Fort Worth Opera will present five composer and librettist teams whose unpublished works have been selected for the company’s seventh annual, critically-acclaimed new works series, Frontiers, which is generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Held during the final week of the 2019 Fort Worth Opera Festival, these selected pieces will be presented in two separate showcases. Featuring 15-25 minute excerpts of each selected piece, the five new operas will be sung by artists from the 2019 FWO Festival with piano accompaniment.

Selected pieces include:

• The Hatfield-McCoy Triptychs: Set deep in the Appalachian Mountains, on the border between good and evil, composer and librettist Steven Aldredge’s The Hatfield-McCoy Triptychs recounts the epic American story of betrayal, love, and the destructive force of revenge as it scorches a trail of unspeakable violence across generations.
• Behold the Man: In August 2012, during the depths of the Global Recession an elderly woman in the village of Borja, Spain, attempts to restore a little-known and long-ignored fresco of Jesus in her local church. Discovered before she’s finished, her botched image goes viral, ascending to the cult status of “Internet Sensation.” Composer Paul Fowler and librettist Andrew Flack’s Behold the Man explores how artist Cecilia Gimenez’s efforts helped revitalize the economy of a struggling town. Was it a miracle? Great outsider art? A selfless act of faith? Or just another internet meme?
• Death of a Playboy: Composer and librettist Brian Rosen’s Death of a Playboy takes place at the graveside funeral of the original cad, Hugh Hefner. A former playmate, whose charitable foundation depends on the financial support of the recently deceased, prepares to give a eulogy. The only challenge is that she hates his guts. As she debates with her husband, she is confronted with a dilemma as to whether it is wiser to speak her truth or to play nice?
• Triangle: Based on a play by the mysterious playwright Jane Martin, composer and librettist Tony Solitro’s Triangle, follows Joyce, a woman who finds herself in a love triangle. She isn’t concerned. She knows exactly how to handle the situation. When she learns the “other woman” is a goddess, she begins to unravel. How can she compete with that?
• Albert Nobbs: An adaptation of the classic novella by George Moore, composer Patrick Soluri (Buried Alive, 2016 Festival) and librettist Deborah Brevoort’s Albert Nobbs is a gender-bending story about a butler in a 19th century Irish hotel who hides a secret: he is really a she. When her identity is discovered by another woman posing as a man, Albert begins a desperate search for love and identity that leads to despair and ultimately her death. This riveting story was also adapted into a critically acclaimed film starring Glenn Close and Janet McTeer, which was nominated for three Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards.