Following the postponement of “The Many Deaths of Laila Starr,” composer Kamala Sankaram released a statement via social media.

The composer said, “My name is Kamala Sankaram, and I’m the composer of ‘The Many Deaths of Laila Starr.’ As you may have heard, the opera was supposed to premiere this weekend but has now been postponed to a future season due to ongoing negotiations with the orchestra. Thank you to everyone who has reached out – it is incredibly disappointing to have worked on something of this size for years and to come so close to opening without being able to premiere it.” 

She added, “For people who don’t know the situation intimately, I can imagine this story will be reduced to a ‘company vs orchestra’ narrative. Instead, I’d like to center the people who are most vulnerable in this situation and are not being represented in the conversation around it: the 50 members of the principal cast, chorus, dancers, and supers, as well as the entire creative team, who are all freelancers. This is the most beautifully diverse rehearsal process I have ever been a part of. Many of the people onstage – particularly the South Asian members of the cast – are making their debuts in opera.  I was very excited to welcome them into the art form, to say that this art can and does belong to you and your stories. They have been working tirelessly for the last month to get the show on its feet. It is incredibly complex, with 200 costumes, moving set pieces, and even an aerialist. For me, the worst-case scenario was imagining them backstage on opening night, not knowing if they were going to be allowed to perform – and then being told there had been a walkout.” 

“It seems incredibly cruel that they would be forced into such uncertainty, particularly since most people had family members flying in for the premiere. There was a no strike/no lockout agreement on the table that would have allowed us to move toward opening without this uncertainty overshadowing the work that everyone has been doing, but that agreement was not accepted. Given that, the only responsible way forward was to postpone, and I’m thankful Minnesota Opera has chosen to protect the people who are most vulnerable in this situation. I am so grateful for the heart, talent, and commitment every single one of these artists has brought to the piece.” 

“The Many Deaths of Laila Starr” was postponed weeks after the Minnesota Opera Orchestra authorized a strike after the opera company’s management proposed a second consecutive four-year contract with no wage increases. As a result, the Minnesota Opera announced that all artists, including orchestra musicians, would be paid their fees for this season’s production as originally contracted

“The Many Deaths of Laila Starr” was set to be performed between Oct. 31 and Nov. 8, 2026 and was set to star Leela Subramaniam, Omar Najmi, Efraín Solís, Mariam Mouawad, Ashraf Sewailam, and Emily Finke.

 

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