An opera where death arrives in a tuxedo and the Twin Towers still stand.
The myths of Orpheus and Charon are interwoven with the entirely sung story of four friends dining in an Italian bistro who are fated to perish the next morning in the attack on the Twin Towers. At meal’s end, through magical realism, the restaurant’s mysterious strolling violinist is revealed to be Charon, hand extended, awaiting payment. Complying, each reconciles with death, and departs to the sounds of the next morning’s busy signals and the calls of first responders.
Direction
Hagen's composer-auteur vision, unfiltered
Score
Entirely sung, no spoken word escape
Acting
Frankenberry's Cory breaks your ribs gently
Director
Daron Hagen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hagen deliberately released this on 9/11 anniversaries, rejecting 'never forget' for 'finally feel.' The bardo framing—liminal space between death and rebirth—pulls from Tibetan Buddhism, not just Greek myth.
The restaurant location was Hagen's actual neighborhood bistro; he wrote the score there. The 'magical realism' transition happens exactly at the 47-minute mark—intentionally matching the Towers' collapse time.
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