Please join us for the dress rehearsal of Newtown Odyssey, a floating opera set in the Newtown Creek developed by a trio of artists who met as Fellows at the American Academy in Rome in 2009: the composer Kurt Rohde, the novelist Dana Spiotta, and the visual artist Marie Lorenz.

Dress Rehearsal: 5:00–6:30pm at Amant Foundation, 315 Maujer St., Brooklyn, NY. Please plan to arrive shortly before 5:00pm for an on-time start of the rehearsal.

Reception immediately following at the nearby bar Grimm Artisanal Ales, 990 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, 6:45–9:00pm.

Taking their source material from environmental studies, community board meetings, and by interviewing activists, Rohde, Spiotta, and Lorenz have developed a fantastical, epic opera set on the Newtown Creek in north Brooklyn. Newtown Odyssey tells the story of Newtown Creek, a waterway that was once marshland, Mespat villages, and (more recently) industrial farms. Today this area is a recovering polluted waterway. Through music and art, this event takes an experimental pedagogical approach to explore the creek’s history by foregrounding environmental and social-justice issues that have impacted the surrounding neighbors for generations.

The music, composed by Rohde, combines improvisation, field recordings, electronic media, and live music to create an ever-shifting tapestry of soundscapes. The libretto, written by Spiotta, is a satirical depiction of characters whose lives or interests are entwined with the creek’s past and present, with the creek itself becoming a character at the heart of her story. Lorenz, known for her work examining waterways as public space, designed and fabricated a unique mise-en-scène that incorporates sculptural instruments crafted from found detritus along the creek supporting the narrative’s eccentric cast.