This page is a non-commercial research entry within the *Operatic LGBTQIA+ Catalogue*. It does not claim authorship, ownership, or rights over the works discussed.
All rights remain with the respective authors, composers, librettists, publishers, companies, performers, and rights holders.
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Entries can be corrected, updated, expanded, or removed upon request.
A Quiet Place
At the funeral of Dinah, the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family, her widowed husband Sam tries to reconcile with his two estranged children: his daughter Dede and his gay, schizophrenic son Junior. The drama that unfolds in the aftermath of the funeral exposes raw wounds and secrets, particularly the fact that Dede is now married to François, who is also Junior's ex-boyfriend. As the family attempts to deal with their pain and communicate after decades of bitterness, the opera weaves in a flashback of Bernstein's earlier work, Trouble in Tahiti, to reveal the origins of their unhappiness. The work ultimately ends on a fragile note of hope for reconciliation
Ainadamar
The opera is told in reverse in a series of flashbacks, focusing on Margarita Xirgu, a celebrated actress, as she remembers her friendship with the Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. The story begins in 1969 as Xirgu, now recalling her past, prepares for another performance. The narrative flashes back to a summer evening in 1936 Spain, where Lorca is arrested and executed by Falangist forces for his socialist politics and homosexuality. The opera explores themes of artistic courage, martyrdom, and the power of memory
Apollo et Hyacinthus (K. 38) – Latin intermedium in three acts
The god Apollo falls in love with the beautiful Spartan youth Hyacinthus. The mortal Zephyrus, also in love with Hyacinthus, becomes jealous. When Apollo throws a discus, Zephyrus diverts it to strike and kill Hyacinthus. In Ovid’s version, Apollo turns the dying youth into the hyacinth flower. However, the libretto by Rufinus Widl adds female characters (Melia, sister of Hyacinthus, and Oebalus, king) to create a heterosexual subplot: Melia and Apollo end up together, and Hyacinthus is resurrected, softening the homoerotic tragedy.
Bomarzo
A fabulation on the life of Pier Francesco Orsini, Duke of Bomarzo, a 16th‑century Italian nobleman. The deformed and monstrous duke recounts his memories: his incestuous desire for his twin brother and his sister, his obsession with a prostitute, and his search for immortality. The opera explores concealed homoerotic and incestuous desires, the monstrous self-image as a metaphor for forbidden love, and the tragic consequences of ostracism and obsession. The duke dies poisoned, having built a garden of monstrous sculptures (Sacro Bosco) as his legacy.
Carmen, je t'aime: Pasión y Tragedia
This is a contemporary, queer reimagining of Georges Bizet's classic opera. The production deconstructs the original story through a fusion of opera, ballet, and contemporary dance. The story is narrated by a spectral Carmen (portrayed by a countertenor), who embodies the spirit of the tragic heroine, while dancers physically represent Carmen and Don José on stage
Der Wald (The Forest)
In a German forest during the Middle Ages, the woodcutter Heinrich and his fiancée, Röschen, are preparing for their wedding. The malevolent Iolanthe, mistress of the Landgrave, becomes infatuated with Heinrich. When Heinrich rejects her advances, Iolanthe exposes his act of poaching a roebuck. She gives him a choice: submit to her or face punishment. Encouraged by Röschen, Heinrich defies Iolanthe, who then has her huntsmen stab him. Röschen falls lifeless on his body as the forest spirits look on, indifferent to human tragedy.
Elektra, Op. 58
After the murder of her father, King Agamemnon, Elektra lives only for revenge against her mother, Klytämnestra, and her lover, Aegisth. Her obsession alienates her sister, Chrysothemis, who yearns for a normal life. The long-lost brother Orestes returns, kills their mother and Aegisth, and Elektra dies in a final dance of triumph
For a Look or a Touch
For A Look Or A Touch is a story about the persecution of gay men during the Holocaust. Librettist Gene Scheer based his text on true stories told in the documentary film Paragraph 175 and the journal of Manfred Lewin, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. Originally commissioned by Music of Remembrance, a second incarnation was commissioned by the Seattle Men’s Chorus and The Boston Gay Men’s Chorus.
The piece offers an overview of the queer history of Berlin from the roaring 20s until the IIWW through the love story of Manfred, a concentration camp victim ghost, and Gad, the survivor, and one of the narrators in the documentary above.
Partly taken from Program Note provided by Music of Remembrance
Hairpiece
On the verge of a solitary retirement, wigmaker Esther knows everything about her craft but doesn't know how to save her studio, preserve the dying art, or find meaning in her life's work. When an eye-catching young stranger shows up unannounced at her door, an unexpected alliance emerges. The story explores what it means to feel comfortable in authentically expressing gender, and how that need to feel seen connects people.
L'incoronazione di Poppea (SV 308, The Coronation of Poppaea)
The Roman Emperor Nerone has abandoned his wife, Ottavia, for the ambitious and seductive Poppea. The spurned empress forces Poppea's former lover, Ottone, to try to kill her. Ottone's plot fails, but he implicates the noblewoman Drusilla, who is exiled. Ottavia is also sent away. With the philosopher Seneca, a voice of reason and restraint, dead by his own hand, Nerone is free to crown Poppea empress.
Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492
In the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville, the clever valet Figaro and the maid Susanna prepare for their wedding. The Count, who had abolished the lord's "droit du seigneur," now seeks to reinstate it to seduce Susanna. With the help of the Countess and the amorous page Cherubino—who is infatuated with all women—the servants devise a scheme to expose the Count's infidelity. Through a series of mistaken identities, secret letters, and a mock trial, the Count is publicly shamed and forced to beg for forgiveness, leading to a joyous reconciliation.
M. Butterfly
In Mao’s China, French diplomat René Gallimard falls under the spell of a captivating Peking opera singer named Song Liling. Gallimard begins to fantasize that he is Pinkerton, the American lieutenant from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, projecting his Orientalist fantasies of submissive Asian women onto the singer. The two begin a passionate affair that lasts twenty years, until they are arrested. In court, it is revealed that Song was not only a man in drag, but also a Chinese spy who passed on information about the war in Vietnam. The opera turns gender conventions and cultural power relations upside down
Operette für zwei schwule Tenöre (Operetta for Two Gay Tenors)
The story follows Tobi, a graphic designer from Berlin, and Jan, a nurse from the countryside. After meeting at a local fair, they fall in love and build a life together in Jan’s hometown. However, their relationship becomes strained as Tobi idealizes rural life while Jan grows restless and eventually flees to Berlin. The operetta humorously and touchingly explores their journey through love, conflict, and eventual reconciliation
Orphée et Eurydice
Orpheus, a musician of divine talent, is consumed by grief at the death of his wife, Eurydice. The god of love, Amore, takes pity on him and allows him to descend into the underworld to bring her back. The only condition is that he must not look at her until they have returned to the world of the living. Orpheus successfully charms the Furies and retrieves Eurydice. However, on their journey back, her pleas for a single glance force him to turn around. Eurydice immediately dies again. In his despair, Orpheus attempts to join her in death, but Amore rewards his devotion by resurrecting Eurydice, reuniting the couple
Platée
The nymph Platée is an ugly creature who lives in a marsh and is convinced she is irresistible. To cure his wife Juno's jealousy, Jupiter, the king of the gods, pretends to fall in love with her. He stages an elaborate mock wedding, culminating in Juno's interruption and discovery of the grotesque "bride". Realizing the joke, Juno reconciles with Jupiter, and they return to Olympus, leaving Platée alone, humiliated, and mocked by the gods and a chorus of frogs
Rhondda Rips It Up!
The story opens in the present day with the portrait of Lady Rhondda being hung in the House of Lords, posthumously granting her the seat she was denied in life. The narrative then flashes back to 1908, following the charismatic suffragette Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda. She leads the women of Newport in their fight for the vote by organizing rallies, attacking politicians, and setting fire to a postbox, for which she is sent to jail. The opera also covers her survival of the sinking of the Lusitania, her divorce from her husband, her new relationship with journalist Helen Archdale, and her founding of the feminist magazine Time and Tide.
Stray Dog Story: An Adventure in Ten Scenes
A "lonely faggot" named Jon wishes that his faithful dog Buddy were human and his lover. Buddy's Fairy Dog Mother appears and transforms Buddy into a man. Buddy then embarks on a perilous odyssey through the gay ghetto of present-day Manhattan, navigating its subculture and stereotypes
The Turn of the Screw
A young Governess is hired to care for two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, at a remote English estate. She soon becomes haunted by the ghosts of two former servants, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, who died under scandalous circumstances. Quint, a charismatic, amoral man, had corrupted the boy Miles and had a sexual relationship with Jessel. The Governess tries to protect the children from the ghosts’ “corruptive” influence, but the ambiguity remains: are the ghosts real, or figments of her own repressed neurosis? The opera ends with the Governess exorcising Quint’s spirit from Miles, but Miles dies in her arms.
Three Way
Three independent stories about nonconformity and alternative relationships:
Act I: “The Android” – A scientist creates an android lover, but the relationship challenges notions of consent and emotion.
Act II: “The Dungeon” – A BDSM couple navigates trust, safety, and the boundaries of pain and pleasure.
Act III: “The Three” – A polyamorous triad (two men, one woman) strives for emotional and sexual balance, confronting envy and societal judgment. Each story celebrates sexual fluidity and kinkiness in a non-judgmental, post-gender framework.
UNLEASHED
A verbatim opera based on interviews with gay men about their sex lives, focusing on "hard sex" and themes of violence and desire. The libretto combines fragments of these interviews with transcripts from the legal case Laskey, Jaggard, Brown vs. United Kingdom (1990), a trial where men were prosecuted for consensual violent sex
What Belongs to You
A chamber opera in three parts that functions as an extended monologue by an unnamed American schoolteacher living in Bulgaria. Obsessed with a charismatic young hustler named Mitko, he begins a long, unstable, and ultimately destructive affair that becomes violent and forces him to spiral. The story exposes the narrator's behaviors around desire, shame, trauma, and the enduring effects of a repressed gay childhood.
*1309*
A millennial coming-of-age “coming out story” set in 2005. After a young queer teenager is outed by their family, they expose a web of mistrust and lies their family carries. This creates a poltergeist informed by conservative media, misunderstanding, and broken family bonds, as the protagonist is made a scapegoat for the family's own failures. The narrative reclaims queer horror by reflecting on the burden young queer people carry when coming out to their family unit. It’s a darkly comedic and dreamlike story of trans joy and resiliency in the Midwest.
A Spanish Hour?
A one-act comedic opera that playfully reimagines Maurice Ravel’s L'heure espagnole with a 21st-century, 2SLGBTQIA+ lens. The story is set on a Toronto summer patio and follows a group of queer lovers navigating a single "free hour" of romantic and sexual possibilities. Roles originally written for mezzo-soprano are now voiced as a tenor, and the buffo-bass role is sung by a mezzo-soprano, echoing themes of gender fluidity.
Alceste
King Admetus is dying, and the gods decree that only the sacrifice of a life can save him. His devoted wife, Alcestis, volunteers to die in his place. Just as she is about to enter the underworld, Hercules arrives. A close friend of Admetus, he is moved by the queen’s devotion and the king's despair. Descending into the underworld, Hercules battles the infernal deities, rescues Alcestis, and restores her to her husband.
Astarté
Set in ancient Phoenicia, the opera centers on the goddess Astarte and her priestesses, who engage in ritualized lesbian desire and transgressive power struggles. The plot involves a mortal queen who seeks to usurp divine power, leading to seduction, ritual sacrifice, and the blurring of gender roles. The work explores themes of non‑binary divinity, female homoeroticism, and the collapse of moral order through transgression.
Boys Won't Be Boys
A vibrant theatrical performance that functions as both an "ode and an accusation" to the concept of "man." In a raw and honest manner, a diverse group of performers (both amateur and professional) takes the stage to share their personal stories about masculinity, identity, and sexuality.
Crossing
Set in a Washington, D.C. military hospital near the end of the American Civil War, the opera offers a fictionalized account of Walt Whitman's time as a volunteer nurse. As he tends to the wounded, Whitman strikes up a friendship with a volatile young soldier, John Wormley. Their relationship deepens and becomes physically intimate, leading Whitman to question his identity and motivations. Unbeknownst to Whitman, Wormley is a Confederate soldier, and his betrayal leads to tragic consequences
Dublin Jack
The opera dramatises the life of Jack Saul (born John Saul), a flamboyant gay man and one of the most notorious rent boys of the Victorian era. The narrative, presented in concert form as the first two acts of a larger work, opens in a male bordello on Cleveland Street, where Jack (in his 30s) meets Sid, a young newcomer he tries to warn of the harsh experiences ahead. After Sid’s first client, he commits suicide. The second act follows Jack at a New Year’s Eve party at an aristocrat’s home, where class and power dynamics are explored, and he shares a duet with a closeted lesbian aristocrat. The work ends with Jack haunted by Sid’s ghost in a nightmare. Set against a backdrop of post-Famine Dublin and imperial London, the opera explores the messy power plays of agency, class, and colonialism tied to queer Anglo-Irish identity
Emily & Sue - More Than Friends: A Triptych on Queer Love Through the Ages
Emily & Sue is an a cappella pop opera/musical by composer Dana Kaufman (danakaufmanmusic.com) and librettist Aiden K. Feltkamp with an accompanying film featuring Jasmine Muhammad and the Iris Trio directed by Ron Bashford and produced by Four/Ten Media.
Emily & Sue focuses on the little-known romantic relationship between Emily Dickinson and her sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Dickinson. Emily spent much of her life in seclusion and particularly in her room, where Emily & Sue takes place. Letters between Emily and Sue, as well as Emily’s poetry, document an intimate relationship that wasn’t socially acceptable or legally recognized in 19th-century Massachusetts; the plot of Emily & Sue extrapolates from their correspondences.
Emily & Sue was commissioned by Amherst College (which owns Dickinson’s house) and is available for downloading and streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp & Adhyâropa Records. A film version of the opera, filmed in Dickinson’s actual bedroom, has been screened at events around the United States. The opera has been performed at Amherst College, the National Opera Center, and the NYU Free Play Festival, as well as by Lowbrow Opera Collective. Emily & Sue was also Finalist for “Noteworthy Project.” OPERA America Digital Excellence in Opera Award.
Glitter Balls
This opera project aims to depict queer (LGBTQ+) experiences through opera, and to do so queerly. Its source material is real-life stories, collected ethnographically; the compositional, staging and design processes are multistylistic, conceived to challenge traditional models of expression and spectatorship. Diversity and representation are ensured through a rich network of collaborations, with a particular focus on ungendering voice and on the possibilities offered by trans voices.
Harvey Milk Reimagined
The opera begins with Harvey Milk's assassination, interwoven with a scene of his mother warning him as a boy. As a young man, Harvey follows a man into Central Park and is arrested. On Wall Street, he grapples with his gay identity and reflects on the connection between being Jewish and gay. After witnessing the Stonewall riots, he resolves to live authentically. In the 1970s, he moves to San Francisco’s Castro district. Through flashbacks, we see his first unsuccessful campaign for city supervisor; encouraged by his partner Scott, Harvey gains confidence and cuts his hair, signaling a fresh start. After witnessing a gay-bashing incident, Milk urges the community to elect one of their own; he wins a seat on the Board of Supervisors alongside Dan White. Their relationship becomes tense, especially when Milk supports policies like a gay rights ordinance. White resigns but later returns; Milk convinces Mayor Moscone not to reappoint him, triggering White’s rage. On November 27, 1978, White assassinates Moscone and Milk. In the aftermath, a candlelight vigil commemorates Milk’s life and legacy; the opera ends symbolically with a young Harvey breaking free from handcuffs, representing the impact of his death and the progress it inspired.
La Calisto
The king of the gods, Jupiter (Giove), becomes obsessed with the nymph Calisto, a follower of the chaste goddess Diana. To seduce her, he disguises himself as Diana. The plan works, and in the disguise, the "lesbian" seduction of Calisto takes place. Meanwhile, the real Diana falls in love with the shepherd Endimione. When Jupiter's wife Juno discovers the affair, she transforms Calisto into a bear out of jealousy. The opera ends with Jupiter transforming Calisto into the constellation Ursa Major.
Les Bienveillantes (The Kindly Ones)
A retelling of Aeschylus's Oresteia set during WWII. The protagonist, Max Aue, a refined, homosexual SS officer, participates in the war's atrocities while being haunted by his past. He is coerced into service after being caught in a Berlin park, and his story includes episodes like the Babi Yar massacre and an incestuous affair with his sister Una. The Eumenides (Furies) are represented by a pair of detectives who trail him
Night Sweat (subtitled A Romantic Comedy in Two Acts)
The play is a dark satirical comedy set in a high-tech gay club called the "Coup de Grace," which stages elaborate, fantasy death scenes for its members—men who are living with HIV/AIDS. The protagonist, Richard, a man recently diagnosed with AIDS, is offered a defiant and stylish alternative to a slow, impersonal death, though the satire ultimately challenges the audience to consider the crisis's underlying causes
Orlando
Based on Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel, the opera follows Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabethan England who, after waking from a trance, transforms into a woman. The story spans three centuries, during which Orlando travels, writes poetry, and navigates changing gender roles. The libretto weaves Woolf’s words with new text, focusing on the fluidity of gender, the construction of identity across time, and the resistance to fixed categories. The stage features a single countertenor who embodies both male and female Orlando, accompanied by an ensemble that comments like a Greek chorus.
Outside
On the early morning of June 28, 1969, at a bar in Greenwich Village, a small group of friends—including a drag performer, his boyfriend, a reporter, and a bartender—grapple with personal decisions about living authentically while the distant sounds of the Stonewall uprising grow ever closer.
Pleasure
The one-act opera is set in a gay nightclub "somewhere in England" and centers on Val, a long-suffering lavatory attendant who serves as a confidante and mother figure to the club's patrons. Val is trapped in the club's hedonistic underworld by her memories, while the drag queen Anna Fewmore presides over the cabaret performances. The drama unfolds when Nathan, a tormented young man with a blade in his pocket, arrives seeking answers about his absent mother. He begins a relationship with Matthew, a hopeful hedonist. The story explores themes of pleasure as an escape from reality, rejection, and reconciliation, building to a tragic conclusion.
SWANN
The digital opera short depicts an intimate evening at the abode of William Dorsey Swann, the first self-identified "queen of drag," leading up to his detention and conviction in 1896 for "keeping a disorderly house." The work presents two irreconcilable worldviews simultaneously: a joyful party hosted by Swann, represented by a rich baritone voice; and the Voice of Justice, the arresting officer, hauntingly sung by a countertenor
Shutters: A Lesbian Rock Opera
The story follows Saving Liz, a young, idealistic punk rocker singer-songwriter in 1996 London who sets out to "change the world" through music. Unable to succeed in a patriarchal industry, she falls for country singer Billie Parker, leading to a 20-year relationship filled with love, ambition, and compromise. Interwoven is a meta-theatrical subplot about a 1950s Hollywood producer trying to make a film about the same subject, featuring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The story is told against the backdrop of world events like the death of Princess Diana and 9/11
The Hours
The opera intertwines a single day in the lives of three women from different eras: book editor Clarissa Vaughan in 1999 New York, novelist Virginia Woolf in 1923 England, and housewife Laura Brown in 1949 Los Angeles. Their stories are connected through Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa prepares a party for her close friend Richard, a writer dying of AIDS. Laura, feeling stifled by domesticity, contemplates suicide while reading Mrs. Dalloway. Virginia, struggling with mental illness, begins writing the novel while also battling suicidal thoughts. The stories culminate with Richard's suicide, Laura's eventual abandonment of her family years later, and the three women acknowledging their connection across time
Thirst - More Than Friends: A Triptych on Queer Love Through the Ages
A 10-minute chamber opera for two femmes. Jill wakes up gasping next to her girlfriend Jacqueline in the middle of the night. In a magical journey that ensues, the two are forced to face the unspoken tensions in their relationship. Prompted by the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill," one person in the relationship is thirsty and can't get a drink—a metaphor for something larger than just a glass of water.
Tip the Ivy
The opera follows two hustlers named ! (Xclamation or X) and Alphabet who communicate through Polari, a coded queer language developed in the UK when homosexuality was illegal. Warned by an oracle that their language and subculture will soon vanish, they set out to record their adventures, an effort that ultimately fails. A parallel subplot follows time-traveling characters communicating through numeric codes in a future where they search for a home and sense of connection
Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball)
The opera is set in 18th-century Stockholm. King Gustavo III (or Governor Riccardo in the Boston version) is secretly in love with Amelia, the wife of his best friend and secretary, Renato (Anckarström). A fortune-teller, Ulrica, prophesies that Gustavo will be killed by the next person who shakes his hand. Moments later, Renato rushes in, and Gustavo clasps his hand, dismissing the warning. Meanwhile, a group of nobles plot against the king. Later, during a secret meeting between Gustavo and Amelia, Renato discovers his wife's infidelity and joins the conspiracy. At a grand masked ball, Renato stabs Gustavo. As the king lies dying, he forgives everyone and assures Amelia of her honor.
Écho et Narcisse
The nymph Echo is in love with Narcissus, but the god Apollo also desires her. Jealous, Apollo casts a spell on Narcissus, causing him to fall in love with his own reflection. Echo, believing he has rejected her for a water goddess, dies of a broken heart. The spell is broken, and a remorseful Narcissus is about to kill himself when Cupid reunites the lovers in a final happy ending
A Love Cycle: Songs of Happiness, Heartbreak, Hope, and Healing (often shortened to A Love Cycle)
The song cycle is an outpouring of emotions—betrayal, heartbreak, and love—following the loss of a love that never left. From happiness to heartbreak to hope to healing, each song paints a different picture in the confusing cycle of love. The composer describes it as "simply my emotions expressed through the wonderful poetry of different languages and poets as well as the sheer beauty of black and white notes waiting to be shared by vocalist and pianist."
ANDY: A Popera
A multi‑media, cabaret‑opera hybrid inspired by the life, fame and philosophy of Andy Warhol. The work is not a straight‑forward biography but a retrospective of Warhol’s legacy, exploring his rise, his celebrity‑infused Factory, and his transformation into a global brand. It features singing soup cans, Marilyns, a banana, and contemporary versions of Warhol’s “superstars” – Valerie Solanas, Candy Darling, and Edie Sedgwick – as well as Warhol’s mother, Julia. The action moves from a twelve‑step meeting to a raucous Factory party (Act I), then to Warhol’s hospital room after the 1968 shooting (Act II), ending with a reflection on fame, violence and mortality. The audience is integrated through selfies, on‑screen appearances, and direct interaction.
And He'll Be Mine
A cycle of seven songs for tenor and piano on poetry by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The cycle explores love in its various aspects: secret love, the loss of love, fleeting love, and life-long love. The composer has "inverted the sexual intention of the texts," which is a queer approach to the material.
Before Night Falls
A powerful narrative centered on the life of Reinaldo Arenas, a gay Cuban poet, novelist, and political dissident. The opera, framed by Arenas dying of AIDS in New York in 1990, flashes back to trace his journey: escaping rural poverty to join the revolution, only to be disillusioned and imprisoned by the Castro regime for his dissident writing and homosexuality. It follows his escape during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, his life in the United States, and his ultimate suicide
Brokeback Mountain
In the summer of 1963, two young men—ranch hand Ennis del Mar and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist—meet while working as sheep herders on the fictional Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming. Alone in the vast, rugged landscape, their initial friendship develops into a tender, secret love affair. After their time on the mountain, their paths diverge as they both choose to lead conventional lives, marrying and starting families. However, they cannot truly separate from each other, and over the following years, they maintain a hidden relationship while grappling with their feelings and a deeply homophobic society. The story follows their struggle to reconcile their love with societal expectations, culminating in a tragic and inevitable end
D[x]n Pasquale
When the miserly millionaire Dawn Pasquale tries to disenfranchise her nonbinary nibling, Ernie, on the basis of prejudice, the young artist's two kink-positive lovers must resort to hilariously extreme measures of drag, distractions, and deception to try to open Pasquale's mind and heart. This new English translation takes the original opera's themes of disapproval and familial rejection and reimagines them through a queer lens, giving the story a much-deserved happy ending.
Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose or The Rose-Bearer), Op. 59
The opera is a comedy in three acts set in 18th-century Vienna. It tells the story of the young Count Octavian, lover to the aristocratic Marschallin, who is asked to act as the "Rosenkavalier" (Rose Knight) for the boorish Baron Ochs, presenting a silver rose to his intended bride, Sophie. Octavian and Sophie fall in love instantly, leading to a comic intrigue to free Sophie from her engagement to Ochs, facilitated by the Marschallin, who ultimately steps aside and blesses the young couple's union
El Público
A married theatre director, Enrique, is preparing a production of Romeo and Juliet but is haunted by visions of his former male lover, Gonzalo. Gonzalo urges him to abandon social conventions and stage the “theater under the sand” – a raw, truthful art that exposes hidden desires. When Enrique finally casts a boy as Juliet, the public’s reaction turns so violent that it sparks a revolution. The opera is a surrealist, openly homosexual cry against bourgeois hypocrisy and a plea for artistic and sexual freedom.
Fire Shut Up in My Bones
The story follows Charles, a young Black man from Louisiana, as he confronts his past. At 20, he drives to his childhood home, armed and contemplating revenge for the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his older cousin, Chester, when he was seven. The narrative unfolds in flashbacks, exploring his poverty-stricken childhood, his mother Billie's struggles, the family's dysfunction, and his teenage years where he grapples with his identity and sexuality. After a failed baptism, a college relationship, and a moment of crisis, he ultimately chooses forgiveness over vengeance, finding peace and reconciliation with his mother.
Grindr: The Opera
A sung-through, satirical musical about the impact of the gay dating app Grindr on modern relationships. We meet Grindr, a mythical siren and god-like figure awakened by technology, who feeds on human lust and manipulates her gay devotees. The story follows four archetypal gay men using the app: Devon, a romantic looking for love; Tom, a cynical user open to no-strings-attached fun; Jack, a hedonistic twink; and Don, a closeted, self-loathing, and married older man. As their paths cross, their storylines ultimately collide in a campy crescendo
I have missed you forever
In a theater, a group of people gathers for a memorial service. As in any funeral tradition, each individual has a different memory, image, or idea of the person being commemorated, who fulfilled many different roles and carried many unseen experiences. Gradually, multiple voices rise to share their story—voices of those who have been rejected, persecuted, or forgotten. They form a procession of stories, speeches, and music: all different in nature and time, but moving as one, united. The narrative explores themes of loss, oppression, and the celebration of life, guided by a dog as a symbol of protection and connection
Le Balcon
The story is set in a luxurious brothel, "Le Grand Balcon," where clients pay to act out their fantasies of power. The line between roleplay and reality blurs as a revolution rages outside. Madam Irma and her prostitutes become the new figures of authority, eventually taking on the very roles their clients were simulating
Les Mamelles de Tirésias (The Breasts of Tiresias)
The young Thérèse, tired of being a housewife, transforms herself into the general Tirésias: her breasts become balloons and fly away. She ties up her husband and dresses him as a woman, then leaves to campaign against childbirth. Fearing the depopulation of France, the husband decides to have children without women, giving birth to 40,049 babies in one day. Overpopulation leads to famine. A fortune teller (Thérèse in disguise) resolves the crisis, and the couple reunites, joining the cast to urge the audience to procreate.
ORFEAS2021
The first openly gay prime minister of Greece, Orfeas, decides to marry his partner, Euri, but in response, unidentified forces brutally beat Euri to death. Orfeas journeys to the underworld (a "Museum of Supernatural History") to bring his lover back. The gods agree to restore Euri, but only on the condition that the two men cannot marry, which they deem an affront to Greece's culture and traditions. Ultimately, Euri chooses not to return to life, certain that he would suffer the same fate again
Orontea (also L'Orontea)
In the prologue, Philosophy and Love argue over who has more power over mankind. Queen Orontea of Egypt has sworn to never fall in love, much to the dismay of her advisor, Creonte. When the young painter Alidoro arrives at court seeking refuge, both the Queen and the courtesan Silandra immediately fall for him. Adding to the confusion, the slave Giacinta, disguised as a boy named Ismero, arrives at court and admits to organizing an ambush on Alidoro. As passions and jealousy escalate, Orontea is forced by Creonte to reject Alidoro, who is later revealed to be the long-lost son of the King of Phoenicia, a revelation that paves the way for a happy ending for all.
Peter Grimes, Op. 33
In a small fishing village in the 1820s, the fisherman Peter Grimes is an outsider suspected of abusing his young apprentices. At a coroner's inquest, he is found innocent of the death of his latest apprentice, but the community's hostility only grows. Desperate for a normal life and the respect of his neighbors, he acquires a new boy from the workhouse. When this second apprentice dies during a storm, the town forms a mob to hunt Grimes down. Driven mad, he is convinced by his only friend, Captain Balstrode, to sail his boat out to sea and sink it. The next day, the village's indifferent daily routine resumes when a coastguard reports that a boat has been sighted sinking off the horizon
Pleasure
The story takes place in a hedonistic gay nightclub in an unnamed city in northern England. It centers on Val, the club's toilet attendant, who has worked there for decades and serves as a confessor to the clientele. She is much-loved but viewed as an enigma. Why is she still there? Why does she never leave? The central drama begins when a young, unpredictable man named Nathan leaves a gift for Val, setting off a wild and violent night. The story interweaves the lives of Val, the cynical drag queen Anna Fewmore, and two young patrons, Matthew (a hopeful hedonist searching for love) and Nathan (a tormented soul obsessed with tales of his absent father, who carries a blade in his pocket). The story builds to a tragic conclusion, fueled by themes of rejection, escape from reality, and a fragile possibility of reconciliation
Salome (Op. 54)
Salome, the stepdaughter of King Herod, flees the banquet hall and becomes obsessed with the voice of the imprisoned prophet Jochanaan. When he rejects her advances, she demands his head as a reward for dancing the Dance of the Seven Veils. Her wish is granted, and in the final scene, she passionately kisses the severed head, after which the horrified Herod orders her execution.
Stonewall
The story follows a diverse group of fictional characters as their lives collide at the Stonewall Inn on a hot night in June 1969. Part I explores the life of each character in the hours leading up to the riot, establishing the oppressive atmosphere of 1960s New York. Part II sees the police raid the club, which the patrons initially endure but then revolt against after being pushed too far. Part III takes place the morning after, as the characters, aware that something momentous has occurred, await the new dawn
The Stonewall Operas
Four short operas created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising. 1. Nightlife (TJ Rubin / Deepali Gupta): Inside the Stonewall Inn, a police raid exposes a closeted lesbian, a reclaimed slur, addiction, and a coming‑out. 2. Outside (Bryan Blaskie / Seth Christenfeld): In a bar near Stonewall on the night of Judy Garland’s funeral, police extortion and sexual abuse lead to an uprising. 3. The Pomada Inn (Brian Cavanagh‑Strong / Ben Bonnema): Two gay couples – one in 1969 New York, another in 2019 Madrid – are compared; the bar as sanctuary, safety concerns and police raids. 4. The Community (Kevin Cummines / Shoshana Greenberg): 400 years in the future, after an apocalypse, the only surviving artefact is a book about Stonewall, which has become a cult; polyamory is the norm, “queens” are sacred, dissident characters want monogamy and solitude – a queer utopia turned dystopia.
Three Decembers
A famous stage actress, Madeline Mitchell, and her two adult children, Charlie and Bea, struggle to connect across three decades: 1986, 1996, and 2006. The drama unfolds over three Christmases, as family secrets are revealed. Charlie is in a relationship with his partner Burt, who is dying of AIDS, and feels his mother is distant because he is gay. Bea, trapped in an unhappy marriage, seeks comfort in alcohol. Over the years, they grapple with their mother’s career-driven neglect, the truth about their father’s suicide, and ultimately, a fragile reconciliation
Turning Turandot
A contemporary, queer reimagining of Giacomo Puccini's unfinished opera Turandot. The work confronts what its creator, composer Olivia Hyunsin Kim, describes as the racist, sexist, and discriminatory elements of the original melodrama. The stated intentions are "We will make Turandot sexy again!" and "to settle accounts with the patriarchy that has dictated the rules in the opera world." The approach is informed by queer characters, immigrant backgrounds, and People of Color (PoC). The adaptation does not alter Puccini's music but reassigns vocal roles by swapping genders: Calaf becomes a soprano, Liù becomes a fragile tenor, and Turandot herself is transformed into a virile baritone.