Hopscotch pressrelease may 19 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2015

THE INDUSTRY RELEASES DETAILS FOR “HOPSCOTCH,” A WORLD PREMIERE OPERA IN CARS, OPENING OCTOBER 31 * * * * * * Presented by The Industry, in Cooperation with Sennheiser, Southern California Institute for Architecture, and 5D World Building Studio

* * * * * * Tickets go on sale Wednesday, September 16 at www.HopscotchOpera.com LOS ANGELES (May 19, 2015) – What if a car became the tool for a transformed view of your own city?

After the runaway success of INVISIBLE CITIES, The Industry, LA’s home for new and experimental opera, will move audiences in a whole new way with its latest project Hopscotch, an audacious new operatic experience that takes place inside a network of crisscrossing cars throughout the cityscape of Los Angeles. The first-ever car opera, Hopscotch makes its world premiere on Saturday, October 31 for a limited run through November 15. Because the live performance will be experienced inside the vehicles, tickets will be limited.

Performance dates for Hopscotch are Oct. 31, Nov. 1, Nov. 7, Nov. 8, Nov. 14, and Nov. 15. There will be three performances each day. Low-price previews will run October 3-25. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Wednesday, September 16. Donors of $1,000 or more will receive early ticket access. Donations can be made at the Hopscotch website: www.HopscotchOpera.com.

“After embedding opera into the everyday life of LA’s Union Station in Invisible Cities, we’re now turning the entire city of Los Angeles as the stage for Hopscotch,” said Yuval Sharon, director of Hopscotch and artistic director of The Industry. “By disorienting the audience’s experience of the city, we want Hopscotch to consider driving a metaphor for understanding identity, community, and love.”

A large-scale collaboration created with six Los Angeles-based composers (Veronika Krausas, Marc Lowenstein, Andrew McIntosh, Andrew Norman, Ellen Reid, and David Rosenboom) and six writers (Tom Jacobson, Mandy Kahn, Sarah LaBrie, Jane Stephens Rosenthal, Janine Salinas Schoenberg, and Erin Young), and featuring more than 100 artists—not to mention 24 drivers, Hopscotch tells an original story of a disappearance across time. Additional music for Hopscotch is composed and performed by Michelle Shocked, Odeya Nini and Phillip King.

The audience can experience the work in both the intimacy of a car, where artists and audiences share a confined space; or for free at The Central Hub, a large pop-up outdoor structure at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in downtown Los Angeles. At The Hub, all 24 journeys are livestreamed simultaneously to create a dizzying panorama of life in Los Angeles while allowing a much

larger audience to experience the performance. The Central Hub is being created with technical support

by Sennheiser and Bexel Audio Specialists.

The opera is divided into three distinct 90-minute routes. Patrons will embark on multiple journeys to secret destinations while experiencing a patchwork of scenes both inside and outside the vehicles. Each journey tells eight chapters of one master narrative, with each car offering a new experience. Hopscotch makes each audience member the protagonist of their own experience, offering both an unforgettably intimate experience inside the car and a spectacular overview of LA for a larger audience at The Central Hub. Hopscotch follows up on The Industry’s widely acclaimed INVISIBLE CITIES, a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Music and the subject of an Emmy-winning documentary. An innovative collaboration with Sennheiser, INVISIBLE CITIES gave audience members wireless headphones to discover the singers and dancers among the everyday life of LA’s Union Station. Selling out before opening night, the production became a cultural sensation in Los Angeles resulting in international attention.

Hopscotch is being independently produced by The Industry with generous support from individual patrons and foundations. The piece is commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting. Yuval Sharon’s ‘Director’s Chair” is underwritten by Stephen Block, Leslie Lassiter, and Raulee Marcus.

Leadership support for Hopscotch comes from the Aileen Getty Foundation. Major support is also provided by Mary Ann O’Connor and Stuart Meiklejohn, and Daniel Lewis. Additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional commissioning support for Ellen Reid is provided by OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

ABOUT THE INDUSTRY Founded and led by director Yuval Sharon, The Industry is an independent, artist-driven company creating experimental productions that expand the traditional definition of opera and explore new paradigms for interdisciplinary collaboration. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times writes “The Industry is quickly and dramatically becoming an essential component in American opera. It’s now indispensable to the LA scene.” The Industry’s inaugural production, Anne LeBaron and Douglas Kearney’s Crescent City, was instantly hailed as “reshaping LA opera” (Los Angeles Times). In October 2013, The Industry staged the world premiere of Christopher’s Cerrone’s award-winning Invisible Cities. Experienced via headphones at Los Angeles’ iconic Union Station, the production became a runaway success, completely selling out all 13 performances before opening night. Lauded as "the opera of the future" by WIRED Magazine, the production received awards across multiple disciplines, including an Emmy Award, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Music, Ovation Award nominations and acceptance to the 2015 Prague Quadrennial. By merging media and through interdisciplinary collaborations, we produce works that inspire new audiences for the art form. We believe that new opera opens space for imagination, engagement, dialogue, and connection. The Industry serves as an incubator for new talent and for artists predominantly based in Los Angeles. For more information visit: www.TheIndustryLA.org. ### MEDIA CONTACTS: Samuel Threadgill MPRM Communications for The Industry sthreadgill@mprm.com 323.933.3399