Opera Paraíso
National Sawdust and New Latin Wave present Paraíso, a poetic work of overlapping thoughts sung by a mother and child, Paraíso stems from the true story of a woman from Puebla, Mexico, who, in the George W. Bush era, crossed the Texas border with her infant to join her husband in New York City.
This cross-generational, cross-cultural story traces the impact of America’s shifting border policies and rhetoric through the personal lens of its two characters’ lives. It grapples with immigration at the US/Mexico border, and the larger political and economic issues that determine who gets to cross, who doesn’t, and under what conditions.
Paraíso is possible thanks to the invaluable support of: Ford Foundation, National Sawdust, Abrons Arts Center, Razaque Josephine Fund, Atlas Digital, Impronta, and Teenage Engineering. Produced by NLW Presents and National Sawdust
Intro, Ana de Archuleta, Remarks.
3:10 - You Are Apart From Me (Mother)
5:03 - We Were Always Meant For Distance (Mother)
9:32 - The Coyote Does Not Care (Mother)
13:40 - Bush Speech
16:12 - Run, And Don’t Look Back (Mother)
23:50 - Crawling With Each Other (Mother and Child)
28:05 - Was I Supposed To Be Here? (Mother and Child)
30:50 - If You Ask To The Landscape (Child)
32:15 - Obama Speech
36:05 - The Trouble Of Belonging (Child)
42:02 - Another Part Of Myself (Child and Mother)
44:38 - Borderlands Seem Nothing (Child)
48:38 - Radioactive Signals (Child and Mother)
52:54 - One Is A Kind Of Dust (Child)
55:58 - Trump Speech
1:00:21 - How Do I Share The Dream (Child and Mother)
Composed by Sokio
Poems by Natasha Tiniacos
Libretto by Sokio and Natasha Tiniacos
Arrangements by Sokio, in collaboration with the ensemble.
Melisa Bonetti, as The Mother
stefa marin alarcon, as The Child
Shayna Dunkelman, Percussion
Adele Fournet, Keyboards
Brandon Lopez, Bass
Amanda Riesman, Cello
Conducted by Raquel Acevedo Klein
Wardrobe design by Lucia Cuba
Portraits by Catalina Kulczar
AI generated images by Sokio
Video projections by Andrea Wolf
NATIONAL SAWDUST TEAM
Ana De Archuleta - Managing Director
Alex Barnes - Senior Producer & Artistic Administrator
Marielle Iljazoski - Venue Production & Technical Manager
Daniel Dominguez - Sound Engineer
Bruce Steinberg - Lighting Designer
Jimmy Dewhurst - Qlab Operator
Carlton Bright - Video Operator
Damien Moffitt - Sound Assistant
Frank Meadows - Sound Assistant