DIVAS

by Laura Neill

When nine contemporary singers bond over how they're treated as women and artists, they summon nine great opera divas from across three centuries who are locked together in the afterlife, fighting for their freedom and the soul of opera. Packed with true stories, DIVAS is a poignant showcase of larger-than-life women whose voices reverberate across the centuries.

When nine contemporary singers bond over how they're treated as women and artists, they summon nine great opera divas from across three centuries who are locked together in the afterlife, fighting for their freedom and the soul of opera. Packed with true stories, DIVAS is a poignant showcase of larger-than-life women whose voices reverberate across the centuries.

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DIVAS

Character Information

  • Adelina
    Adelina Patti. Soprano. 1843-1919. Wealthy and confident. Embodied the ideal of the “angel in the home” in the Victorian era.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Sissieretta
    Sissieretta Jones. Soprano, 1868-1933. Smart, sincere. A Black woman with a career during US Reconstruction era; toured vaudeville for twenty years when whites in the US prevented her from gigs on main opera stages.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Lina
    Lina Cavalieri. Soprano, 1874-1944. Friendly, determined, beautiful; rose from poverty to fame. Also a popular silent movie star.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Jenny
    Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt. Soprano, 1820-1887. Religious, rose from poverty to fame. Known in the U.S. as the “Swedish Nightingale.”
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Sophie
    Sophie Arnould. Soprano, 1740-1802. Known for her wit. Survived the French Revolution.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Geraldine
    Geraldine Farrar. Soprano, 1882-1967. “True actress,” American, extremely popular with thousands of young female “Gerryflappers.”
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Pauline
    Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Mezzo-soprano, 1821-1910. Intellectual, collected. Composer as well as singer, used to having things under control.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Maria
    Maria Malibran. Mezzo-soprano, 1808-1836. Pauline's sister, wildly emotional, fierce; died young.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Parasha
    Praskovia Ivanovna Kovalyova-Zhemchugova. Soprano, 1768-1803. Cautious due to having been held captive as a Russian serf, “freed” by her master-husband, resourceful.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Pianist
    The silent PIANIST accompanies the divas when they sing arias or duets.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Commission, OperaHub, 2017

Production History

  • Professional, OperaHub, 2019