The Highway (an opera noir in four scenes) “At Home” (excerpt)

Based on a tale by O. Henry, The Highway is a contemporary story of a young man’s attempt to forge an artistic life in the face of various difficulties.

New Music New Haven (Jacob Druckman, artistic director) and Yale Opera (Doris Yarick-Cross, artistic director) presented a semi-staged performance of this work with chamber orchestra at Yale on April 16, 1992. In this excerpt from the Prologue, James expresses his dream of making it in the music business. Douglas Purcell (tenor) is James, with Mary Phillips (mezzo) as Nikki and Michael Chioldi (baritone) as Mike. The conductor is Thomas Duffy, with stage direction by Paul Schick.