Singing Over the Undead, LA Opera Scores a 1961 Vampire Film Live at the United Theater
Hercules vs Vampires pairs nine singers and the LA Opera Orchestra with a Mario Bava film on October 30 and 31, with a costume contest on Halloween.
Some operas end with a trip to the underworld. This one starts there. On Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, LA Opera sets live singers and the LA Opera Orchestra against a 1961 Italian fantasy film at the United Theater on Broadway, and Halloween night ends with a $10,000 costume contest.
LA Opera lists Hercules vs Vampires at 8 p.m. both nights. Patrick Morganelli wrote the music and adapted the libretto from Mario Bava’s Ercole al centro della terra, known in the United States as Hercules in the Haunted World. The film stars former Mr. Universe Reg Park and Christopher Lee, and Bava directed and shot it. The piece is sung in English with subtitles and runs 1 hour and 15 minutes with no intermission.
The Cast
MyNewsLA reported that Blair Salter, LA Opera’s head of music, makes her company conducting debut. Baritone Joel Balzun sings Hercules, soprano Alexis Seminario sings Dianara, baritone Gabriel Manro sings Lycos and tenor Roy Hage sings Theseus. Gabrielle Turgeon, Gretchen Krupp, James Hayden, Orson Van Gay II and Robert Norman complete the cast of nine.
Opera Theater Oregon commissioned and premiered the score in 2010, and Morganelli revised it for nine singers and a 26-piece orchestra for LA Opera’s 2015 presentation, according to the same report. The run belongs to Off Grand, the company’s series of productions outside its home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Halloween Night
The October 31 ticket includes an afterparty and costume contest. First prize is $10,000, two VIP tickets to a future production and a behind-the-scenes tour of the LA Opera Costume Shop. Second place takes $2,500 and third $500, each with two VIP tickets. Entrants must be 18 or older and present at the afterparty, and costumes must be made by hand or modified at least 30 percent from the original. Full-face masks, prop weapons, loose glitter and backpacks are banned.
Practical Details
Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, 8 p.m., at the United Theater on Broadway, 929 S. Broadway. LA Opera’s page did not list prices, and the box office answers at 213.972.8001. Across downtown the same Halloween night, Michael Giacchino hosts Werewolf by Night at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
