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Tammy Ryan

A NEW KIND OF FALLOUT

  • Full Length
  • Opera
  • Rachel Carson
  • Silent Spring
  • pesticides
  • fallout
  • environment
  • cancer
  • chemical companies
  • 1963
  • eco-opera

A New Kind of Fallout is a new Eco-Opera inspired by the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's seminal book, Silent Spring. With music by New York-based composer Gilda Lyons, and a libretto by playwright Tammy Ryan, A New Kind of Fallout follows a young Pittsburgh family thrown into conflict by the environmental warnings issued in Silent Spring, its themes of stewardship and renewal, and the very personal impact on one family and their unborn child.

Cast Requirements

5 women (including soprano, mezzo, contralto)
5 men (including tenor, bass)

3 Women's Chorus representing Rachel Carson
Ensemble (men and women)

Set Description

a suburb of Pittsburgh, 1962.

Production and Development History

Commissioned, developed and produced by Pittsburgh Festival Opera, (formerly Opera Theater of Pittsburgh) in collaboration with composer, Gilda Lyons, 2015

Press

"a new kind of opera, one that makes forceful connections between the ecological (non)decisions made by policymakers, corporate interests, and indifferent consumers a half century ago...and those we are collectively making in the present moment....Ryan showcase[s] Carson's insight into the interconnectedness of all life on earth and...remind[s] us that the battles Carson fought have by no means ended...what we do to the earth, we do to ourselves."
- Pittsburgh Tatler