Christopher Cerrone's Invisible Cities beguiles LA

Nearing the end of a sold-out run at Los Angeles' historic Union Station, composer Christopher Cerrone's opera Invisible Cities, based on Italo Calvino's dream-like novel, has won critical acclaim, audience praise, and fans from artistic and technological circles alike.

The site-specific production directed by Yuval Sharon and presented by The Industry in collaboration with LA Dance Project brings the performers and the audience into an active, constantly shifting public space -- a train station, where travelers, musicians, dancers and audience members engage in rippling circles of interaction. Performed live with an 11-person orchestra, the music is directed into wireless headphones (provided by Sennheiser) so that audience members may freely wander the entire space, choosing their own vantage points.

"A delicate and beautiful opera...it could be, and should be, done anywhere."
- Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times, Oct. 21, 2013

“Charismatically disorienting and downright dazzling."
- Lyle Zimskind, LAist, Oct. 29, 2013

"Invisible Cities may be thematically timeless, but it represents the leading edge of operatic innovation — a bold effort to create individualized experiences within the context of a communal performance.”
- Jeffrey Marlow, Wired, Oct. 22, 2013

"Cerrone dared to turn something with an abstract, poetic structure into a subtle and beautiful musical meditation on travel, cultural differences, death, and memory."
- Christian Herzog, LA Weekly, October 29, 2013

“Christopher Cerrone's music is lyrical and rigorous and points the words with skillful felicity and no little gorgeousness."
- Myron Meisel, The Hollywood Reporter, Oct. 21, 2013

The remaining (sold-out) performances of the opera include two performances on November 8 and a just-announced second extension on November 10, with a first-come, first-serve FREE performance at 6pm, and a ticketed performance at 9pm. (A first extension included a free performance and a ticketed performance on Nov. 3.) Click here for more schedule and ticket information, and on the image above to watch a video preview of this extraordinary opera.