Teatro Grattacielo presents its America 250 double bill, bringing together the world premiere of Jefferson Lives!and a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica on November 7 at 4:00 PM and November 8 at 3:00 PM at The Sam at The Flea Theater, 20 Thomas St, New York, NY, 10007. Tickets start at $60 and can be purchased at https://grattacielo.org/season/250-america-jefferson-lives.



Jefferson Lives! is Teatro Grattacielo’s first commissioned opera, created in collaboration with Polyhymnia, with music by Joshua Daniel Nichols, a libretto by Stefanos Koroneos, and concept and source material by James Harrigan. Receiving its world premiere as part of the national commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, the opera examines the American Revolution not as distant or fixed history, but as a living human and psychological experience.

Through the ghostly presence of John Adams and a modern figure drawn unexpectedly into the past, Jefferson Lives! traces the movement of revolutionary ideas from private thought into public action, revealing the doubt, moral pressure, and personal consequence behind America’s struggle for independence.

The world premiere is paired with Puccini’s Suor Angelica, presented in a new production shaped by memory, absence, and the lives of women whose voices have been silenced. In this interpretation, Angelica is the only living presence in a convent inhabited by ghosts—women who once obeyed, loved, and surrendered parts of themselves within a system that demanded submission.

Together, the two operas explore freedom from opposite but connected perspectives: Jefferson Lives! considers liberty as a civic and political struggle, while Suor Angelica examines its deeply personal and spiritual cost. An empire tightening its control and a convent demanding obedience become parallel worlds in which individual conviction is tested against institutions far larger than the individual.

Jefferson Lives! and Suor Angelica will be presented together on November 7 and 8, with one intermission.

Creative Team:

Joshua Daniel Nichols, composer

Stefanos Koroneos, Librettist

James Harrigan, concept & source material

Saverio Alfieri, conductor

Mai Camara, production manager

Camilla Tassi, projection designer

Amara McNeil, lighting designer

Angela Huff, costume designer

Cast:

Peterson Townsend, The Sleeper

Brian Jeffers, Tenor

RUNNING TIME

Jefferson Lives! runs for approximately 50 minutes and is presented together with Suor Angelica, with one 20-minute intermission.

Total running time for the double bill is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes.

ACCESSIBILITY

The Flea and all Teatro Grattacielo productions are wheelchair accessible and disability-friendly. Please contact us in advance for any specific accommodation needs.

Director’s Statement

Rather than presenting history as a fixed narrative, the opera approaches the American Revolution as a living psychological and theatrical experience. John Adams appears as a ghost shaped by memory and moral burden, while a modern Narrator—an accidental protagonist—finds himself overtaken by the history he thought he only knew. Moving fluidly between dialogue, monologue, music, and silence, the work transforms documented events into a dramatic journey that traces how ideas of freedom and resistance migrate from thought into action. Jefferson Lives! invites audiences to encounter the Revolution not as a monument, but as an unresolved human reckoning.​

About Polyhymnia

Polyhymnia is an interdisciplinary collective of scholars, composers, and artists dedicated to creating an unsafe space for the beautiful—a space where ideas challenge assumptions and where artistic and intellectual exploration can unfold freely.

They publish monographs, edited volumes, essays, peer-reviewed research, and original artistic work that examines the relationship between the arts, the humanities, and the American traditions of freedom and a dynamic cultural marketplace.

Through lectures, conferences, educational programs, podcasts, and seminars, Polyhymnia brings rigorous conversation about the fine arts, economics, politics, philosophy, and culture into the public square.

About Teatro Grattacielo

Teatro Grattacielo promotes the rich tradition of opera by commissioning new operas, revitalizing lesser-known works, and supporting emerging artists, making opera accessible to every corner of New York City and connecting with communities of all cultural, social, and economic experiences. The company presents fully staged productions alongside free community programming, giving living American composers a mainstage platform while welcoming new and diverse audiences into the world of opera through performances, education, and outreach across the city. Founded in 1994, Teatro Grattacielo has spent over three decades building on this mission, evolving from a company rooted in Italian Verismo repertoire into one dedicated to new works, reinvented old cannon, and the sustainability of the art form.

For more information and ticket purchases, please visit www.grattacielo.org.

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Facebook: @teatrograttacieloNYC | Instagram: @teatrograttacielo

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