Part of O17, Opera Philadelphia's inaugural fall festival
World Premiere
Music by Kevin Puts
Libretto by Mark Campbell
Based on the novel The Trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd
American Repertoire Program
Performed in English with English supertitles
A captivating operatic whodunit
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, the team behind the acclaimed Silent Night, return to Opera Philadelphia for the world premiere of a chamber opera based on Peter Ackroyd's "downright exhilarating" (LA Times) novel, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree. Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age. Elizabeth Cree is a work that combines the factual with the fictive and the historical with the imaginary.
Performance Schedule
Thursday, September 14 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 16 at 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, September 19 at 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 21 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 23 at 2:30 p.m.
Major support for Elizabeth Cree has been provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Co-commissioned and co-produced with Hackney Empire. Co-produced with Chicago Opera Theater.