New opera based on the internationally bestselling novel by John Irving
Music and Libretto by Luna Pearl Woolf
Translated into more than thirty-five languages, A Prayer for Owen Meany is Canadian-American Author John Irving’s all-time best-selling novel, in every language.
The novel begins:I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death…
Following Johnny Wheelwright, his friend “THE VOICE” Owen, and John’s fiery cousin Hester, the opera captures Irving’s dynamic, often hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking moments and characters, escalating to the climatic episode that reveals the miracle of Owen Meany’s faith and power. John is left to endlessly feel the impact of Owen’s overwhelming belief, in an increasingly unfathomable world. Meanwhile Hester’s on-stage grunge-rock stardom is her outlet for grappling with the unthinkable.
Musique 3 Femmes seeks co-commissioners and co-producers for a new full-scale opera by composer/librettist Luna Pearl Woolf. A GRAMMY Award-nominated artist (Fire and Flood: 2021 Best Classical Compendium), she has received opera and oratorio commissions from leading companies across North America, including Toronto’s Tapestry Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Perelman Performing Arts Center at New York’s World Trade Center.
CAST/FORCES:
Featured:
OWEN – Soprano
JOHN – Baritone
YOUNG HESTER – Mezzo
DAN – Tenor
REVEREND MERRILL – Tenor
RECTOR WIGGIN – Soprano
Company:
TABITHA / CAMP COUNSELOR 1 – Soprano
OLD HESTER – Mezzo/Contralto
HARRIET / COACH / CAMP COUNSELOR 2 – Baritone
MR. MORRISON / DICK – Bass-Baritone
Ensemble
Youth/adult ensemble includes COUSINS, LITTLE LEAGERS, FAN GIRLS, CAMPERS
Orchestra
30-40 players
Duration
Two acts, 140 minutes
DEVELOPMENT:
Libretto, commissioned by M3F, workshopped in collaboration with Pacific Opera Victoria and the National Theatre School of Canada. (2024-5)
Act I music composition and piano workshop. (2026)
Act II music composition and piano workshop, Orchestral workshop. (2027/2028)
Premiere co-production period (2027-2030)
RIGHTS:
The rights to adapt the novel are secured. John Irving supports the project and has been in regular contact with the creation team.
For more information, please contact Kristin Hoff, Artistic and General Director, M3F
kristin@musique3femmes.com
John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times, winning in 1980 for The World According to Garp. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for In One Person. Internationally renowned, his books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. A Prayer for Owen Meany is his best-selling novel, in every language.
John Irving is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. He lives in Toronto.
Luna Pearl Woolf 