a new piece of music, especially one as complex as an opera, is an imposing challenge for the audience. There is almost too much to take in - the story, music, language, the action and staging. Most audience members will feel as though they have barely grazed the surface the first time they see …
Tod Machover speaking in Chicago this week
The Chicago Opera Theater, which is presenting performances of Death and the Powers in April at Chicago's Harris Theater, has organized two panel discussions this week in Chicago with the opera's composer Tod Machover. Here's the scoop: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 4:00 p.m. ITW Classroom, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center 2133 Sheridan Road, Evanston …
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Performing Arts Technologies in Death and the Powers
David Staples' article in the German periodical Bühnentechnische Rundschau has now appeared in an English translation. Staples is Managing Director of Theatre Projects, Ltd. the world’s most prominent firm for designing performing arts centers. Staples writes: "Machover has created a number of operas incorporating new technologies, Valis premiered at the Pompidou Centre in Paris in …
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Opera of the Future 