TT: Synchronicity

Contrary to the impression left by my recent postings, I do have another life in which the impending publication of Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington plays a purely peripheral part. Today, for instance, I'm flying to Louisville to rehearse the premiere production of The King's Man, my latest operatic collaboration with Paul Moravec , in which we tell the tale of the stormy relationship between Benjamin Franklin and his illegitimate son William, who opposed one another in the Revolutionary War (William, the royal governor of New Jersey, was a British loyalist).

It is--to put it mildly--somewhat disorienting to have an opera going into production just as you're preparing to publish a book. But I've been there before: The Letter, my first collaboration with Paul, was premiered by the Santa Fe Opera one month before Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong went to the printer, a coincidence that took at least a week off my life. So I know how to cope, insofar as coping is possible under such lunatic circumstances.

The King's Man is being presented by Kentucky Opera as part of a double bill that also includes the first revival of Danse Russe , our backstage operatic comedy about the making of The Rite of Spring, which was premiered two years ago in Philadelphia.

Needless to say, I'll be telling you a lot more about The King's Man between now and opening night, which is set for October 11. In the meantime, though, go here to buy tickets and here to read synopses of the two operas and a short essay that I wrote earlier this year about The King's Man.

See you in Kentucky!