Dark Places - Philadelphia Fringe Festival

Dark Places

The Perspective Collective

Theater, Music

The Perspective Collective presents Dark Places, a musical and dramatic journey into some dark places through song and ‘opera.’ These include not only physical spaces, but the capacity for darkness within the self as well. Along the way we might encounter a dark forest, a prolific serial killer, a recluse trapped by unsettling visions, and a wanderer trying to escape haunting memories. At the end of the road, we may encounter the devil himself in Stephanie Leotsakos’s mini-opera adaptation of Young Goodman Brown. Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, it is the tale of a pious villager in Puritan New England who ventures deep into the woods one night, and discovers a sinister secret that will call into question everything he believes in. Join us – if you dare!

In addition to Stephanie Leotsakos’s Young Goodman Brown, the performances will also feature songs by Libby Larsen, Rosśa Crean, and Michael Leibowitz.

Since 1978, the Friends of Laurel Hill has continued to serve as stewards of two historic cemeteries as well as curating year-round programs, tours, and events. Laurel Hill East is a Victorian cemetery founded in 1836, a National Historic Landmark, and an immersive outdoor performance environment for shapeshifters and taphophiles.

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Details

Run Time: 60 mins

Ticket Price: $15

Venue: Laurel Hill East Cemetery Dates: September 17, 2023

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September 17, 2023 7.00pm

3822 Ridge Avenue

General Admission: $15

About the Artist

ABOUT THE PERSPECTIVE COLLECTIVE (TPC)
“Each rousing vocalist had dynamic operatic range, reach, and a quietly theatrical éclat. These qualities shined whether attending to foreign language numbers such as the arching, dirgelike melodicism and hurt, blasé lyricism of, respectively, Weill and Maurice Magre on “Je ne l'aime
pas, ” or to Bowles’s English-language rendition of Gertrude Stein’s note to him, “Letter to Freddy.” - Broad Street Review (The Perspective Collective, Stranger in a Strange Land, Philly Fringe 2017)
Since 2016, this chamber ensemble has had a grassroots evolution. Members Erin Brittain, Rachael Basescu, Grant Mech & Patrick Fink have presented recital, cabaret operatic & theatrical works throughout New York City, & along the East Coast including Princeton/New Jersey, Philadelphia/Pennsylvania, & Asheville/North Carolina. Their recital concert, Stranger In A Strange Land, performed at the 2017 Fringe Arts Festival in Philadelphia, drew praise from the Broadstreet Review, for their “clear and tender renderings” of art song written by and from the perspective of immigrants and refugees.
TPC has commissioned and premiered several mini-opera projects. In 2018 the TPC premiered Michael Leibowitz’s, For Love of Country, a dark fable inspired by the real-life story of Maria Buttina, the Russian spy who infiltrated the NRA to influence American politics, to sold out audiences at the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival in North Carolina. In 2020, TPC returned to the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival to premier Pripyat, a one act opera by composer Sunny Knable about the fallout (literally and figuratively) of the 1986 Chernobyl Disaster. TPC kicked off 2022 with a workshop performance of Stephanie Leotsaka’s mini-opera adaptation of Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s haunting short story about the mistrust and dark secrets hiding w

Accessibility & Content Considerations

Contact the Fringe Festival Box Office for up to date accessibility information.

This event is appropriate for ages 13+

While no violent content is directly performed, there is a set of art songs where a serial killer describes his doings. There is a scene of suggested devil worship that may be considered too much for some audiences.

Covid-19 Safety policy

This event does not require proof of vaccination to attend or masks to be worn