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Modern Opera Company to Present World Premiere of Felix Jarrar’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’

By David Salazar

Modern Opera Company will celebrate its second season in Los Angeles with the world premiere of Felix Jarrar’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” on October 24 and 25 at the Highland Park Ebell Club.

Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s famed short story, Jarrar’s opera reimagines the gothic classic through an LGBTQIA+ lens, exploring grief, obsession, and the blurred line between morality and madness.

The semi-staged, on-book performances will feature Christina Kushnick as the troubled Narrator and Gabriel Manro as The Old Man. The cast also includes Agnese Gallenzi as the Page, Alexandra Marie Bass as the Inspector, and Manfred Anaya as the Raven. The production is directed and produced by Jessica Tivens-Schneiderman, with Chris Maldonado serving as conductor and music director.

Jarrar previously composed an adaptation of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which premiered in 2016. He also created works around other Poe works, including “The Oval Portrait” and “The Cask of Amontillado.”

“Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most important artistic influences in my life,” Jarrar told OperaWire. “Seeing an adaptation of his story ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ when I was 11 inspired me to have the dream of writing an opera because I wanted so badly to write an operatic adaptation of this tale. After the successful premiere of my opera in 2016, I emailed my mentor Rosalie Purvis at the time, who taught my dramaturgy and libretto writing as an undergraduate student at Marlboro College. It was probably not even a week after ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ had closed in 2016, and I remember waking up from my sleep thinking about ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’ The idea of the heart beating that no one but the Narrator can hear inspired me to look into Poe again.
“I then started writing ideas down. Three years later, I had finally finished the first draft of the libretto in 2019. In the course of the three years, the story transformed into a queer narrative in which the Narrator kills the old man, her father, because he does not accept her for who she is and who she loves. I utilized lots of poetry by Poe and his contemporaries such as Hawthorne, along with lines adapted straight from the story itself. I also added in a few contributions of my own text-wise, the most important of which is the Narrator’s final aria ‘Villains!'”

Founded in 2018, Modern Opera Company began in New York City as a platform for artists to perform concert versions of 20th-century opera and musical theater. The company relocated to Los Angeles in 2021.

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By David Salazar

Prior to creating OperaWire, DAVID SALAZAR, (Editor-in-Chief) worked as a reporter for Latin Post where he interviewed major opera stars, Oscar nominees, Golden Globe winners and film industry giants.

David holds a Masters in Media Management from Fordham University. During his time at Fordham, he studied abroad at the Jagiellonian University in Poland. He also holds a dual bachelor’s from Hofstra University in Film Production and Journalism.

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