FULL SYNOPSIS
Scene I: Los Angeles. Tao’s childhood home, which doubled as a restaurant downstairs which her mother owns and works at.
Young Tao shows her mother a page from her science homework after school where she sees a photo of Mars for the first time. She expresses her wonder of space and desire to become like those astronauts who first stepped foot on the moon. Her mother, hard at work even while chronically ill, takes the time to encourage her.
Scene II: Present Day, Mars, 20XX. The surface of the Red Planet.
The Pathfinder Spacecraft has just landed on Mars and from it emerges Tao, now an adult, who has been selected by the Pathfinder Space Program to be the first human to visit Mars and terraform it. She takes her first steps off the spacecraft and admires the sight of Earth, now a tiny dot among the stars. (aria: Another leap) As she sets up the terraforming device, her celebration is cut short by a call from the space program. She expects Cynthia, the head of the program, but is instead greeted by Darreon Hawthorne, a world-famous tech billionaire. With obnoxious enthusiasm, he announces his purchase of the entire space program, where he has taken full control effective immediately. He requests she halt the terraforming process and return to Earth so he can take over. Uncompliant, Tao demands to speak to Cynthia, but finds the whole team has been laid off and replaced with Hawthorne’s associates. Hawthorne, now more frustrated, demands she return, claiming he is the right man for the job and suggests leaving terraforming a planet to the professionals. He also goes so far as to offer a large sum of money as a bribe.
Scene III: Los Angeles. Tao’s childhood home.
Hawthorne’s offer triggers a flashback to Tao’s childhood where she is asking her mother why her family can't afford things other school kids can, and why her food isn’t as fancy as her friends’. She gets thoroughly scolded by her mother for her temper tantrum. Adult Tao feels a tinge of shame but nevertheless resists the offer.
Scene IV: Present Day, Mars, 20XX. Inside the Pathfinder.
Unintimidated, Tao chooses to remain on Mars to begin terraforming. This causes Hawthorne to unleash a more unhinged and aggressive side of himself. (aria: Who do you think you are?...I have reached the pinnacle) Hawthorne threatens to cut all communication and leave her stranded on Mars if she does not comply, saying he'll come ship her corpse off back to earth and pick up where she will inevitably fail. He ends the call, giving her one day to decide. His assistant attempts to diffuse the situation back in his office, but to no avail. (Hawthorne, monologue: The Orca and the Shark) Tao and Hawthorne separately dwell on what’s at stake. (duet: Another leap Reprise) Tao, now truly alone, is left to decide her fate as well as the fate of Mars as the sun sets on the Martian surface.
Scene V: Present Day, Earth. Hawthorne’s office.
Hawthorne reflects on his views of his own worthiness and his frustration of having someone so small in his eyes be such an indominable barrier. (aria: Power maketh the man) His assistant walks in him and Hawthorne hatches a new plan to bring Tao back to earth. (Hawthorne, monologue: To be remembered)
Scene VI: Tao’s childhood home. The restaurant front. (Dream Sequence)
Tao has a nightmare where she is abandoned on Mars while her family asks why she’s abandoned them. She is then transported to the day she learned she was selected to go to Mars, and bursts through the front doors of the restaurant to tell her sister and aunt, only to discover her mother passed before she could tell her the news. Tao wakes up in a panic attack and is filled with grief and guilt and is left seriously considering giving into Hawthorne’s demands. (aria: Mom, I don’t know what to do)
Scene VII: Present Day, Mars, 20XX. Inside the Pathfinder.
Tao wakes up to the Martian sunrise and receives a call from Hawthorne, who is awaiting her final decision. With a newfound fire, she refuses for the final time. As Hawthorne looks as though he has run out of options, he threatens Tao’s family, saying he will take over her family's restaurant and leave them on the streets. Dismayed in knowing the restaurant is all her family has, she presses that he has no idea how much her family has sacrificed. Before Hawthorne can lash out any further, his assistant notifies him of an important call.
Scene VIII: Hawthorne’s office.
Hawthorne learns his father had just passed away. He replies apathetically with "is that all?" but changes attitude when left alone. A flashback to his childhood shows Hawthorne with his father where he saw a clear night's sky for the first time, and his father showing him Mars as a red dot through a telescope. His Father tells a Young Hawthorne that one day if he works hard enough, he will have enough money to travel to Mars and become its ruler to make a place where children never have to live in poverty again. (Father, monologue: I can’t give you the world, but I can give you this)
Hawthorne gets back on the call, and as Tao is about to accept his deal, he announces that he has had a change of heart and she can begin the terraforming process and come home after, no strings attached.
Scene IX: Before Tao’s departure to Mars, Los Angeles. Tao’s childhood home. Tao’s Mother is resting, unresponsive and very ill in her bed with Tao at her side.
The scene shifts to a flashback of Tao at her childhood home a year before her departure to Mars. The restaurant is run by her entire family as she pursues a career as an astronaut, and the neighborhood has modernized while the restaurant and house have remained more or less the same. Tao has applied for the space program and waits anxiously as she tends to her ailing mother. She looks at her mother and ponders if she’s being selfish by chasing her dreams while the rest of her family has sacrificed so much to support her and the restaurant. Her mother wakes up and offers her words of support (aria: I am so proud). Adult Tao looks up to the sky and tells her late mother that she was able to achieve all she has set out do.
This work's concept and central aria (Another leap) were created as part of Really Spicy Opera's Institute for Composers & Librettists: Sci-Fi Edition.
WORK SAMPLES
Tao's Aria: Another Leap
performed by:
Bridget Ann Johnston (mezzo-soprano)
Jodi Goble (piano)
Commissioned by Really Spicy Opera's Aria Institute for Composers and Librettists: Sci-Fi Edition (2024)
Hawthorne's Aria:
I have reached the pinnacle
performed by:
Daniel Chiu (baritone)
Dura Jun (piano)
Tao/Hawthorne Duet: One Day
(Another Leap Reprise)
Midi Performance
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Composer
Writing vocal music is my passion. My father was a poet, so working with text is a special treat for me. I have been writing art songs and choral music since 2019 and completed over 30 art songs and over 30 choral pieces.
In 2022, I have released a crowd-funded CD of my art songs Lift Up Your Hearts with Joel Snyder (baritone) and Arianna Lutes (mezzo-soprano). The same year, I started writing operatic works. Since then, I have completed with an award-winning librettist Germaine Shames a 12-minute operatic monologue Bomb Squad Rhapsody, which is a tribute to the veterans (premiered in September 2022); a 30-minute chamber opera Unbroken (a workshop premiere in March 2024), and am working on our opera FirstBorn Son.
I participated in the 2022, 2023, and 2024 installments of the Really Spicy Opera’s Aria Institute which resulted in fruitful collaborations with several librettists. After we initially met at the workshop with the Philadelphia-based librettist and operatic soprano, Alize Rozsnyai, we finished a chamber opera One Stop Short in the Summer 2024. One of the most recent arias I am proud of, “Another Leap,” was written as a part of the Aria Institute for Composers and Librettists’ 2024 June SciFi Edition in collaboration with the librettist and bass singer Robert Feng. This aria blends opera and music theatre with some jazz flavor. Inspired by the success of “Another Leap,” Robert and I decided to develop together the opera Pathfinder. Robert is a wonderful collaborator that I am fortunate to work with, and the three arias we have completed so far can be called a marriage of words and music.
Librettist
My writing has been described as “relatable and fresh”, my comedies noted for being “quick-witted and layered”, and my horror as “hauntingly engaging”. I use both heightened and colloquial language depending on the character and context. I also quote bits of what inspires my stories as Easter Eggs (e.g., my opera Having Guests for Dinner briefly quotes real life cannibal Armin Meiwes’ interviews interwoven with the character of Christoph Aberfeld).
Belonging to a historically excluded group, I constantly work to push this industry toward a more inclusive direction, so that the stories we tell and who gets to tell them are as diverse as the audiences today. In Fall 2023, I performed in a production of An American Dream (Perla/Moo) where, after one performance, a woman from Singapore said this was the first time she’d seen someone who looked like her on an American stage. I write to let the next generation of performers, creators, and dreamers know that people who look like them are welcomed on the stage. My love for horror, comedy, and fantasy interweaves with my perspective as an Asian-American, enriching the inclusivity and diversity of opera as it evolves, while still preserving its essence.
My body of work includes 7 operas (5 of which have been commissioned and/or performed), 1 oratorio, 3 song cycles, and 2 art songs. Most notable are my operas Having Guests for Dinner (comp: Nick Bentz, commissioned by Kor Productions, performed at Hillman Opera SUNY Fredonia in 2023), Salmo (comp: Nick Bentz, commissioned by Brown University for 2026/27), Chew on This (comp: Yunfei Li, commissioned by Lyric Opera of KC & No Divide KC in 2024), and a commission by Boston Opera Collective for 2026.
A WORD ABOUT THE WORK FROM THE LIBRETTIST
First, let me say thank you so much for your interest and reading about this story!
During my years at Peabody Conservatory, I was able to visit my grandmother (Nai Nai – Father’s side) in Maryland more frequently, and every time I did she would often share stories of when she attended opera performances or listened to them on the radio (both Chinese and Western style opera). When I sang for her in her retirement home, I never felt it was a necessity nor a burden, only something that I wanted to share with her because I knew she loved it so much. She was also the first person to see me perform a named role and drove with my grandfather to Peabody for a concert version of Le nozze di Figaro. Despite her not knowing a single word of Italian and there being no subtitles, she was able to cry, laugh, and enjoy the opera. It was then when I began to understand that singing, and opera in particular stands as a unique form of storytelling, enabling me to transcend language barriers and communicate universal themes and emotions, fostering understanding and empathy across cultures.
Back home in Hawai’i, I lived with my grandmother on my mother’s side (PoPo) where, once she learned I could sing, requested her favorite tunes that I would gladly perform for her every day – sometimes multiple times a day! I would always sing to her as she came up the stairlift to go on her daily outing (we keep active in my family!) and as she came home and went back down, and then closed the evening with a song as she went to bed. I don’t think there was a single performance of mine she missed while I was a Young Artist at Hawai’i Opera Theatre. Despite her small and frail appearance at an age over 90, there was nothing remotely frail about her.
Both of my grandmothers received late-stage cancer diagnoses that put them in hospice care. PoPo received hers during my last year at Hawai’i Opera Theatre, where I was to leave for a contract on the East Coast after my final performance of La Bohème. It was the hardest decision for me to make and one that filled me with immense guilt at times as I knew this would likely be the last time I’d be with her. I think PoPo knew when she randomly said to me one day how proud she was that I was able to do what I love for a living. The last thing I ever did for both of them was sing their favorite songs over the phone (Amazing Grace and Some Enchanted Evening respectively) as they were in their sickbeds.
All of this is to say I owe everything to these two women – my strength, drive, courage, and compassion – and I know I am not the only one who feels this, or has lost a dear loved one. I hope to give back to Nai Nai and PoPo by honoring their impact on me through this story and hopefully letting others see themselves in Tao.
- Robert
Barbara Ching, "PoPo" (August 16, 1929 – May 23, 2024)
