Meshugene Divas

Meshugene Divas is an innovative performance concept, combining contemporary classical music, modern secular Jewish culture and theater, presenting them all in a laid-back cabaret setting.  The concert will feature new music by Boston-based composers Derek David and Osnat Netzer.

With singers Kimberly Soby (soprano) and Seth Gilman (baritone), chamber orchestra and Andres Lopera, conductor.

Scenes from the operas Ophelia [East-coast premiere], The Wondrous Woman Within [world premiere] and Israeli-Jewish inspired chamber music.

The two opera scenes in the program deal with the idea of the Strong, Independent Woman, who is often portrayed in literature and plays as crazy, cunning, highly sexual and even dangerous. Derek David’s Ophelia’s Mad Scene looks at the Shakespearian character from her own point of view, portraying her dashed hopes, sexuality, and insanity through a charismatic new interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic Diva. 

Osnat Netzer’s The Wondrous Woman Within does just the opposite: this slapstick operetta presents the strong woman from the point of view of the men in her life who battle with their perception of the ideal woman against the imperfect, often crude reality.