Review in OperaWire of NY Premiere, January 13th, 2023:
“‘Both Eyes Open' demonstrates the strength of opera as an art form and its contemporary relevance. The audience gets crushed by history throughout Duykers' and Gotanda’s opera. It hurts to think about it, and it is challenging not to feel ashamed. It is unusual to hear nothing at all when a show ends. So it was in the Flea Theater. Until the cast took their bows to resounding applause, it appeared like few in the crowd knew how to react."
-OperaWire
Please download our current press release:
Write-ups for Both Eyes Open:
NY January 2023:
OperaWire
Broadway World
SF June 2022:
Broadway World
SF Arts
California Humanities
SF Gate
Local New Matters Bay Area
6Park News Arkansas
SF Standard
SF Station
East Bay Express
Previous reviews for the cast and creators of
Both Eyes Open:
Philip Kan Gotanda
“[Gotanda’s] work is graceful, elegant, open-hearted, and economical. His intentions are serious, his ambitions are worthy, and his observations about human nature are particularly acute. These are surprising, beautiful plays, deserving of both readers and audiences.”
— Tony Kushner
Suchan Kim
“commanded each scene he appeared in with a focused, muscular baritone and brought the house down with a virtuosic portrayal of the increasingly drunken servant, Germano.”
— Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times
Kalean Ung
“Ms. Ung however, was the most devastating. She was outstanding as the confused newlywed brought down by lies and envy.”
— -Erin Fair, Discover Hollywood
John Duykers
“Tenor John Duykers, a memorable Mime is LBO’s Ring cycle, was warmly sympathetic as the doctor, exhibiting the proper medical authority and avuncular charm while singing beautifully.”
— Long Beach Gazette
Ben Makino
“Ultimately, the glory of “The Love Potion” is Martin’s magnificent score, which Benjamin Makino conducted meticulously. Makino, consistently sensitive to the work’s exquisite timing and placement of dynamics and color, made the most of the composer’s subtle chamber orchestra textures.”
— Rick Schultz, The Los Angeles Times
Max Duykers
“It combines intellectual rigor with sheer physical pleasure as well as metaphysical transcendence. It is music that is deeply conscious of all the music that has come before it, but is very clearly music of our time while also offering some intriguing suggestions about where the music of the future might beckon.”
— Frank J. Oteri
Kwame Braun
“Kwame Braun’s animations lend a blurry ambiance with floating flecks which could be anything from snow to dappled light to explosive sparks to flowers in a field to dust in a storm. The fanciful air that swirls around Charlie and Mary is crucial to showing the vastness of their feelings and their fate. “This is bigger than either of you!” the backdrop seems to murmur.”
— A.L Adams, Oregon Art