American Lyric Theater has over twenty operas available to license, developed at ALT and written by alumni of the Composer Librettist Development Program.
Details on each opera, including perusal materials and media samples, are available below. You may also search for operas available for production by the categories listed, including chamber operas, family friendly operas, and operas written by BIPOC and Female creators.
Categories
World Premiere Available
BIPOC Creator(s)
Female Creator(s)
One Act
Full Length
Piano Only
Chamber Opera (<18 Musicians)
No Chorus
With Chorus
Children's Roles
Family-Friendly
School Touring
Composers
Peter Ash
Clarice Assad
Jeremy Howard Beck
Alla Borzova
Christopher Cerrone
Justine F. Chen
Gerald Cohen
Jay Anthony Gach
David T. Little
Evan Meier
Jeff Myers
Theo Popov
Kamala Sankaram
Jeffrey Dennis Smith
Patrick Soluri
Jorge Sosa
Andy Tierstein
Michi Wiancko
Librettists
Tony Asaro
Deborah Breevort
Rochelle Bright
Julian Crouch
Stephanie Fleischmann
Rob Handel
David Johnston
E.M. (Ellen) Lewis
Kate Light
Quincy Long
Lila Palmer
David Simpatico
Laura Sosa Pedroza
Donald Sturrock
Royce Vavrek
COMPOSER: Johanny Navarro
LIBRETTIST: Marcus Yi
Shakespeare meets Monty Python in Working for the Macbeths, a riotous look behind the tragedy we think we all know. After three witches prophesize the downfall of Macbeth, Florinda - Lady Macbeth’s Lady-in-Waiting - is determined to fight fate and give the Macbeths the happy ending they deserve. Can destiny be changed, or is the play doomed to repeat itself?
COMPOSER: Alex Weiser
LIBRETTIST: Stephanie Fleischmann
Inspired by the darker, grittier stories by Sholem Aleichem not included in Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye’s Daughters centers on the tale of the beloved milkman’s younger daughter Shprintze, who falls in love with a young man above her station.
COMPOSER: Jasmine Arielle Barnes
LIBRETTIST: Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton.
Everyone has heard of Rosa Parks, but she wasn’t the first to refuse to move. She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950s.
COMPOSER: Patrick Soluri
LIBRETTIST: Quincy Long
In this iteration of the Bible story, Adam and Eve meet in a mental hospital where they play out, in their distorted but deeply human fashion, the age-old story of mutual attraction.
COMPOSER: Christopher Cerrone
LIBRETTIST: Tony Asaro
Hera, Queen of the gods, suspects Echo of having an affair with her husband, Zeus. Echo plots to entrap Zeus with Cupid's arrowhead—a magic weapon that when used, will cause the wounded to fall in love with the next person they see.
COMPOSER: Jeff Myers
LIBRETTIST: Quincy Long
What might Edgar Allan Poe write if he were alive today? This is the question American Lyric Theater asked of four gifted emerging writers for the opera stage with The Poe Project, a double-bill that includes Buried Alive and Embedded.
COMPOSER: Patrick Soluri
LIBRETTIST: Deborah Brevoort
What might Edgar Allan Poe write if he were alive today? This is the question American Lyric Theater asked of four gifted emerging writers for the opera stage with The Poe Project, a double-bill that includes Buried Alive and Embedded.
COMPOSER: Kamala Sankaram
LIBRETTIST: Rob Handel
In this scientific romance about the birth of the first computer program, Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron, must choose between her passionate marriage and the chance to collaborate with the eccentric mathematician Charles Babbage.
COMPOSER: Peter Ash
LIBRETTIST: Donald Sturrock
Based on the novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
The critically acclaimed, tuneful and engaging evening-length work based on the fable of a small boy, a chocolate factory and its mercurial owner, Willy Wonka, is a perfect introduction to opera for audiences of all ages.
COMPOSER: Theo Popov
LIBRETTIST: Tony Asaro
Based on the novel, The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury
Led by a mysterious guide, a group of children undertake an unforgettable journey to find their friend Pipkin, who has disappeared on Halloween night. This magical, evening-length, family-friendly opera is an idea presentation for the Halloween season!
COMPOSER: Jeff Myers
LIBRETTIST: Royce Vavrek
A twisted tale of art to the extreme, The Hunger Art is the story of a couple who starves themselves as the ultimate form of expressionism.
COMPOSER: David T. Little
LIBRETTIST: Royce Vavrek
JFK explores the final twelve hours of the 35th president’s life and time spent in Fort Worth, Texas.
COMPOSER: Jorge Sosa
LIBRETTIST: Laura Sosa Pedroza
Drawing its narrative from the drug trade in Mexico and the United States, this electro-acoustic opera, with text in Spanish and English opera, is inspired by some of the most vivid real life players in this increasingly violent war from the past and present.
COMPOSER: Justine F. Chen
LIBRETTIST: David Simpatico
Commissioned by American Lyric Theater in 2012 to commemorate the Turing Centennial, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing is an evening-length opera inspired by the life of the groundbreaking computer scientist, Alan Turing.
COMPOSER: Jeremy Howard Beck
LIBRETTIST: Stephanie Fleischmann
Based on the memoir, The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life that Follows, by Brian Castner
A deeply personal exploration of a soldier’s return from Iraq, where he served as an officer in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.
COMPOSER: Kamala Sankaram
LIBRETTIST: David Johnston
Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers fuses monkey stories from India, China, and West Africa to tell the story of Monkey and his brainy sister Francine.
COMPOSER: Michi Wiancko
LIBRETTIST: Deborah Brevoort
An opera for audiences of all ages, Murasaki’s Moon is inspired by the life and work of Lady Murasaki, author of the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji.
COMPOSER: Jay Anthony Gach
LIBRETTIST: Royce Vavrek
With each passing day, Nora's life as farmwife to Lars becomes more and more difficult to endure, and her escape inside Victorian literature becomes more and more consuming.
COMPOSER: Theo Popov
LIBRETTIST: Kate Light
Based on an old Russian folktale, Once Upon the Wind is a powerful musical fable that reflects upon the moral implications of playing with nature.
COMPOSER: Justine F. Chen
LIBRETTIST: Rochelle Bright
Charles Darwin's most controversial work — On the Origin of Species — to publish, or not to publish? This intimate opera features a libretto sourced from Darwin's own private letters and his greatest written works.
COMPOSER: Clarice Assad
LIBRETTIST: Lila Palmer
Through a beloved fairy tale, young audiences (and those who are young at heart!) are taken on a magical journey about the power that kindness has to transform, and that empathy has to bridge the gap between who we appear to be and who we truly are.
COMPOSER: Gerald Cohen
LIBRETTIST: David Simpatico
One hundred years ago, The Great Nuclear Holy War devastated the planet. Now, Adam and Evangeline, the last two people on Earth, safeguard the global seed depository deep inside in the Doomsday Botanical Seed Vault.
COMPOSER: Evan Meier
LIBRETTIST: E.M. (Ellen) Lewis
A giant is dead, and his body lies at the base of a great beanstalk. The police believe young Jack is responsible. But the boy insists that he's innocent. Can the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his colleague, Dr. Watson, untangle this magical mystery?
COMPOSER: Andy Tierstein
LIBRETTIST: Julian Crouch
An old married couple meet in an ancient orchard where The Tree of Eternal Youth has produced an apple, a bite of which, will return just one of them to their former youthful state. Each of them falters, but when the God Pan appears disguised as a woodsman, he persuades the old man to take a bite of the apple while his wife sleeps…
COMPOSER: Alla Borzova
LIBRETTIST: David Johnston
A humorous look at morality and convention, The Wedding Gift of Pirate Granny takes place on a Caribbean island in the 17th Century.