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Douglas J. Cuomo’s Doubt in Preview at Guggenheim

Oct. 31, 2012

Douglas J. Cuomo’s <em>Doubt</em> in Preview at Guggenheim

Following a recent workshop held during the inauguration of the new National Opera Center in New York City, Douglas J. Cuomo’s opera Doubt, with a libretto by John Patrick Shanley, had its first official preview performances at the Guggenheim Museum on November 4 and 5. The preview, as part of the Guggenheim’s Works & Process series, featured excerpts from the opera as well as a panel discussion with director Kevin Newbury, and the composer, moderated by essayist Robert Marx.

Based on the Pulitzer and Tony Award–winning play by John Patrick Shanley, Doubt premieres at the Minnesota Opera on January 26, 2013 at the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul. The opera is set in a Catholic school in the Bronx in autumn of 1964, shortly after Vatican II, a time when, as John Patrick Shanley says, “the world seemed to be going through some kind of vast pu­berty.” Cuomo writes:

The story, taut and exacting, reflects the changes and dislocations of the times through four distinctly wrought, complex but absolutely recognizable characters, each grappling with their own uneasy feelings that come as the cultural and moral ground beneath them begins to give way. Gen­der politics, race relations and the role of the church; questions about personal responsibility, doubt, right and wrong are all brought to bear here -- issues that are no less vital today than they were 45 years ago. So much in Doubtis about what is unsaid, what is continually running beneath the surface, which I see as an invitation to music.


The premiere run in Minnesota features soprano Christine Brewer as Sister Aloysius, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves as Mrs. Miller, baritone Matthew Worth as Father Flynn, and mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala as Sister James.

To learn more about the premiere production at Minnesota Opera, please visit www.mnopera.org.

More information on Douglas J. Cuomo is located at www.schott-music.com.

Douglas J. Cuomo
Doubt (2012)
opera in two acts
libretto (English) by John Patrick Shanley
for soprano, two mezzo-sopranos, baritone, small children’s chorus and small adult chorus (12 singers each)
1(pic).1(ca).4(2.bcl).1(cbsn)-2.1.0.0-2perc-hp-str
120’

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