Arjuna's Dilemma
Part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival
Nov 5, 7 & 8 at 7:30pm
Music-Theatre Group
Music by Douglas J. Cuomo
Directed by Robin Guarino
"Like the best of today's composers…Cuomo has developed a lingua franca that is international…that is not bound by geography or chronology."—WNYC Radio
The conflict between emotional and spiritual desire takes center stage in multifaceted theater/film/new music composer Douglas J. Cuomo's cross-cultural chamber opera Arjuna's Dilemma. Based on the Hindu epic Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna's Dilemma finds a great warrior prince looking over a sea of soldiers on the eve of civil war. Recognizing friends and even family in the opposing army, Arjuna falters, fearful of destroying them in the ensuing slaughter. Enter the Hindu god Krishna and cue a choice—for a man with morals in a labyrinthine world—that continues to echo across centuries.
Through a richly syncretic score combining the crisp drumming and vocal work of North Indian music with Western choral, improvised, and new music idioms, Arjuna's Dilemma takes as its spiritual center Krishna, whose counsel to Arjuna (Tony Boutté, operatic tenor) is brought to life by the extraordinary vocal fireworks of Hindustani singer Humayun Khan. In piercing laments and cascading improvisations, Krishna reveals both the splendors and horrors of true reality to Arjuna, urging him to rise above his affections—and fight.
BAM Harvey Theater
Running time: 70min, no intermission
Tickets: $20, 30, 40
Choreography by John Kelly
Set design by Donald Eastman
Costume design by Gabriel Berry
Lighting design by Robert Wierzel
Projection design by William Cusick
Sound design by David Meschter
Conducted by Alan Johnson
BAM Interview with Douglas J. Cuomo
Douglas J. Cuomo, director of Arjuna's Dilemma, chats with Frank J. Oteri of American Music Center. More
Douglas J. Cuomo Site
Sex and the City? Now with Bill Moyers? Read about Cuomo's unlikely other projects. Read more about the Arjuna's Dilemma composer—and about his unlikely other projects. More
Music-Theatre Group Site
Arjuna's Dilemma is produced by this ambitious New York-based group. More
Amit Chatterjee Alliance on MySpace
The Arjuna star revels in much more than just cascading, North Indian vocal fireworks. More
Bagavad Gita Online
A warrior-prince, an enlightened deity, and a dilemma for the ages. More
Article from The New York Times
The set design for Arjuna's Dilemma harkens back to Peter Brooks' The Mahabarata, staged at BAM in the eighties. More