SYNOPSIS:
Four Seasons follows Charisse (Nia Fairweather) and Braxton (David J. Cook) as they navigate the high and low tides of their relationship. It is a peek into what happens when expectations and things left unsaid collide.

Will they be able to ride the seasons of change or be crushed by them? Only time will tell.

A four movement symphonic work for full orchestra honoring the eras of Hip Hop’s development through the decades.

Hal King is a coming of age film musical, based on Shakespeare’s King Henry IV, loosely set in the US during the jazz era. Hal, the son of a community leader, lives the high life running with drug addicts and fast women. But after being drafted for the Korean War, he comes home as a changed man and falls in love with his father’s political rival.

“Unsung Activist” is a mini opera for film that was created by Steve Wallace who also plays the main role. It is a 10 minute homage to the life, work and personal struggle of Houston civil rights activist Eldrewy Stearns who helped stage the first sit-ins in Houston leading to the desegregation of the city.

Commissioned by Opera in the Heights
Music and Libretto by Steve Wallace

PLOT
Houston, Texas, 1959. Eldrewey Stearns, a law student at Texas Southern University, is pulled over by the police. The officer discovers a photo of a white woman in Stearns’s wallet and beats him mercilessly. Stearns appears before city council in protest and captures the attention of the press. A group of fellow student activists at TSU including Holly Hogrobrooks, John Bland, and Otis King look to Stearns as the charismatic leader they need to organize their fight for desegregation. Inspired by other protests in the South, Stearns leads a lunch counter sit-in, calling the press and the police to ensure their visibility and protection. Decades later, Stearns passionately tells his story, looking back on his fight for justice as the spark that led to the desegregation of Houston. The pride he takes in his accomplishment is evident, but so too, is the psychological toll of that fight.

“Undying Love” is a contemporary one act chamber opera by Steve Wallace, which premiered in Chicago on November 12, 2021, presented by Hearing in Color. The opera draws inspiration from the Nas song of the same title, exploring a tragic love story set in 1960s Queens, NY. It features a Black creative team and cast, with music by D-Composed Chicago.

The opera is based on Nas’s rap song “Undying Love,” which tells a tragic love story.

Setting:
The opera is set in 1960s Queens, New York.

Premiere:
It premiered on November 12, 2021, at the Kehrein Center for the Arts in Chicago