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Writer/Composer
| Libretto and Music by Susan Stoderl Stage Direction by Charmaine Chester Live Art Installation by Sarah Olson Set and Light Design by Brett Wynkoop |
NOTE: If you are not hearing anything, you may
need to adjust your volume or allow blocked
content. All audio and video is live and unedited.
You will hear coughing, talking, and scrapes, etc.
Act I, Hymn to the Veil, recorded live on March 6,
2010 at Brooklyn Repertory Opera.
To the Beginning, to the time before God,
Seven sisters shall return to be reborn.
Help us soothe the myriad, so hurt and flawed,
And with hope and loving guidance earth adorn.
Grant all, Divine Creator, an inner peace;
Give them freedom from past, future, hate and guilt.
Out of remorse and pain, grant sweet soul’s release
Through an open heart, earth’s Divine bridge is built.
need to adjust your volume or allow blocked
content. All audio and video is live and unedited.
You will hear coughing, talking, and scrapes, etc.
Act I, Hymn to the Veil, recorded live on March 6,
2010 at Brooklyn Repertory Opera.
To the Beginning, to the time before God,
Seven sisters shall return to be reborn.
Help us soothe the myriad, so hurt and flawed,
And with hope and loving guidance earth adorn.
Grant all, Divine Creator, an inner peace;
Give them freedom from past, future, hate and guilt.
Out of remorse and pain, grant sweet soul’s release
Through an open heart, earth’s Divine bridge is built.
| Photos by Jody Revenson Video by Jay Gould |
WORLD PREMIERE
Brooklyn Repertory Opera
February 27 & 28
March 6 & 7, 2010
Brooklyn Repertory Opera
February 27 & 28
March 6 & 7, 2010
March 6, 2010
Performance Cast Members:
Kathleen Keske as Abbess Marie, Tracy Bidleman as Regina, Ilya Speranza as Dympha, Evan Crawford as Brigid, Erin Carr as Deborah, Barrett Cobb as
Azenora, Christine Reimer as Margarette, and Nika Leoni as Joan Plantagenet.
March 7, 2010
Performance Cast Members:
Lorene Phillips as Abbess Marie, Tracy Bidleman as Regina, Pamela Scanlon as Dympha, Kember Lattimer as Brigid, Gretchen Mundinger as Deborah,
Suzannah Ancell as Azenora, Marcella Caprario as Margarette, and Nika Leoni as Joan Plantagenet.
Performance Cast Members:
Kathleen Keske as Abbess Marie, Tracy Bidleman as Regina, Ilya Speranza as Dympha, Evan Crawford as Brigid, Erin Carr as Deborah, Barrett Cobb as
Azenora, Christine Reimer as Margarette, and Nika Leoni as Joan Plantagenet.
March 7, 2010
Performance Cast Members:
Lorene Phillips as Abbess Marie, Tracy Bidleman as Regina, Pamela Scanlon as Dympha, Kember Lattimer as Brigid, Gretchen Mundinger as Deborah,
Suzannah Ancell as Azenora, Marcella Caprario as Margarette, and Nika Leoni as Joan Plantagenet.
The March 7, 2010 performance at
Brooklyn Repertory Opera
As the Abbess describes her plan to find and
initiate the Seventh Keeper, the novices and
other lead characters sing the Mass of our
Lady in Latin. Brigid, Azenora, and Dympha,
just like any members of a church choir,
interject their feeling about what is happening
in their life, instead of paying attention
to the service.
Brooklyn Repertory Opera
As the Abbess describes her plan to find and
initiate the Seventh Keeper, the novices and
other lead characters sing the Mass of our
Lady in Latin. Brigid, Azenora, and Dympha,
just like any members of a church choir,
interject their feeling about what is happening
in their life, instead of paying attention
to the service.
Click here
to see
Sarah Olson
paint as the
orchestra
tunes
for Act II
to see
Sarah Olson
paint as the
orchestra
tunes
for Act II
Photo
Erin Carr as Deborah
Erin Carr as Deborah
Gretchen Mundinger sings Deborah as she tells of
her experience with Abbess Marie. As the story
progresses she speaks to Regina, who has always
hated her.
My husband and five children
I watched all their suffering
and heard their tortured cries.
Dead I’d be had she left me by the side of the road
Smoke’s stench never leaves me,
as I cook in this abode.
And I, the escaped Jew from York,
am the Sixth Keeper.
her experience with Abbess Marie. As the story
progresses she speaks to Regina, who has always
hated her.
My husband and five children
I watched all their suffering
and heard their tortured cries.
Dead I’d be had she left me by the side of the road
Smoke’s stench never leaves me,
as I cook in this abode.
And I, the escaped Jew from York,
am the Sixth Keeper.
Joan's final aria, Nika Leone
as Joan. Click the picture for
video.
as Joan. Click the picture for
video.
| In this world and those to come I take this vow: Heaven’s children I nurture, to their call I bow. Each child is born in Love, and in its Light is bathed. And through its universal connection, the soul’ path is paved. For it’s through mankind’s ignorant discontent, Children become separate and indifferent. Children are made to erase the dreams of their soul, And to look to wealth and accomplishment to find their role. They are taught to search for love outside themselves, and always to compare, To fear and judge all who simply are, those who truly dare. All the while, somewhere within, despising what they have become. A crippling fear haunts, by soul’s weariness they are overcome. To their children, they teach the same, generation to generation, But to each listening ear I shall whisper, (To Regina) “You can end separation.” Within each lies the knowledge so that the cycle need never start. To that aim, one needs only maintain the tiniest of flickers in their heart. Listening to your own inner voice, the Divine tether remains unbroken. You shall receive all guidance, all universal Wisdom spoken. Know now, all my children, you will have no fear or need, if your heart remains open and this inner voice you heed. By Divine Providence; body and soul one; Despite her turbulent birth, my child’s wise, her path begun. Out of my hatred and disconnection, I bring her Life in my death. I vow to bring this message to all people with my last breath My veil will bestow a way of being hat creates rather than destroys. To all people of the world, I bring the possibility of Divine love and Earthly joys. |
The Veil of Forgetfulness: Short Synopsis
Set in Shaftesbury Abbey, 1199 C.E., The Veil of
Forgetfulness tells of the struggle of Abbess Marie and
her band of spiritual renegades against the stranglehold
of the codified Medieval Church, as personified by the
dogmatic Sister Regina. These “Keepers” of The Veil of
Forgetfulness must find and initiate their seventh
member before they are denounced as heretics.
When the mystical group reaches seven members and
a new First Keeper is found, the Keepers will ascend to
eternal bliss, completely enlightened and freed from
further incarnations. If all seven members cannot be
initiated before their death, or if the Veil falls into evil
hands, the cloth returns to its original tiny square and
the process begins again, trapping the Keepers
in a wretched cycle of reincarnation.
Set in Shaftesbury Abbey, 1199 C.E., The Veil of
Forgetfulness tells of the struggle of Abbess Marie and
her band of spiritual renegades against the stranglehold
of the codified Medieval Church, as personified by the
dogmatic Sister Regina. These “Keepers” of The Veil of
Forgetfulness must find and initiate their seventh
member before they are denounced as heretics.
When the mystical group reaches seven members and
a new First Keeper is found, the Keepers will ascend to
eternal bliss, completely enlightened and freed from
further incarnations. If all seven members cannot be
initiated before their death, or if the Veil falls into evil
hands, the cloth returns to its original tiny square and
the process begins again, trapping the Keepers
in a wretched cycle of reincarnation.
Click picture for video.
Click picture for video.