The Highway (an opera noir in four scenes) “The Highway on the Left” (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 Scene 1, James is on his way to Chicago; when he meets Dave and Melody, things do not end well. Douglas Purcell (tenor) is James, with Cynthia Zielski (soprano) as Melody and Alan Arak (baritone) as Dave. The conductor is Thomas Duffy, with stage direction by Paul Schick.