Read director's notes and selected photo galleries of Mr. Anthony's latest projects, including his wildly popular Speed Dating Tonight! as well as collaborations with composer Tom Cipullo.
Dean Anthony is demanding, relentless, brilliant, and fun. And he's a great collaborator who is not afraid to roll up his sleeves to get it done. He can get more acting out of an opera chorus than anyone else I know."
MICHAEL CHING
SPEED DATING TONIGHT!
Conceived by Dean Anthony
Words & Music by Michael Ching
Speed Dating Tonight! imagines a speed dating session at a bar in contemporary America. With traditional opening and closing numbers, the middle section of the opera is a group of one-to-two minute "dater arias" which can be put together according to the number of singers available. The order, key, and, in many cases even the gender, of the daters is flexible. With over 100 bookings to date, it has proven to be a one of a kind production.
MAYO
Produced & Directed by Dean Anthony
Music & Libretto by Tom Cipullo
Mayo is based on an obscure 50-year-old article in Life magazine. The article bore the title “A Lifetime Thrown Away by a Mistake,” and the subtitle “Mental Homes Wrongly Hold Thousands Like Mayo Buckner.” Using early, flawed versions of IQ tests, as well as a perverted view of Darwinian science, officials of many states incarcerated numerous “deficient” children to protect the nation from what was described as “the menace of the feeble-minded.” Mayo Hazeltine Buckner was committed to such an institution as a child and lived there for sixty years. At the age of 67, he was given a more modern intelligence test and was determined to have an IQ of 120. Mr. Buckner is certainly an unusual hero.
FALLING ANGEL
Produced & Directed by Dean Anthony
Music by Mark Searce
Libretto by Lucy Thurber
Falling Angel, adapted from William Hjortsberg classic novel by composer J. Mark Scearce and librettist Lucy Thurber, follows detective Harry Angel as he investigates a series of brutal murders in post-World War II New York City. As Harry moves further and further into his investigation he uncovers that the murderer may be himself and he may not be who he believes himself to be. Falling Angel is a story about identity, selling your soul to the devil and complicated family emotions.
HOMELESS
Conceived by Dean Anthony
Music & Libretto by Tom Cipullo
Homeless is a newly conceived opera about a homeless person and their history. All scenes are derived from the mental point of view from the Homeless person, who is played by a mute character and can be portrayed by a man or a woman. Visions and memories of the homeless person's life tell the story with singers and actors. The homeless person watches the action unfold, sometimes attempting to fix or adjust how things play out. As audiences watch him/her take this journey, we learn what brought them to this final state.
