Characters
NICOLE Soprano – A young career woman, confident of herself but inclined to be cautious about everyone else. She wants simple answers, even though she knows there aren’t any.
DONALD Baritone – About Nicole’s age. He likes intellectual pastimes, and is drawn to astrology because it seems a rational way of understanding certain irrationalities – women, love.
SCORPIO Soprano – As close to the image as possible: pincers, stinger, scaly skin. She moves in ways suggestive of a scorpion – grabbing the air, whipping her tail – while still conveying a stereotypical femininity.
ARIES Baritone – As close to the image as possible: woolly coat, horns. He is grandiloquent, theatrical, with a decisiveness frequently unwarranted by the situation.
Piano only or orchestration: Flute/piccolo, oboe/English horn, clarinet, bassoon, marimba, piano, bass
First place, National Opera Association new opera competition
Nicole and Donald are followed everywhere (including the bedroom) by their astrological signs, Aries and Scorpio respectively.
Length: 30 minutes
(click to launch matching score)
Nicole and Donald, seated next to each other at the opera, feel an attraction but don’t know how to proceed, so – as usual – they ask their astrological signs what to do.
Performed by the Northwestern University Opera Workshop
Excerpt – Uncharted Waters