Oppenheimer opera to be screened
LW OPERA CLUB
All are welcome to the LW Opera Club’s free screening of John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic” on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 1:30 p.m. in the Clubhouse 3 Learning Center.
Club member Cynthia Stone will introduce this contemporary composer’s take on the highly stressful countdown of the first test explosion of the Atomic Bomb, in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico, July 16, 1945.
Act 1 introduces the principals behind “The Manhattan Project”— the nuclear physicist/inventor J. Robert Oppenheimer, Army Commanding General Leslie Groves, and the political representative Robert Wilson. The three are concerned about the outcome of an atomic explosion, as well as topics of peace, war, life and love in general. Their concern is multiplied by the announcement of an arriving storm and its unknown effect on the planned test explosion.
Act 2 depicts Kitty, the wife of Oppenheimer, situated only 200 miles from the test explosion site, along with their seven-month-old daughter Katherine and her nanny. Senior-level officials discuss possible dire outcomes along with carefully planned withdrawal of all personnel from ground zero, the test site. The unbearable tension is transmitted by the music as the timer reaches detonation, and silence ensues with a female Japanese voice heard pleading for “some water for my baby, please.”
The production is in English with English subtitles. People are encouraged to wear masks indoors, if they desire. No dues or fees are collected.
For more information, contact Margaret Gillon at Margaretgi@yahoo.com or call 562-370-3844.
Gerald Finley as J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams's "Doctor Atomic."
Ken Howard | Metropolitan Opera
