Tango of the White Gardenia by Gans-Morse, Od (2018/2018), Režírované Karen Esquivel, Dirigent Vincent D. Ceneno

An original work by Ethan Gans-Morse and libretto by Tiziana DellaRovere. Tango of the White Gardenia, a compelling new chamber opera in English, weaves together humor, emotional depth, and timely messages through the riveting music and dance of Argentine Tango. At its core, it is a contemporary story told through a new kind of opera that offers fun winks and nods to the commedia dell’arte style of centuries past. But this opera also features urgent themes for today’s audiences, such as how enduring love and staying true to one’s heart are more precious than winning external recognition, how the consequences of parents’ mistakes cast a shadow on their children’s lives, and how bullies are made, not born. Specifically, it reveals how parental abandonment of a child often creates emotional insecurity and a sense of not being worthy of love, and many times the absence of care-giving parents creates a compulsion to compete, seduce, and win worldly recognition at any cost. All of this drama unfolds against the background of Argentine Tango, which permeates both the musical score and the choreography of the six dancers who mirror each of the singing characters. In this context, the Tango becomes a metaphor for life and a perfect canvas for the expression of intense passion, deep connections, strident conflicts, and powerful reconciliation, all in operatic proportions!