Alternate Title BAM Opera: Hydrogen Jukebox
Premiere New York Premiere
Production Language English
Country of Origin United States
Description After a chance run-in at the St. Mark’s Bookshop with Allen Ginsberg in the late 1980s, Philip Glass asked the iconic Beat poet if he would like to collaborate. Ginsberg and Glass then combed over the poet’s oeuvre to create the libretto for Hydrogen Jukebox. With acclaimed stage designer Jerome Sirlin, the trio created an operatic spectacle that addressed the end of the 20th century with an Apocalyptic collage riffing on motifs of war, revolution, and transcendence. Hydrogen Jukebox premiered at the Spoleto Festival USA in 1990, followed by performances in BAM’s 1991 Spring Season.
Identifier 1991s.00501
