FROM THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL MIND OF LICITY COLLINS
A NEW SPOKEN-SUNG OPERA
ONE DEATH
IN SEVEN DOORWAYS
Pushing the boundaries of creativity, ONE DEATH IN SEVEN DOORWAYS uses language and music, body and voice, vision and imagination in new ways to give the audience an intimate, personal, adventuresome opera experience. One speaking character is played by multiple actors, while the other character only sings. Solo instruments are liberated from the orchestra pit and join the characters on stage giving a distinctive and intimate voice to each character's emotions. The opera is composed in a collaborative process where each character and solo instrument has a dedicated composer and style. Integrating personal information from the audience, this opera invites you in—to the story and to yourself in the process. Exposing themes of grief and loss that illustrate our shared humanity, One Death in Seven Doorways expands our minds and touches our hearts.
It is an exploration of the fracturing of time and self
which happens when someone we love suddenly dies.
The opera is driven by two characters.
Sam and Suzy begin with a tense exchange in Suzy’s apartment. Sam storms out, leaving her door open.
The next time we see Sam, Suzy is dead.
Sam is fractured into an array of memories (doorways). This comes to life by 7 different actors + 7 on-stage solo instruments playing Sam. Our shared humanity is central to the show. As a diverse array of Sams enter and exit, we see that inside each one of us—is all of us. After she dies, Suzy returns singing—a new way of hearing those we have lost.
Spoken-sung dialogue, stories, arias, ensembles, and a duet singing the names of audience’s own lost loved ones—culminate in a quiet intimate moment at Suzy’s funeral.
Over the course of the show, the seven Sams and Suzy treat the audience to a playful, sometimes cynical, sometimes remarkably innocent exploration of our deepest feelings, disguised as talking and singing about elusive sleep, disruptive refrigerators, chunky ice cream, moldy bread, aggravating flies, brilliant toddlers, and humiliating poets.
As Sam and Suzy come to terms with their old and new relationship, we are invited to admit our own inner conflicts and yearnings about death and loss. The opera is touching, funny, surprising, resonant, and truly entertaining.
One Death in Seven Doorways
Libretto by Licity Collins
Music by Collaborative Composers: Licity Collins, Stephen Montalvo, Kennedy Verrett, Mendel Lee, Andy Radford, Laura Kuhlman, Myriam Audin, and Sammy Rat Rios.
Please join us in creating this opera by your generous donation.
SUPPORT INNOVATIVE GENRE-BUSTING OPERA
Composing + Workshopping Phase
We are currently raising funds to collaboratively compose the music. Then we will workshop and preview scenes
during an artist residency at Portland's Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center April-May 2024.
Your donation is tax-deductible.
I consider every donor a collaborator member of our team. We do this together. —Licity
FUNDING PARTNERS
One Death in Seven Doorways Creator Licity Collins is a sponsored project/artist of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Donations made through Fractured Atlas are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Yep, tax-deductible. Thank you for your contribution.
One Death in Seven Doorways is written in part during a 2023 Black Art/Ists artist residency at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Composing is supported in part by a Arts3C Grant through the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) and an Awesome Portland People's Choice Award. Workshopping space and support is provided in part by the IFCC Grant and Residency Program made possible by City of Portland funding from the American Rescue Plan Act through Portland Parks and Recreation.
Each next step is also supported through generous donations by individuals who support the arts, like you.