Ten Years In the Making, Alan Turing Opera Set to Premiere
WDCB’s Gary Zidek catches up with some of the creatives behind the world premiere opera, THE LIFE AN DEATH(S) OF ALAN TURING.
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“The day before I left (to come to Chicago), I started to feel a little bit nervous, maybe butterflies. Like, ‘whoa this is happening’, because it’s been 10 years, it’s been so long. It felt like it was never going to happen, even though we had so many workshops, it just felt like work, work, work and then … ‘are we ever going to see it?’(Now) it’s happening! It feels unreal, but it’s so, so lovely.” - composer Justine F. Chen talking about her excitement as she gets closer to opening night.
Composer Justine F. Chen & librettist David Simpatico
An opera ten years in the making is set to make its much anticipated world premiere at the Harris Theatre this week. Chicago Opera Theater is presenting THE LIFE AND DEATH(S) OF ALAN TURING. The English-language opera tells the fascinating story of pioneering British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. Considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of modern day computing, Turing was also a war hero for his work in decoding Nazi communications during World War Two. However because of the top secret nature of his work, his sexuality and his untimely death at the age of 41, a lot of Turing’s accomplishments weren’t recognized properly for decades.
Ten years ago, when this project began, there wasn’t a lot of awareness of Turing’s name. In 2014, a high profile Hollywood film shed more light on his wartime efforts. THE IMMITATION GAME was nominated for 8 Oscars, including Best Picture. At that point, librettist David Simpatico and composer Justine Chen were already working on their Turing opera. The origins of the project can be traced back to an American Lyric Theater workshop led by Larry Edelson over ten years ago.
One of the few remaining Enigma machines courtesy of the National Cryptologic Museum, NSA, Photos credit: Todd Rosenberg
“It went from an idea for a one-man show to a grand opera. Because it’s life and death, it’s mythic and it’s human. I thought, if this isn’t opera … I’m not sure what is!” - librettist David Simpatico talking about the evolution of the idea to create something based on the extraordinary life of Alan Turing.
Jonathan Michie in the role of Alan Turing during rehearsals. Photo credit: Michael Brosilow
