Night of the Living Dead..the Opera?
by Paul Kosidowski
You’ve seen it in theaters and late-night TV. You’ve screamed to it, perhaps chuckled at it, and you’ve become obsessed with some of the movies and TV series that it inspired. Maybe it has even haunted your dreams.
But as well as you know George Romero and John Russo’s cult classic, Night of the Living Dead, have you ever taken a break from your shrieking to think, “This would make an awesome….opera”?
That’s exactly what Julianne Perkins started thinking about five years ago. She was no stranger to the movie, which tells the gruesome story of seven people trapped in a farmhouse by a hoard of flesh-eating zombies. Her husband, Josh Perkins was part of an all puppet version of the story with the troupe, Angry Young Men, Ltd. Being a classically trained singer, she started fooling around with the idea of an opera based on the movie.
Josh and Julianne now live in Denver, where Julianne finished a Master’s degree in vocal performance in 2021. But the zombie opera idea was still percolating. At first, Josh imagined a farcical show in which zombies descend on scenes from opera’s greatest hits, interrupting showstoppers by Mozart and Verdi. But Julianne was set on something more serious, a tragic opera that tells the story of the movie.
“She had the idea,” says Josh, “and it made sense. After all, it’s a tragic story—very operatic. All the people you love and cheer for ultimately die in the end. We wanted to stay true to the original and really focus on what’s happening to these characters. How people treat each other in hard situations.”
From there, the idea made it to Milwaukee Opera Theatre. “I mentioned a little about the idea to Jill Anna Ponasik over a chat on social media,” says Julianne. “We got together as friends when I was visiting Milwaukee in August, 2021. I mentioned it again, and she said, ‘tell me more.’”
With MOT’s interest, Josh got to work in earnest on the libretto, and Julianne connected with a Colorado-based composer, Andrew Dewey, who agreed to take on the project. The puppets from the Angry Young Men spoof would still be in the picture, but in the new opera version, the puppets would be life-size, and the mayhem would be seriously scary.
There were a few other tweaks. The character of Barbara, says Dewey, was a little too helpless in the original story. “We wanted to make her a stronger character and make her a more instrumental part of the group.”
Since the movie is—surprisingly—in the public domain, changing the characters and the storyline a little was not a problem.
With a draft of Josh’s libretto in hand, Dewey set about finding the right musical language for the opera. “I was looking for something dark and surreal,” he says. He found the feeling in certain unusual chords that typically don’t fit together in progressions. And he found inspiration for the “zombie moan”—a key ingredient—in a musical motif that he heard in the movie Twister along with a figure from Gustav Mahler’s 5th Symphony.
It all adds up to Night of the Living Opera, presented in a “concert reading” format to open Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s 2022-23 season with four performances, October 28-30th. For more information go to milwaukeeoperatheatre.org. Tickets may be purchased through the Broadway Theatre Center Box Office online or by calling (414) 291-7800.
But as well as you know George Romero and John Russo’s cult classic, Night of the Living Dead, have you ever taken a break from your shrieking to think, “This would make an awesome….opera”?
That’s exactly what Julianne Perkins started thinking about five years ago. She was no stranger to the movie, which tells the gruesome story of seven people trapped in a farmhouse by a hoard of flesh-eating zombies. Her husband, Josh Perkins was part of an all puppet version of the story with the troupe, Angry Young Men, Ltd. Being a classically trained singer, she started fooling around with the idea of an opera based on the movie.
Josh and Julianne now live in Denver, where Julianne finished a Master’s degree in vocal performance in 2021. But the zombie opera idea was still percolating. At first, Josh imagined a farcical show in which zombies descend on scenes from opera’s greatest hits, interrupting showstoppers by Mozart and Verdi. But Julianne was set on something more serious, a tragic opera that tells the story of the movie.
“She had the idea,” says Josh, “and it made sense. After all, it’s a tragic story—very operatic. All the people you love and cheer for ultimately die in the end. We wanted to stay true to the original and really focus on what’s happening to these characters. How people treat each other in hard situations.”
From there, the idea made it to Milwaukee Opera Theatre. “I mentioned a little about the idea to Jill Anna Ponasik over a chat on social media,” says Julianne. “We got together as friends when I was visiting Milwaukee in August, 2021. I mentioned it again, and she said, ‘tell me more.’”
With MOT’s interest, Josh got to work in earnest on the libretto, and Julianne connected with a Colorado-based composer, Andrew Dewey, who agreed to take on the project. The puppets from the Angry Young Men spoof would still be in the picture, but in the new opera version, the puppets would be life-size, and the mayhem would be seriously scary.
There were a few other tweaks. The character of Barbara, says Dewey, was a little too helpless in the original story. “We wanted to make her a stronger character and make her a more instrumental part of the group.”
Since the movie is—surprisingly—in the public domain, changing the characters and the storyline a little was not a problem.
With a draft of Josh’s libretto in hand, Dewey set about finding the right musical language for the opera. “I was looking for something dark and surreal,” he says. He found the feeling in certain unusual chords that typically don’t fit together in progressions. And he found inspiration for the “zombie moan”—a key ingredient—in a musical motif that he heard in the movie Twister along with a figure from Gustav Mahler’s 5th Symphony.
It all adds up to Night of the Living Opera, presented in a “concert reading” format to open Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s 2022-23 season with four performances, October 28-30th. For more information go to milwaukeeoperatheatre.org. Tickets may be purchased through the Broadway Theatre Center Box Office online or by calling (414) 291-7800.
Paul Kosidowski is a Milwaukee-based free-lance writer.
