28 | SEPTEMBER 24 • 2020 

Y

uval Sharon, recently 
named artistic director 
of the Michigan Opera 
Theatre (MOT), has immersed 
himself in the current essence 
of the Motor City as expressed 
through his first production.
Twilight: Gods is being staged 
in the Detroit Opera House 
Parking Center so that audience 
members can watch from their 
cars while socially distancing.
The opera, conceived and 
directed by Sharon, is an adap-
tation of Richard Wagner’
s 
Gottërdammerung, The Twilight of 
the Gods. It transforms Wagner’
s 
six-hour piece into an hour-
long series of scenes with live 
singers and members of the 
MOT orchestra performing in 
intervals throughout the parking 
center.
Lyrics, sung in English, will be 
broadcast to car stereos.
“I thought this would be a 
great way to shift our focus 
away from the way we normally 
think of opera and go more 
deeply into how we experience 
our everyday lives,
” said Sharon, 
who has established an innova-
tive international career and will 
celebrate his 41st birthday in 
October, the month the produc-
tion is premiering. 

“The notion of doing an 
opera in a parking center 
felt closely aligned with my 
own vision for opera. I want 
to make sure we’
re constant-
ly creating pieces that will 
[renew and extend the audi-
ence] with people realizing 
opera can be an art form that 
truly is in the fabric of the 
city.”
Sharon hopes this piece will 
convey that art can lead and 
inspire people to think differ-
ently even in times of crisis. 
“It is ultimately about tear-
ing down the old world order 
so that something new can 
emerge — this notion that we 
need to clear away all of the 
structures and the systems 
that no longer serve humanity 
so that we can truly progress 
as a society,” he explained. 
The production stars 
Christine Goerke as 
Brünnhilde and has new 
narrative poetry by Detroiter 
Marsha Music and musical 
arrangements by Ed Windels.

ISRAELI FATHER’
S INFLUENCE
Sharon, who lived his first three 
years in Israel before his fam-
ily moved near Chicago, was 
introduced to opera at 13 by his 
late father. Although the new 
Detroiter was not taken with 
opera then, he enjoyed spending 
time with his dad. Years later, 
while studying theater and 
literature at the University of 
California, Berkeley, he became 
interested in venturing out to 
opera on his own.
“I took a lot of music classes 
as well and started thinking 
of opera as literature,
” he said. 
“Being able to read opera the 
way we read a book left a very 
deep impression on me.
”
After college, Sharon spent a 
year in Berlin, where he found 
opera very accessible. He saw 
many productions showcasing 
experimentation with little rev-
erence for the original pieces. 
“
After that, it was impossible 
to imagine doing theater with-
out music,
” Sharon said. “
Opera, 
because it is the intersection of 

so many different art forms, is 
actually the art form that has 
the most potential for speaking 
to contemporary life. I became 
really committed to opera as a 
living piece of our culture.
”
Sharon’
s early work respon-
sibilities were at the New York 
City Opera, where he moved 
among assignments for seven 
years. Assisting the general 
director and handling mar-
keting and production posts 
helped develo p his administra-
tive skills.
Sharon comes to MOT with 
many distinguishing credits. 
He has been honored with a 
MacArthur Fellowship, and he 
directed a landmark production 
of John Cage’
s Song Books at the 
San Francisco Symphony and 
Carnegie Hall. His production 
of The Cunning Little Vixen, orig-
inally produced in conjunction 
with the Cleveland Orchestra, 
was the first fully staged opera 
ever presented in Vienna’
s 
Musikverein.

INNOVATIVE STAGING
While in Michigan, he will hold 
on to his position of artistic 
director of The Industry in Los 
Angeles, where he has staged 
experimental opera with the use 

Arts&Life

music

Details
Twilight: Gods will be presented Oct. 17, 18 and 20 at the Detroit 
Opera House Parking Center. Tickets, at $79 per car, must be 
purchased in advance. (313) 237-7464. michiganopera.org.

New MOT artistic director, with 
Israeli roots, premieres adapted classic 
geared to city on wheels.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PAUL-DAVID REARICK

Twilight: Gods is being 
staged in the Detroit 
Opera House Parking 
Center
Live 
Opera

Goes Drive-Through

