Handel's Xerxes ~ Langworthy Theatre

University of Northern Colorado College of Performing and Visual Arts/ Opera Theatre 2009 

Creative Team

Directed by Brian Clay Luedloff
Brie Vicek ~ Scenic Designer
Alex Lambert~ Costume Designer
Devin Watts ~ Lighting Designer

Performances on the Set

(Watch Below, Click the Lower Right Corner to Enlarge the Video Image or Watch on YouTube)

Music Directors Russell Guyver and Caley Harris
Video and Audio Production Director Steve Jackson

Performers:
Joseph Young
Carol Money
Kristina Abernathy 

Music by Georg Friedrich Handel; Libretto adapted from Silvio Stampiglia

Concept

The concept for this show was to modernize Handel’s Serse and to apply the story to 1970’s Iran. More of this show was about using historical research and art history to populate a functional setting. Serse’s palace was the palace of the shaw with the great tree and a reflecting pool the only reminders of both nature and corrupted power in this desert climate. Beyond the palace the city is depicted in a translucent drop, which by the end is overcome by the industrialization and modernization of this crumbling and ancient world. Arabic script, protest posters and the image of the Ayatollah become visible in the ground row as the unrest grows. Finally, two large moving columns enter and exit vertically through their capstones to effortlessly change scenes.

Production Photos

Process and Detail Shots

Drafting (Scanned)