ODC Theater presents Love/Hate April 12, 2012

April 12 & 14, 8pm; April 15, 7pm

In association with the San Francisco Opera Center, ODC Theater is proud to present the world premiere of Love/Hate, a chamber opera by composer Jack Perla and librettist Rob Bailis, featuring performances by members of the San Francisco Opera Center's prestigious Adler Fellows.

Love/Hate unfolds five minutes in the lives of Laura and George, two strangers, both single and middle-aged, who one day make eyes at a bus stop but who are too buried in their own internal dialogue to do anything more than say hello. Clock time, however, has no bearing on daydreams, and in those five meager minutes Perla and Bailis spin out a dark-hued comedic rhapsody that reveals the protagonists' wildest fears and fantasies, as well as the pivotal moments in time that have shaped for each their views on love: from clumsy sexual exploration to full-blown commitment, blood-thirsty fights to tender acknowledgements. Love/Hate is a contemporary retelling of a timeless tale that we all know by heart.

In its presentation at ODC Theater this April, Love/Hate will involve the participation of five musicians and four singers playing multiple roles. Marina Harris (soprano), Laura Krumm (mezzo-soprano), and Ao Li (baritone) - all members of the San Francisco Opera Center's 2012 Adler Fellows - as well as Thomas Glenn (tenor), an alumnus of the Adler Fellowship, are excited to take on the considerable demands of the chamber opera. M. Graham Smith, who recently directed the West Coast premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera for Ray of Light Theatre, will direct with musical direction from another Adler Fellow, David Hanlon.

Love/Hate gleefully deploys an array of styles from pop and jazz to serialism and classical opera, to reflect the stream of consciousness of the characters and their own cultural references - including the Doors and the 5th Dimension, to name only two.

Official Website: http://www.odcdance.org/lovehate