Photo by Curtis Brown
2021
The Lord of Cries
Santa Fe Opera
He lands tonight, on his ship of ghosts, under the scudding skies. His high, thin voice – ecstasy and ruin! Dracul, Dracula: the Lord of Cries! Deny him not his place.
The Santa Fe Opera’s 17th world premiere was The Lord of Cries by composer John Corigliano and librettist Mark Adamo, based on the intriguing points of intersection between two classics of Western literature, The Bacchae by Euripides and Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Separated by 24 centuries, The Bacchae and Dracula tell virtually the same timeless story, with the same subversive message: We must honor our animal nature lest it turn monstrous and destroy us. The Lord of Cries begins with a strange, androgynous god returning to earth to offer a mortal three chances to “ask for what you want” or risk the consequences. He materializes in Victorian England in the guise of the eponymous “Lord of Cries,” none other than the irresistible antihero of Dracula.
- Stage director: James Darrah
- Music by John Corgliano
- Libretto by Mark Adamo
- Directed for the screen by Bruce Bryant
- Assistant video director: Beth Krynicki