Daron Hagen · aftercurtain

Shows & credits

A Woman in Morocco

Music and Libretto · Opera · 2015

In 1958 Tangier, American reporter Lizzy Holmes investigates women’s status and encounters trafficking at her hotel. She witnesses Asilah’s sister Habiba being abducted and killed, then learns Asilah is also being trafficked. Lizzy becomes involved with married hotel employee Ahmed, who addicts her to drugs and helps Teddy, the hotel owner, abduct her. Teddy kills businessman Harry Hopkins and is jailed. Ahmed is left with Lizzy’s scarf and poetry book as her sister Clare continues searching for her.

Amelia

Music · Opera · 2010

Pregnant Amelia confronts her unresolved grief over her father Dodge, a Navy pilot missing in Vietnam. Years earlier, a Vietnamese couple who sheltered Dodge explain how their daughter was killed and reveal that he left a photograph and letter; Amelia later dreams of speaking with her father before giving birth.

Bandanna

Music · Opera · 1999

On the US–Mexico border in 1968, police chief Miguel Morales’s lieutenant Jake secretly helps people cross illegally. Jake and labor organizer Kane plant Mona’s bandanna on Cassidy to make Morales believe his wife is unfaithful. At Jake’s wedding, Morales sees Mona dance with Cassidy and later tracks her to a hotel, where he strangles her; he then shoots Jake and himself.

New York Stories

Music and Libretto · Opera · 2010

In Broken Pieces, a Manhattan woman and an Italian immigrant repairing her bathroom share their stories and a romantic moment. In Just for the Night, a woman turns away her brother, who is living in a shelter. In Cradle Song, a composer couple return from a night out and struggle to put their child to bed.

Orson Rehearsed

Music and Writer · Opera · 2018

As Orson Welles lies between life and death, three avatars of him move through memories of his artistic career, personal losses and political concerns. The staged opera combines live performance with projected films and electro-acoustic music; Hagen later incorporated the stage production into a distinct film realization.

Shining Brow

Music · Opera · 1993

The opera follows Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney from their meeting in 1903, when Wright proposes a house for the Cheneys, through their affair and life together. Mamah’s time in Berlin reveals her doubts about the unequal partnership. In 1914, Wright pursues another woman while Mamah watches. Edwin Cheney later tells Wright that Mamah has been murdered and Taliesin burned. At the ruins, Wright finds a letter in Mamah’s coat and vows to rebuild the house in her memory.

The Antient Concert

Music · Opera · 2007

A dramatic recital built around the reputed 1904 singing contest between James Joyce and John McCormack. Four singers move between public performance and private thought as the score and libretto develop variations on five traditional Irish ballads.

Vera of Las Vegas

Music and Adaptation · Opera · 2003

Interrogated in Northern Ireland, Taco dreams that he and fellow Irishman Dumdum arrive in Las Vegas, where they meet undercover agent Doll and the enigmatic Vera. As the couples head to a wedding chapel, Taco awakens and confesses to an assassination; Vera is left calling for him.

All shows

Loading credits…