CMU OPERA: Hydrogen Jukebox - Highlights

Hydrogen Jukebox (1990) Chamber Opera in Two Parts
by Philip Glass after texts by Allen Ginsberg
First Performance: May 26, 1990; Charleston, South Carolina

Performed by CMU Opera in January 2016 at Chosky Theatre

WITH:
Gregory Lehane, stage director
Christopher Larkin, conductor
Thomas W. Douglas, Director of Opera Studies

OVERVIEW:
Hydrogen Jukebox (1990) is a music/theater piece whose libretto is comprised of 18 poems by Allen Ginsberg, music composed by Philip Glass and original stage design by Jerome Sirlin. These poems together are meant to create a “portrait” of America covering the 50’s, 60's, 70's, and 80s' seen by the collaborators Glass, Ginsberg and Sirlin. Its content ranges from highly personal poems of Ginsberg to his reflection on social issues: the anti-war movement, the sexual revolution, drugs, eastern philosophy, environmental awareness. It is staged using six vocal parts to represent six archetypal American characters – a waitress, a policewoman, a businessman, a priest, a mechanic, and a cheerleader. (Source: Philip Glass)