Before It All Goes Dark
VIETNAM VET CONFRONTS A LOOTED PAST
In 2002, Howard identified and located the heir to a priceless art collection looted by Nazis from a Jewish man murdered in the Holocaust. The heir turned out to be a Chicago-area Vietnam veteran battling PTSD and Hepatitis C who was subsisting on disability checks. Determined to reclaim the stolen art, Gerald McDonald flew to Prague with Howard and learned startling truths about himself and his heritage. Seattle-based Music of Remembrance commissioned composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer to bring Howard’s “Mac’s Journey” stories to the operatic stage, with a world premiere tour in May 2024 in San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago.
Credit: Courtesy of Music of Remembrance.
Howard with Jake Heggie, composer of “Before It All Goes Dark”
What They Say
The opera ‘leaves us thinking of larger, universal issues of identity and acceptance.’
– Musical America
‘It was an eloquently poignant performance with universal echoes.’
– Opera Magazine
Kimiko’s Pearl
Image courtesy of Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts
