A drive-in experience of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung
Performed at the Detroit Opera House Parking Center
October 17, 18, and 20, 2020
and the Millennium Lakeside Parking Garage
April 28, 30, and May 2, 2021
Concept, Direction, and English translation by Yuval Sharon
With new narrative poetry by Marsha Music (Detroit) and avery r. young (Chicago).
Conceived and directed by Sharon, Twilight: Gods is a site-specific adaptation of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung—the Twilight of the Gods—staged in the Detroit Opera House Parking Center (Michigan Opera Theatre) and Millennium Lakeside Parking Garage (Lyric Opera of Chicago).
Inspired as much by the brutal utilitarianism of the parking facility as the safety precautions of the coronavirus era, Twilight: Gods transforms Wagner’s six-hour masterpiece into an hour-long series of dioramic scenes performed in intervals throughout the Parking Center. Equal parts drive-in theater and opera house event, Twilight: Gods gives audience members the opportunity to watch Wagner’s drama unfold scene-by-scene from the safety of their cars, while the live performance (sung in English) is broadcast to car stereos—a full immersion in the world of the Ring.
Christine Goerke, Brünnhilde
Sean Pannikar, Siegfried
Morris Robinson, Hagen
Donnie Ray Albert, Alberich
Catherine Martin, Waltraute
Avery Boettcher, Rhinemaiden (Detroit)
Kaswanna Kanyinda, Rhinemaiden (Detroit)
Maria Novella Malfatti, Rhinemaiden (Chicago)
Katherine Beck, Rhinemaiden (Chicago)
Kathleen Felty, Rhinemaiden (Chicago)
Members of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra (Detroit) and Lyric Opera Orchestra (Chicago)
Production design by Jason H. Thompson and Kaitlyn Pietras
Sound design by Mark Grey (Detroit) and Lewis Pesacov (Chicago)
Musical arrangement and orchestration by Ed Windels
Twilight: Gods is a collaboration between Michigan Opera Theatre and Lyric Opera of Chicago