DENNIS CLEVELAND (2008)

Performer
Luminato Festival
June 2008

I performed in the Canadian premiere of Mikel Rouse’s Dennis Cleveland at the Toronto Film School as part of the 2008 Luminato Festival. The show is a multimedia opera that is set entirely on a television talk show in the late 20th century. Live video of audience reactions and the inclusion of actors in the audience as well as trained singers and soloists complete a staging that offers a new way of looking at opera. The work combined live performance with original music and video/film. Although Rouse’s material is considered “opera” as the show is fully scored for vocal performance, his music uses a counter-poetry technique – the use of multiple unpitched voices in counterpoint to create a layering effect with multiple textual meanings – rather than a traditional definition of “opera”. It was an incredibly rich performance experience.

Directed by Mikel Rouse
Assistant Direction by Natasha Mytnowych