Often the most poignant and powerful dialogue happens between those who create and those who perform. That’s why OOO connects our singing-artists with the composers and librettists selected for the 8th Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera.

If you’re curious about the story inspiration, what to listen for, what to expect, and more, you’re in the right place.

Here, get the scoop behind the story of Forever by Elizabeth Gartman (composer) and Melisa Tien (librettist) – with questions from the cast – designed to enhance your experience.

First, a quick synopsis:

Eons after humans have gone extinct, a strange, chemically supercharged world remains. Perhaps all a survivor can do is try and navigate their surroundings, one toxic blast at a time. As the environmental legacy of the human species gets heftier, allow a pair of musically inclined polyfluoroalkyl substances and a hardy microorganism to paint a picture of a possible future Earth. Forever is a tragicomic opera about figuring out one’s place on a changing planet.

Commissioned through the American Opera Initiative at Washington National Opera

How is the man-made/non-human nature of (characters) The Wrapper and The Wristband – when compared to the organic nature of the Tardigrade – demonstrated by the way you wrote the textual cadences and the musical structures in this work? And do these things change over the course of their story arcs?

Melisa: When I was thinking about how to represent the microplastics in the libretto, I figured I’d try and make them seem as human as possible—that is, with characteristics like shyness or self-consciousness—since they were created by humans. I aimed for speech mannerisms that communicated ‘needy and cute’ because I imagined if extraterrestrial beings were to observe humans, that’s how they might sum us up. Subsequently it seemed like a good idea to give the tardigrade a superhuman aura, with a heightened manner of speaking befitting a benevolent, mischievous deity. We meet the tardigrade as they’re singing a beautiful aria that borders on a lamentation. They’re singing about the natural world they came from, which no longer exists as it once did, but which they still find beauty in. The text is more lyrical here than anywhere else in the opera, and is a direct through-line to my personal feelings about our natural environment.

Elizabeth: The non-organic characters Wrapper and Wristwatch are musically represented as “otherworldly” through constantly changing meters, extended vocal techniques, large leaps, and registrally expansive orchestrations. In contrast, the organic Tardigrade is introduced with stagnant meter and significant consonance. While the Wristwatch doesn’t really change from start to finish – his intentions as a character don’t quite evolve as significantly – the Wrapper becomes more confident both in herself and as to how she’d like to spend the remainder of her days decomposing. She leads the trio more by the end, and soars above vocally.

In a world with so much plastic usage and companies utilizing these products, what brought you to choose the origins of the two plastic characters?

Elizabeth: When Melisa and I were initially given the prompt to propose three pitches for a story, one of those three, we decided, would be a “story centered on non-human characters.” Melisa suggested the characters be ones who outlast the human lifespan. Through research, forever chemicals were brought up and decided upon. Melisa brought both humor and science in crafting the characters from there.

Melisa: I came up with the personalities of each character first, with the intention of having them be funny, relatable, and on opposite ends of the status spectrum. Once I figured out what kind of personalities they had, I thought about the kind of plastic product they would have come from that would seemingly go hand-in-hand with their respective personas. The suave-on-the-outside-yet-insecure on-the-inside character felt like it could possibly originate from a high-end smartwatch. In contrast, the shy-at-first-then-highly-confident character seemed like it might originate in a product associated with low status yet was something everyone partakes in. I thought of fast food products, which led me to fast food wrappers. All that was left was to find the humor in their origins’ brand names.

What is the inspiration behind the directive for the singers to use a vocal fry sound? And the Michael Jackson/”The Girl is Mine” reference – what is it about that vibe that speaks to you for this piece?

Elizabeth: The vocal fry, to me, represents the “life” leaving the characters following the chaotic, sped-up glimpse at their previous lives. It is the last bit of their existence before they have decomposed so much that they are not recognizable as their previous forms anymore. Darkly, this mirrors the image and sound of life leaving the human population on the brink of apocalypse. When Melisa added the MJ quote into the libretto; I interpreted it as the Tardigrade referencing an “ancient musical relic,” relating their distant connection to the humans who lived many years ago.

Melisa: As I recall, I really wanted the tardigrade to do something goofy yet graceful onstage, particularly while the Wristband and Wrapper were arguing over what, exactly, the tardigrade was. I suggested a moonwalk in the stage directions, which led to an actual MJ reference in the text, which then made me wonder if things were getting too specific. In the end, we kept these in, because it seemed just strange and incongruous enough to cause head-scratching and be funny at the same time—which is how tardigrades are often viewed, and come to think of it, how MJ was often viewed.

Often the most poignant and powerful dialogue happens between those who create and those who perform. That’s why OOO connects our singing-artists with the composers and librettists selected for the 8th Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera.

If you’re curious about the story inspiration, what to listen for, what to expect, and more, you’re in the right place.

Here, get the scoop behind the story of Having Guests for Dinner by Nicholas Bentz (composer) and Robert Ellsworth Feng (librettist) – with questions from the cast – designed to enhance your experience.

First, a quick synopsis:

When Marcus and Laura attend a “dinner for three” hosted by the refined but eccentric Christoph Aberfield, things take a turn for the macabre. Between courses and questionable puns, the two become increasingly suspicious of their host. Will the two catch Christoph red-handed, or will they meat their demise? The steaks have never been higher…

Horror and comedy both depend heavily on timing and tension. How did opera as a medium influence the way you built those moments of suspense and comic release?

Robert: For me, opera is entirely built on timing and tension. People often say that music is how we decorate with time, and opera is that but with extreme precision. In that way, I feel the genres of horror/comedy and opera helped each other out in winding up a punchline or driving up tension (horror films have done this particularly well with their scores).

What was your inspiration in creating the particular sound world of this piece? Any specific musical influences?

Nicholas: When I was writing the music for Having Guests for Dinner, I was going through a particular phase of listening deeply to the music of early cartoons. I had the music of composers like Carl Stallings and Scott Bradley on repeat as I studied their sense of timing and how they used music to convey humor. I think humor and irony are some of the hardest things to get across in music, so it was important to look to models of pieces that really authentically engage in slapstick and comedy.

In working through your work, we’ve noticed tempos that ebb and flow depending on which character has the floor. How do you see tempo playing a role in how your characters were created?

Nicholas: Tempo is really integral to character for me, but I would go a step outward and say that the important facet for me is pacing. The speed in which someone says a line can sometimes say more than the line itself, and when these two things are at odds it can lead to an exciting sense of tension that can propel a narrative forward. The way that time is handled conveys who’s ‘in charge’ of the scene, who’s reacting to who, and shifts in time can accentuate power exchanges between characters. Like Robert said earlier, opera is so much about timing and tension, and how we ratchet it up and let it deflate (or explode!).

Often the most poignant and powerful dialogue happens between those who create and those who perform. That’s why OOO connects our singing-artists with the composers and librettists selected for the 8th Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera.

If you’re curious about the story inspiration, what to listen for, what to expect, and more, you’re in the right place.

Here, get the scoop behind the story of Mud Girl by Omar Najmi (composer) and Christine Evans (librettist) – with questions from the cast – designed to enhance your experience.

First, a quick synopsis:

A catastrophic flood has reshaped the world. MAUDE, a scientist, fled the city’s toxic remnants over a decade ago, painfully relinquishing her work and her connection to the networks that power it. She rescued RIVER, a young child, clinging to a shopping basket hurtling down the river. But now that RIVER’S reaching adolescence, she needs companions, a bigger world, and her independence. Can MAUDE keep her safe from a world she sees as brimming with human threats, pathogens, and dangerously mutating AI?

Commissioned through the American Opera Initiative at Washington National Opera

Do you consider the story to be a cautionary tale for the future of humanity due to the expedited progression of AI and technology?

Christine: No. We don’t need one- we’re already living it! I’m more interested in creating wonder and asking questions, than in conveying a message.

For River, curiosity and loneliness drive her to build her Mud Girl. She sees no difference between plastic and mud— they’re both part of the only world she’s known. Maude tried to protect her but Maude is caught between the world she’s lost, and the new one River is in. How do you find joy and a way forward in a melting, morphing world? Their struggle is over that question.

Omar: No, I actually don’t think of Mud Girl as a ‘cautionary tale’ per se. I think one of the fascinating elements is the generational difference between Maude as someone who knew a very different world before, and River who knows only this world. There is a purity to River’s vision of the world, and through her lens, the world they inhabit, the remnants of the world before, and her creation Poly are not malevolent. They are in a sense morally neutral, and I think this piece aims to step aside from judgment and consider that the world WILL change and transform, through climate change, through technology, and address the big question of what we do with that new world. That said, I am personally actively opposed to all current iterations of generative AI.

What specific folklore inspired the story?

Omar: One of the influences that Christine cited early on in our brainstorming of this story was the myth of the Golem from Jewish folklore. Elements of this mythology as I understand it include the creation of a humanoid creature from mud or clay, the responsibility that comes with playing God and creating life, and the danger that such a creature could pose if not properly returned to inert earth.

Christine: MUD GIRL is an attempt to imagine hope in a changed world. The idea came to me in a dream: a voice said, “I was a frog, a leaf, a star. And I will be again”. When I woke, I saw these two figures- River, a girl, and Maude, a middle-aged woman- cooking frogs over a fire, under a huge broken bridge. Together, these elements made me wonder about deep time- how forms change over time, whether the borders between living and non-living are porous. And I’m fascinated by creation tales- Frankenstein’s monster; the Jewish Golem (as Omar mentioned), who is alive by virtue of a letter drawn on its forehead, which can be erased. I love this idea that writing summons a being into life.

Do you feel that Poly reaches full consciousness by the end of the story? In other words, an ability to make their own decisions and experience full emotions?

Christine: I would say, she/they are definitely alive— she’s learned how to “build” her being from ones and zeros— and she has the desire of every living thing to exist. In nascent state they are two (they); when they fully connect, they become one being (she, or “we”). She can feel fear, and connection, and wonder—- perhaps like any newborn being who has the ability to grow and become.

Omar: My short answer is yes, Poly reaches sentience. We know in her words that she experiences fear. But the more involved answer is that this piece interrogates our definitions of sentience and sapience and exposes the porousness of our conceptual barrier between what is and isn’t alive. Poly’s name has several meanings. On the surface, River names her after the murmuring of component chemical names she hears. But she is also named Poly because she is a composite being, comprised of many different infinitesimally small ‘grains of sentience’ working together as a whole, bound by River’s naming. This was a big part of why we chose to have Poly performed by two singers in simultaneous counterpoint. And in a certain regard we too are composite creatures. There is microbial life within us that is intrinsically tied to our survival, the mitochondria in our cells have their own DNA – so really, how different are we from Poly? She is a new kind of life, for sure, but yes, I think she is alive and conscious!

Christine: And the “shiver” in the story is her coming to life— what might happen next is an open question!

Immerse yourself in dynamic storytelling

Stage Director & Producer: Julie Fiore
Music Director & Pianist: Joseph Choi
Technical + Lighting Director: Matt Smith
Assistant Director: Carol Brown
Stage Manager: Monica Kurtz

Outstanding Music Direction

• Joseph Choi, Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera 2025

Outstanding Original Score

Often the most poignant and powerful dialogue happens between those who create and those who perform. That’s why OOO connects our singing-artists with the composers and librettists selected for the 7th Annual Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera.

If you’re curious about the story inspiration, what to listen for, what to expect, and more, you’re in the right place.

Here, get the scoop behind the story of Las Auténticas, written by Benjamin Morris (composer) & Laura Fuentes (librettist) – with questions from the cast – designed to enhance your experience. Bonus: you will be among the very first to hear this work, making its Regional Premiere!

First, a quick synopsis:

Jenny and her aunt Luz run a taco stand that has been named as a finalist for a social media influencer’s Most Authentic Taco title. As they await the influencer’s visit and final verdict, Jenny questions her cultural legitimacy as a first-generation Mexican-American, as Luz hearkens back to lessons learned from a lifetime of punk rock fandom. Who determines authenticity? How far should we lean into others’ expectations? Whose tacos will emerge victorious?

Is the taco truck Luz’s taco truck and Jenny is just helping her or is this the family business?

Laura: Great question — the taco truck is named “Taquería Dos Hermanas,” and we know that Luz and Jenny aren’t sisters, but rather aunt and niece. My thought was that Luz had originally been in business with her sister (possibly Jenny’s mom), and that Jenny is stepping into a role in the business later. This is another example of the theme of appearances versus reality, which ties into our theme of authenticity. At one point, I remember counting ~18 different instances of how this theme plays out across the piece in both small and large ways — see if you can spot them all! 😉

Ben: When Laura told me that Jenny’s mom was possibly the former co-owner of “Taquería Dos Hermanas,” it illuminated a moving and meaningful subtext for me personally. I lost my mom in 2015, and she was my main connection to my Norwegian heritage. Right after my mom passed, I moved to Norway for a year, and I felt a personal disconnect to my heritage and isolated from the culture. Eventually I found my own way to connect to that part of my background through music and immersion in the culture. 

Although the exact details are left open, the hole left by Jenny’s mom or Luz’s sister is a strong presence in the piece. Jenny describes herself as a “distant daughter.” This is of course a metaphor, but it also raises a literal question…. Did Jenny’s mom pass away? Are they living far apart? Is their relationship strained? I think listeners can come up with their own interpretation and add layers of subtext to the story. It’s a unique and traditionally unexplored relationship in contemporary opera—an aunt and her niece, rather than a mother and daughter. I think the open-ended personal relationship between Jenny and Luz add dimensions to the piece.

I love how you explore Luz’s relationship to authenticity through punk, a genre predicated on authenticity and personal identity. Do you have a relationship to Mexican punk music, and how did that influence Luz’s character? Also, are there any cool bands I should look up?

Laura: Thanks so much! I love indie music in all its forms, and punk definitely has a special place in that scene. For Luz, I think punk fandom helps lend her a Gen X-style swagger, contrasting with Jenny’s greater self-consciousness. 

In terms of recommendations, I’m a big fan of the radio show The Latin Alternative, which airs on our local independent radio station and many others nationwide. Alt.Latino is also great for keeping up to date on new music!

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/542771035/the-latin-alternative

https://www.npr.org/sections/altlatino/

Ben: I leaned into the punk music ethos in Luz’s aria, “Era Un Grapito”: there are syncopated riffs, power chords, and extended vocal lines. I think punk and opera overlap nicely — both feature big sounds and have a tinge of rebellion to them. I’m also a fan of blending and blurring genres in opera to reflect the identity of characters—in Las Auténticas, there’s Mariachi mixed with musical theatre and punk. Laura and I listened to a lot of music together as we worked on this piece, but I particularly remember hearing “Contaminado” by the band Ritmo Peligroso. It’s a cool song that blends the punk attitude with Latin percussion and brass and piano montunos.

I also closely consulted with my friend, Mexican American composer and lyricist Nevada Lozano, and Laura’s husband Sebastian, who both helped me set Spanish text in an idiomatic and respectful way.  

Jenny sings about an orange tree in Nuevo León and then commiserates about having never grown one herself. Why does she latch onto this symbol specifically, and what does it mean to her?

Laura: The northeast of Mexico is a major orange-growing region, and I like the idea that Jenny’s family has a history that is tied to the land in a very tangible way. I think that as cultural diasporas become more temporally and generationally removed from their land of origin, there can sometimes be a sense of longing for grounding symbols like these. In the case of the oranges, I also wanted to invoke imagery around “one big orange” (the sun) shining over both Jenny in the US and her family’s land of origin, while the “many little ones” are all in Mexico.

Ben: Jenny’s aria “Today the Sun Rose” evokes elements of the traditional musical theatre “I want” song. When Jenny sings “I’ve never grown an orange,” she feels that she can’t own up to her identity, that she’s inauthentic, in a way, and she wants to feel connected to her heritage. I like Laura’s pastoral imagery and depict that in the music with soaring melodic phrases. It’s a nice metaphor for anyone that feels like they must “perform” their own cultural identity.

Who is Don Ernesto? Does he represent anyone in particular?

Ben: Don Ernesto is a loyal customer of Taquería Dos Hermanas. His presence on the phone bookends the opera—in the beginning, Luz is more concerned with making Don Ernesto a great taco, while Jenny is concerned with impressing Gary, or “Esteban Eats,” the judge of the Most Authentic Taco Competition, who is really a hollow social media influencer. In the end, Don Ernesto is impressed with Jenny’s taco-making efforts.  It was fun to set Don Ernesto using phrases in the piano, imagining someone grumbling on the other side of a phone, giving the cast something fun to interact with rhythmically. 

Laura: To me, Don Ernesto represents the most stereotypical exemplar of “authenticity,” so there’s some fun subversion in the fact that he orders his tacos with Cheez Whiz. In a way, I think Don Ernesto and Luz both feel secure enough in their cultural identities to bend convention a bit, in contrast to Jenny, who feels a profound gulf between herself and her family’s culture of origin.

Enjoy One Ounce Opera’s live recording of Las Auténticas

Get the inside scoop from the cast – watch below!