{"id":67326,"date":"2025-12-22T06:22:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T06:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/67326\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T06:22:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T06:22:24","slug":"opera-philadelphia-announces-world-premiere-performances-of-complications-in-sue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/67326\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Philadelphia Announces World Premiere Performances of &#8216;Complications in Sue&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\">(Photo credit: Dario Acosta)<\/p>\n<p>One librettist, one actor, four singers, and ten composers join forces to make opera in a brand-new way as <a href=\"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-philadelphia-to-present-the-seasons\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Opera Philadelphia<\/a> presents the world premiere of \u201cComplications in Sue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This new opera unfolds in 10 vignettes by Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright Michael R. Jackson in his operatic debut. Each scene takes place in a different decade in the life of the main character, named Sue, performed by Justin Vivian Bond. Soprano Kiera Duffy, mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell, tenor Nicky Spence, and bass-baritone Nicholas Newton perform alongside Bond as different characters in Sue\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>Each up scene is scored by a different composer, including the 2025-26 Composer in Residence, <a href=\"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-philadelphia-names-nathalie-joachim-as-composer-in-residence\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nathalie Joachim,<\/a> Missy Mazzoli, Rene Orth, Nico Muhly, Andy Akiho, Alistair Coleman, C\u00e9cile McLorin Salvant, Kamala Sankaram, Dan Schlosberg, and Errollyn Wallen. Costumes are designed by Jonathan Anderson. Co-directors are Zack Winokur and Raja Feather Kelly and conductor Caren Levine makes her Opera Philadelphia debut at the podium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like I have been trying to innovate in musical theater for several years now, and with \u201cComplications in Sue\u201d I am challenging myself by stretching into this new form that I have long admired as an audience member,\u201d Jackson said in a press release. \u201cThe scope and scale of opera really speak to me, so when Anthony invited me to dip my toe in the waters of the form, I saw it as an exciting opportunity to leave my comfort zone. Examining a woman\u2019s life from birth to death began as a very collaborative storytelling idea that I am now running with, and I look forward to embracing the next stage of collaboration with this group of amazing composers, who will bring a new scale of sound to the drama.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before its world premiere, Opera Philadelphia will preview \u201cComplications in Sue\u201d at <a href=\"https:\/\/operawire.com\/works-process-unveils-2026-spring-season\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Works &amp; Process<\/a> at the Guggenheim in New York City. Anthony Roth Costanzo, Michael R. Jackson, and co-directors Zack Winokur and Raja Feather Kelly will present excerpts from the opera on Jan. 16, 2026 at 7 pm.<\/p>\n<p>The premiere will take place at the Academy of Music on Feb. 4, 5, 6, and 8, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Read Related Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Photo credit: Dario Acosta) One librettist, one actor, four singers, and ten composers join forces to make opera&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[35680,35681,35682,35683,35684,35685,35686,35687,35688,6160,35689,35690,35691,6161,69,71,70,35692,35693,35694,35695,35696],"class_list":["post-67326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-alistair-coleman","tag-andy-akiho","tag-caren-levine","tag-cecile-mclorin-salvant","tag-dan-schlosberg","tag-errollyn-wallen","tag-kamala-sankaram","tag-kiera-duffy","tag-missy-mazzoli","tag-nathalie-joachim","tag-nicholas-newton","tag-nicky-spence","tag-nico-muhly","tag-opera-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-raja-feather-kelly","tag-rehanna-thelwell","tag-rene-orth","tag-works-process","tag-zack-winokur"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}