Sitcom: Chautauqua Opera Company at Chautauqua Institution
Route 394, Chautauqua, NY 14722
Composer: Luke Styles
Librettist: Alan McKendrick
The neo-baroque comic chamber opera Sitcom, with music by Luke Styles and libretto by Alan McKendrick, was developed in collaboration with Opera Philadelphia and will receive a ten-day workshop with harpsichord accompaniment at Chautauqua. As in classic television sitcoms, the opera’s four main characters are delightfully trapped in the eternal present of their own worlds. Conceived as four 30-minute “episodes,” each episode will take Max, Bettina, Joan and Vendetta on hugely transformative journeys, but crucially return each of them to their status quo for the beginning of the next episode. Chautauqua Opera will workshop 60 minutes of the score, with a public presentation to wrap up the final week of the 2025 season.