In an era of digitally projected IMAX 3D movies, on-demand television and hyperrealistic, open world video games, the centuries-old art form of opera might appear to have become something of a technological relic. But in an effort to breathe new life into the medium, a trio of companies have come together to create something never before attempted: an opera whose soundscape exists entirely in the audience's headphones, and a performance that bleeds directly into the physical space of its surroundings.
Thursday night I attended the invitation-only private dress rehearsal for Invisible Cities, a collaboration between three complementary organizations: Los Angeles production company The Industry, the nonprofit L.A. Dance Project, and German audio company Sennheiser.
Rather than sitting down and watching a performance, attendees were equipped with wireless headphones and wandered the enormous main station hall—as well an adjacent waiting area and outdoor courtyard—following the similarly untethered performers as they emerged from all directions. There was no stage, no music broadcast over speakers, and no clear separation between performer and audience. This was opera made interactive.
Evan ShamoonDancers from the L.A. Dance Project perform an aspect of a many-faceted performance of the Invisible Cities opera.
As in its source, the 1972 Italo Calvino novel, this reimagining of Invisible Cities still takes place in 13th century Mongolia, but is here transported into Los Angeles' majestic transit hub, Union Station—while the station is actually operating. (For those who might be unfamiliar with it, Union Station is L.A.'s equivalent of Grand Central Terminal. Built in 1939, it's an enormous, spectacular piece of Art Deco architecture that stands as the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States.)
Evan Shamoon
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