Night Trip

Opera NexGen returns for a second season with Night Trip

After a groundbreaking first season pioneering the scope of live virtual performance, Opera NexGen presents Night Trip, a gripping new one-act opera from composer Carlos Simon and librettist Sandra Seaton.

Night Trip, the first of two productions in the 2021-2022 season, is a one-night-only event streaming live on Saturday, December 11 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Night Trip runs approximately 20 minutes with no intermission. Following the performance, there will be a talkback with librettist Sandra Seaton and the cast/artistic team. Tickets are available at operanexgen.org/nighttrip.

Night Trip is conducted by Donald Allen Lee III and directed by Kimille Howard. The cast features Olivia Johnson as Conchetta, David Morgans Sanchez as Uncle Mack, William Powell III as Uncle Wesley, Erik Bagger as the Gas Station Attendant, and Michael Colman as the Police Officer. The cast and artistic team are joined by Ramsey Reyes on piano.

Originally commissioned by Washington National Opera for their American Opera Initiative, Night Trip takes place in 1958 and follows Conchetta, a young Black girl, as she joins her WWII veteran uncles on the road for a trip to visit family. Conchetta is soon faced with a new reality as her dreams collide with harsh truths that will change the way she sees her world.

“With our mission to find the next great opera singers and a drive for representative art, we decided to program Night Trip,” says Artistic Director André Chiang. “It strips away the veneer and shows what racism is in a fully fleshed out form. Opera and art are meant to entertain and challenge us to not only progress but remember. Night Trip is a powerful, necessary piece of opera, and we are incredibly proud to be producing it.”

Night Trip is followed by a women-led production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice presented during International Women’s Month, conducted by Chelsea Gallo and directed by Lauren Lenz. Performances will run Friday, March 4, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. EST and Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. EST. 

Night Trip synopsis

Post-WWII, two veterans drive to pick up their niece, Conchetta, to go to a family reunion. The uncles regale her and each other with tales of the "good ole days" in the military before stopping for gas in Indiana which leads to an altercation about who can use the restroom and the uncles driving away without paying. Policemen quickly catch up to the car and Conchetta tries to stop the arguing by offering her food. One of the uncles deflects by giving the policemen the money they had in the car, and the officers drive away leaving an emotional mark on young Conchetta.

This production contains adult content including language, discussion of war, guns, and thematic elements of racially motivated police violence.