HOW TO LOOK AT THE OCEAN
(NOW I AM A FLOWER)

You can read and listen to an almost fully annotated script by clicking here.

How to Look at the Ocean (Now I am a Flower) is a multimedia opera featuring bar bands and choruses, performance poetics and monologues, acoustic and electronic music, video and acting.

It is the story of a young songwriter, Scotty, learning his craft and trying to find his way to the top of the bar band circuit. Along his journey, he must come to terms with the demons inside of him: his guardian, Leviathan, his idol, Shades McGlenn, and his enemy, The Wrinkler. Will he overcome the pressures of being a young songwriter, or will he end up drunk at the same shady bar for the rest of his life?

Featuring video by Tyler Dorson and Will Field, writing by Michael Newton and Ted Quinlan, and music and writing by Zeke Virant, this opera-thing sure is a gas!

SONGS FROM THE OPERA

1. LEVIATHAN
2. The Seashells Speak to Mother**
3. Dancing Seashells
4. Whistling in the Wind
5. The Wrinkler
6. THIS WILL BE THE DAY THAT I DIE
7. There You Are!

**Musicians on “The Seashells Speak to Mother" are----cello: Brent Lewis, viola: Zach Kussin, clarinets: Conor Brown & Samuel Israel, chorus: Lily Alison, Marc Auger, Meredith Hudak, Carl Kranz

Music and scripts by Zeke Virant
Writing in collaboration with Michael Newton and Ted Quinlan
With video by Tyler Dorson & Will Field

HOW TO LOOK AT THE OCEAN (NOW I AM A FLOWER) premiered on December 13, 2008 in the Old Gym at Bard College.

CAST (in order of appearance)

Orchestra

Chorus

Shades’ Band

The Wobbler (drums) Aaron Wistar
The Doctor (guitar) Jonathan Nocera
Taps Fahrenheit (bass) Daniel Fishkin

Tech

Will Field............ Video Tech
Sara Frier........... Stage Manager & Costumes
Kenji Garland..... Sound Tech
Michael Porter... Lighting