Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings is a music theater work in two acts with music by composer Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination...

, lyrics by Whitacre and David Noroña

David Norona

David Norona is a Cuban American actor.-Biography:David Norona was born in Hialeah, Florida on December 14, 1972 to Cuban parents Jorge Norona and Edith Iglesias. He began his acting career at Coral Gables High School with roles in The Sound of Music and The Fantasticks...

, and book by poet Edward Esch. The innovative music combines styles of opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, musical theater, cinematic music, as well as electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 techniques of trance music

Trance music

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...

, ambient music

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

, and techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

 to portray the story of an abandoned tribe of angels in search of their wings. Although it has various non-classical influences, it is meant to be performed by singers with operatic or musical theater backgrounds.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast: July 28, 2007
Exstasis	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Hila Plitmann Hila Plitmann Hila Plitmann is an operatic soprano specializing in the performance of new works. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, composer Eric Whitacre, and their son.- Career :...
Logos	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Dan Callaway
Fervio	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Daniel Tatar
Gravitas	bass	Rodolfo Nieto
Ignis	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Kevin Odekirk
Aia	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Marie M. Wallace
Pieta	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Juli Robbins

Synopsis

The musical begins with an anime prologue set years before. The angels of light leave their children behind a rock wall in preparation for the battle with the forces of darkness. The children are left without wings, which leaves them unarmed and mortal, until the war has ended. The angels of light promise to return soon, with wings and to bring the children home.

Seventeen years later, the angels of light still have not returned. Logos and his henchman, Ignis, two of the many angel children who were left long ago, are creating a powerful army by engaging the tribe in nightly combats. This vigorous training is conducted because of Logos’s belief of a darkness beyond the wall.

Logos’s restless lover, Exstasis, experiences flashbacks of the night when the parents left the children. While her visions and memories are helping her better realize the true events of that life-changing night, Exstasis believes that there is a better world outside of the prison where they reside. This captivity causes Exstasis to question if staying behind the rock, wingless, and preparing for war is the best life to live. Her faith in a better world compels her to begin a journey in search for the hidden wings in order to return home.

During the musical Logos and Ignis are tempted with the idea of power, while Fervio and Gravitas provide comic relief as a troublemaking loner and a thief while progressing the plot. Throughout, the largest struggle is the tribe constantly contemplating if it is worth breaking through the rock barrier to face the unknown, good or bad.

The audience and the characters are held in suspense until the end. Ultimately, the tribe breaks through the wall and experiences a musical and emotional victory.

Performance History

The music of Paradise Lost was premiered in Berlin, Germany in the summer of 2003, and a year later the opera debuted at California State University, Northridge

California State University, Northridge

California State University, Northridge is a public university in Northridge, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, United States....

.

On February 11 2003, Paradsie Lost was performed in concert at the Angel Orensanz Foundation

Angel Orensanz Center

The Angel Orensanz Center is located at 172 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side of New York City, New York...

 in the Lower East Side of New York. This concert featured the Duquesne University Concert Choir as the background "Choir of Angels." This concert featured soprano Hila Plitmann as Exstasis, baritone Damon Kirsche as Logos, and David Noroña as narrator.

The show premiered in a concert performance at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 including students from the University’s American Music Theatre Project

American Music Theatre Project

The American Music Theatre Project was introduced in May 2005 by Northwestern University’s School of Communication, in collaboration with the School of Music, Kellogg School of Management, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School...

 (AMTP) on February 11th and 12th, 2006, conducted by Whitacre during his 12-day residency. The performances featured soprano Hila Plitmann, guest baritone Damon Kirsche, guest tenor Omar Gutierrez Crook, Northwestern University’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, and student soloists.

On July 28, 2007, the show had its world premiere in Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

 at the Theatre at Boston Court and closed on September 2, 2007.

On June 15, 2010, Distinguished Concerts International New York presented a concert version of the show at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 in New York. The show featured many of the musicians from the world premiere, including soloists Hila Plitmann, Rodolfo Nieto, Marie Wallace, and Daniel Tatar; and DJ Greg Chun. The Carnegie Hall production also featured a 425-voice Chorus of Angels drawn from the United States, Germany, Canada, and Ireland.

Asian Influence

The opera has many Asian influences. The prologue and all past sequences (Exstasis’s dreams and vision) are told through anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

. These sequences are projected onto the set. Other Asian influences include live taiko

Taiko

means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...

 drumming, martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

, and a Kuroko

Kuroko

are stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre, who dress all in black.In kabuki, the kuroko serve many of the same purposes as running crew. They move scenery and props on stage, aiding in scene changes and costume changes. They will also often play the role of animals, will-o-the-wisps, or other...

-style ensemble.

Awards and nominations

Paradise Lost received 10 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards Nominations, including Costume Design in an Intimate Theater: Soojin Lee; Sound Design in an Intimate Theater: Martin Carrillo; Lighting Design in an Intimate Theatre: Steven Young; and World Premier Musical, and Musical in an Intimate Theater. Martin Carrillo and Steven Young both received the Ovation award for their designs in the Intimate theater category. Additionally, Steven Young was awarded the 2008 Los Angeles Garland Award and the LA Weekly Award for his lighting design of the Pasadena production.

Act I

• Prologue (The Oracle, Chorus of Angels)
• Children of Paradise (Exstasis, Logos, Ignis, Chorus of Angels)
• “Forgotten” – Exstasis, Logos
• “Exstasis Drinks the Amber” – Exstasis
• “This is the Way” – Logos, Ignis, Pura, & Company
• “What If” – Exstasis, Pieta, Fervio, Aia, Gravitas
• “The Principles” – Logos, Exstasis, & Company
• “Eldest of All” – Logos
• “You Don't Know Him” – Exstasis, Pieta, Fervio, Aia, Gravitas
• Act I Finale – Logos, Fervio, Exstasis, & Company

Act II

• Little One (Ignis)
• Libertas Imperio (Logos, Ignis, Chorus of Angels)
• Sleep my Child (Exstasis, Pieta, Aia)
• Close Your Eyes (Exstasis, Exstasis's Mother, Chorus of Angels)
• All Alone (Fervio)
• Little One--Reprise (Ignis, Chorus of Angels)
• Forgotten--Reprise (Exstasis, Logos)
• The Choice (Chorus of Angels)
• The Rage (Exstasis, Chorus of Angels)
• The Battle (Chorus of Angels)
• Bliss (Full Cast)
• Bows (Full Cast)

Evolution

The story, characters, and music of Paradise Lost have evolved greatly from inception to present day.

February 11, 2003: Every morning, Extasis would read from the Book of Light to the other angels, retelling the story of Creation in the multi-movement piece "Genesis." A God-like character was referenced but never seen, the omniscient "One." Her brother Logos is charged with keeping order amongst the angels, and does so through routine and discipline. He sings the "This Is The Way" aria. Extasis is free-willed and passionate, and defies her brother Logos, who banishes her and her horse to the wilderness. . Here she sings the "Butterflies" aria, which includes a high F#, Whitacre's wink at the Magic Flute. Inspired and incensed, Extasis raises an army of angels and leads them back to Paradise for "War." In the culminating battle, Logos accidentally stabs Extasis, and she dies in his arms. At one point in the story, the Choir of Angels performed a version of "Lux Aurumque" with modified lyrics.

The Carnegie Hall performance on June 15, 2010 included a greatly altered story (Logos and Extasis are now lovers, not brother and sister, more choral singing, and was produced as a one act concert).