Summary

The Tragedy of La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) is a two-act opera based on the Mexican ghost story of a woman condemned to wander, wailing into the night in search of her lost children; dragging unsuspecting people to their watery grave.

The Tragedy of La Llorona, set in Alta California during the Mexican War of Independence, follows Dolores – a young woman who yearns for more to her life and fears being overlooked due to her gender and class as well as the time and place she was born into. While trying to find her identity and realize her prodigious talents Dolores falls prey to the temptations of power and control which eventually drive her mad and warps her into the ghostly spirit.

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Todas lloramos is a cyber noir retelling of The Tragedy of La Llorona set in a time warped, multi-verse version of early 20th century Spanish revival Hollywood. The events of The Tragedy of La Llorona are now legend and a mysterious series of disappearances are occurring. Nightclub singer Dolores and socialite Isabella meet and are immediately drawn to one another but suspicion and mistrust surround them. As Francisco (LAPD detective) investigates Dolores and Isabella’s role in the disappearances he stumbles upon a larger thread involving Ignacio, a prominent business man who may hold the key to unraveling the mystery of La Llorona.

The Tragedy of La Llorona and Todas lloramos uses the Mexican legend as a jumping off point to explore themes of power and control and time and identity against a backdrop of mystery and desire.

Opera as a means of social awareness

The Tragedy of La Llorona is loosely based on the Mexican folk-tale “La Llorona” and takes place near modern day Los Angeles during the Mexican War of Independence. The setting of the opera touches on the complicated colonial origins of this identity crisis and addresses how Mexican-Americans have lived in historically fluid regions, land which has changed hands legally, but socially, and culturally has evolved in its own right. It centers around Dolores, descendant of Los Pobladores (founders of Los Angeles) and addresses identity in a number of ways, particularly the negative cognitive-emotional issues surrounding “machismo” and “marianismo” culture, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community. But the broader message is about the search for expression, belonging, and acceptance in a society where structures entrenched by time resist change and how their power and control affects our sense of self.

Artistic collaboration

The original idea behind the development of opera was to combine elements of the arts to create an immersive music drama experience. Now, with an explosion of diverse creative platforms it is time to expand music-drama beyond the traditional arts and platforms to include a larger artistic community of professionals and amateurs alike. This means the opera will exist beyond the stage and in multiple collaborative platforms including an open world online platform where people can contribute their own stories, artwork, and music to the thread of this story.

One of the most exciting things about music-dramas is the opportunity to collaborate with different disciplines. With La Llorona that opportunity includes directors, cinematographers, dancers, fashion designers, content creators, curators, poets, artists, photographers, programmers, sound designers, game designers, app developers and even more that will present themselves as the project develops. The opera looks to be a hallmark of inclusion and a celebration of the artistic community. During these times that challenge the survival of artists, collaboration and community are even more vital.

Opera breakdown

The Tragedy of La Llorona — linear narrative; traditional platform

• Acoustic instrumentation

• Fully staged opera production

Todas lloramos — non-linear multi-verse narrative; multiple platforms

• Electro-acoustic instrumentation and sound design

• Full multi-media immersive opera production

• Multiple platforms including digital, literary, visual art, etc.

characters

The Tragedy of La Llorona

Dolores/Llorona - Young woman, orphaned descendant of Los Pobladores (mezzo-soprano)

Francisco - Dolores’s childhood friend (baritone)

Ignacio - Spanish Governor of Alta California (tenor)

Isabelle - Ignacio's distant cousin (soprano)

Amani - subversive Franciscan monk (contralto/countertenor)

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Todas lloramos

Dolores/Llorona - nightbclub singer (mezzo-soprano)

Francisco - detective (baritone)

Ignacio - son of prominent banker & financier (tenor)

Isabelle - socialite (soprano)

Amani - secular spiritual guide (contralto/countertenor)

Musical approach

The Tragedy of La Llorona’s music predominantly acoustic and attempts to create an instrumental language which is challenging to the player in its attention to detail but also invites the instrumentalist to express the greater informality of late 20th century jazz.

Todas lloramos is an electro-acoustic work of overlapping frameworks that blends the intricacy of art music, textures of electronic music, and the natural flow of jazz and world music into a seamless whole. Both operas, however, strive to balance the easy lyricism of folk singing with the virtuosity and grandeur of opera

studies on La Llorona

Excerpts, studies, and sketches for

“The Tragedy of La Llorona”

and

“Todas lloramos”

Audio Samples

a collection of excerpts, arrangements, and mock-ups

The Tragedy of La Llorona

Todas lloramos