6:01 AM : A Working Class Opera
Please join us for a truly original performance piece, composed and performed by the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Reno Opera in collaboration with Rainshadow Community Charter High School drama students and hip hop artists from the Reno community. Written by a local playwright, Nevada Art Council Artist-in-Residence, and drama instructor of at-risk and incarcerated youth, Pan Pantoja, 6:01 AM is a spoken word opera that shares the struggles and triumphs of the modern working class. It is the theatrical personification of hope, determination, and endurance in the face of adversity.
The production will premier on May 30, 2009 at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts.
The play itself is modeled after the idea of a “working class opera†in the vein of Bertolt Brecht, concentrating upon the stories of the lower socioeconomic demographic that lives, breathes, and dreams in modern day Reno, Nevada. The characters struggle with everyday concerns such as paying the rent, keeping food on the table, raising children, and aspiring to rise up and confront their economic condition. The characters, like our student population at Rainshadow, yearn for something greater in life.
Proceeds from the production will be donated to drama department of Rainshadow Community Charter High School and The Holland Project. These students are marginalized on the fringes of society, many of them literally homeless and hanging on the precipice daily. Proceeds from this performance help Rainshadow maintain a context to keep kids in school and engaged so they can move away from the edge of despair in an increasingly challenging world and towards productive citizenry.
For more information, visit Working Class Opera
Tickets are on sale now. $25 for adults, and $10 for kids. Contact joe(at)rainshadowcchs.org for tickets.
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