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DARK SISTERS follows one woman’s dangerous attempt to escape her life as a member of the FLDS Church (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints), a sect that split from mainstream Mormonism in the early 20th Century largely because of the LDS Church’s renunciation of polygamy. The male founders of the Mormon faith (Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, chief among them) loom large in American history; Dark Sisters puts the women front and center.
The narrative draws inspiration from the flurry of media attention surrounding the two most infamous raids on FLDS compounds (the 1953 raid at Short Creek, AZ and the 2008 raid at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, TX) as well as the stories of the over 80 wives of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Set against a red-earthed landscape filled with revelations, dark prophets and white temples stretching towards heaven, Dark Sisters charts one woman’s quest for self-discovery in a world where personal identity is forbidden.
DARK SISTERS press
“Ladies first: Muhly's "Dark Sisters" precedes ‘Two Boys’ as US opera debut”
- The Washington Post
“Muhly, Karam to pen opera about polygamy”
- Variety
“Muhly Writing Opera on Mormon Church”
“Opera Company in virgin territory with new work on Mormon sect”
MUSIC-THEATRE GROUP
Diane Wondisford, Producing Director
20 JAY STREET, SUITE 740, BROOKLYN, NY 11201
Phone: 718.797.1145 Fax: 718.408.9575 info@musictheatregroup.org
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DARK SISTERS
Composed by Nico Muhly
Libretto by Stephen Karam
Co-commissioned and Co-produced by
Music-Theatre Group,
& Opera Company of Philadelphia
June 8 - 17, 2012
The Perelman Theater at
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Conductor Neal Goren
Director Rebecca Taichman
Set Design Leo Warner, 59 Productions
Costume Design Miranda Hoffman
Lighting Design Donald Holder
