{January 11th, 2015} The Observatory Letters
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The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Information is very pleased to announce an evening of performances of The Observatory Letters, an imaginary chamber opera composed by countertenor Randall Wong and based upon The Museum's collection of letters to Mount Wilson Observatory.
The Observatory Letters is based upon No One May Ever Have the Same Knowledge Again, the collection of letters written to the Mount Wilson Observatory from individuals, from outside the community of trained observers, who felt that they were in possession of understandings or information that should be shared with the astronomers. It is an epistolary “opera of the mind,” inviting the audience to visualize the vastnesses of space and time.
Cast much as a 19th century parlor magic lantern show, the Letters will be accompanied by vintage slides. Multiple writers' alternative visions of the workings of the cosmos are intertwined in sung narrative and conversation excerpted from their letters to the Mt. Wilson Observatory.
Composed by Randall Wong, performed by Dina Emerson, Bruce Rameker, and Randall Wong. The performances will run approximately 35 minutes. Early arrival and advance ticket purchases are emphatically recommended.
