Opus

Sex, drugs and chamber music! Talent and temperaments collide in this amusing and compelling behind-the-scenes look at a "high-strung" string quartet. A world-famous ensemble threatens to unravel as it prepares for a high-profile performance at the White House when its most talented member goes missing and a young woman is hired to take his place.

Opus is a smart, funny and insightful portrait of the fictional Lazara String Quartet. As the foursome prepares for a high profile performance at the White House, tensions mount and personalities clash. When their brilliant, but unstable, violist disappears, the others must seek someone new to perform with them. Will the talented young woman they select fit into a group of men with a complex history? With only days left to prepare, the musicians must navigate the creative, yet often disharmonious, path of creating a masterpiece. Violist-turned playwright Michael Hollinger skillfully establishes how four very distinct personalities must, in the pursuit of artistic excellence, synthesize with one another to create one seamless sound.

"The play is about how people work together to create something greater than the sum of their parts," explains the playwright. "Every small group, a university department faculty or small touring theater ensemble or string quartet or rock band is going to run into the same kinds of ditches. I've been in all of those groups. There are universals."

We're used to seeing documentaries about rock bands breaking up, but not about string quartets. The real-life Audubon Quartet went through just such a high profile split in 2005-06, confirming that Hollinger's play, which was premiering in Philadelphia at the time, is right on the mark.

A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Michael Hollinger is a classically trained violist who later became captivated by playwriting. He received his masters in theater at Villanova University, where he is now an associate professor of theater. Opus returns him to his first passion, capturing all the richness and power of a great piece of music in a play.

"I've always thought about musical instruments as characters," Hollinger continues. "I recently started playing chamber music again, and getting back into it reawakened that idea. With fifteen years of playwriting under my belt, I was able to revisit it with a better understanding of how a script might represent musicality, and be musical, in a structural way."

Director Simon Levy also has a background in music. A music major who played both trumpet and sax, Levy was considering graduate school with a focus in conducting when he became intrigued by theater and made the switch.

"Opus is just a terrific play," he says. "It's true to the world of classical music, but also very human."


Opus received a 2007 Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Citation from the American Theatre Critics Association, and the Arden Theatre production in Philadelphia was nominated for seven Barrymore Awards, winning for Outstanding New Play.

In conjunction with Opus, The Fountain Theater will present two live concerts by Los Angeles-based string quartets at 8 pm on Sunday, June 27 (Quartetto Fantastico) and Sunday, July 11 (TBA). Quartetto Fantastico (Chris Woods and Paul Cartwright, violin; Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, viola; Peter Jacobson, cello) is known for the skill of its members in the art of improvisation on themes or "quotations" from classical pieces as well as from jazz, Indian ragas, hiphop, and world music.



Presenter / Producer: The Fountain Theatre

Listed Categories
Theater > Drama


Event Phone: 323-663-1525

Venue
The Fountain Theatre
5060 Fountain Ave
Hollywood CA 90029

Regions:
LA - Central / Downtown
LA - Hollywood / Westside


Performance Dates: 6/12/2010 - 9/26/2010

Saturday, 06/12/2010 Sunday, 06/13/2010 Thursday, 06/17/2010 Friday, 06/18/2010 Saturday, 06/19/2010 Sunday, 06/20/2010 Thursday, 06/24/2010 Friday, 06/25/2010 Saturday, 06/26/2010 Sunday, 06/27/2010 Thursday, 07/01/2010 Friday, 07/02/2010 Saturday, 07/03/2010 Sunday, 07/04/2010 Thursday, 07/08/2010 Friday, 07/09/2010 Saturday, 07/10/2010 Sunday, 07/11/2010 Thursday, 07/15/2010 Friday, 07/16/2010 Saturday, 07/17/2010 Sunday, 07/18/2010 Thursday, 07/22/2010 Friday, 07/23/2010 Saturday, 07/24/2010 Sunday, 07/25/2010 Thursday, 07/29/2010 Friday, 07/30/2010 Saturday, 07/31/2010 Sunday, 08/01/2010 Thursday, 08/05/2010

Friday, 08/06/2010 Saturday, 08/07/2010 Sunday, 08/08/2010 Thursday, 08/12/2010 Friday, 08/13/2010 Saturday, 08/14/2010 Sunday, 08/15/2010 Thursday, 08/19/2010 Friday, 08/20/2010 Saturday, 08/21/2010 Sunday, 08/22/2010 Thursday, 08/26/2010 Friday, 08/27/2010 Saturday, 08/28/2010 Sunday, 08/29/2010 Thursday, 09/02/2010 Friday, 09/03/2010 Saturday, 09/04/2010 Sunday, 09/05/2010 Thursday, 09/09/2010 Friday, 09/10/2010 Saturday, 09/11/2010 Sunday, 09/12/2010 Thursday, 09/16/2010 Friday, 09/17/2010 Saturday, 09/18/2010 Sunday, 09/19/2010 Thursday, 09/23/2010 Friday, 09/24/2010 Saturday, 09/25/2010 Sunday, 09/26/2010

Performance Times
Thurs-Sat at 8pm;
Sun at 2pm

Ticket Information:
$15-$30

Websites:
Event Information