Production notes state that Enoch Arden is a "haunting, powerful story of love and loss" for which "Richard Strauss wrote a rich and powerful score to accompany the poem. His music colors the text evoking different moods and characters (the original meaning of melodrama). Music, poetry and narration bring to life this emotionally charged drama of love, passion, and desperate, fateful choices."

The story itself follows the lives of three friends in an 18th century English fishing village. The events that follow include an unlikely love triangle and a shipwreck. It has been described as a "powerful testimony to true love." Michael York has performed the piece to great acclaim nationally and internationally. This presentation marks the West Coast Premiere of his Enoch Arden.

In the second half, York is joined by a cast of life-size puppets by the Rogue Artists Ensemble. Together they "enter the wild, wacky, eerie world of modern composer H. K. Gruber's Frankenstein!!, a 'pan-demonium' for chansonnier and orchestra, where childhood fantasies collide with adult nightmares."

This double bill will run for 3 performances at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, CA. A lecture will precede each performance, starting one hour before curtain.

For more information, visit www.longbeachopera.org

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Photos contributed by Doris Koplik, Keith Ian Polakoff, Tyler Stamets and Pat York.

Michael York with a Rogue Artists Ensemble disembodied head and the "head" of Richard Strauss

Lead Puppet Designer Joyce Hutter		Artistic and General Director Andreas Mitisek

Michael York in an early rehearsal for Enoch Arden

Rogue Artists Ensemble conceptual artwork by Patrick Rubio

Michael York with his Rogue Artists Ensemble "friends"