It’s the first time “Morning/Mourning” is playing outside New York after it first premiered at the Prototype Festival in January 2023 on Sixth Avenue.
Miami Dade College’s Live Arts Miami kicks off its 35th season with the production of the opera musical that takes place in the future. The three-day run is from Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 17 to 19, at The Art Lab on Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus.
Live Arts Miami Executive Director Kathryn Garcia was in the audience during that initial run. She left the theater completely in awe of the production. Instantly she knew she wanted to bring the show to Miami and began conversations with playwright, musician, and lead actor Gelsey Bell to make it happen.
“It really is one of those things that you have to see to truly understand,” says Garcia. “I had no idea what I was walking into or what to expect when I got my ticket for the show. I only heard great things. I went in with an open mind and from the minute it started I knew I was in for something amazing.”
Bell says she was first inspired to write the musical after reading the book “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman. “It first started out as a thought experiment,” she says.
Bell asked herself the simple question: What would happen on Earth after humans disappear?
“How long would certain aspects of our technology stick around? How long would it take for cities to become forests again? How long would certain buildings last? All of that kind of stuff (inspired the work),” says the New York-based artist.
A self-proclaimed sci-fi fan, Bell then began to dabble in the genre and ended up with a 90-minute operatic musical that takes audiences on a ride 1.6 billion years into the future.
“Morning/Mourning” is performed in a traditional storytelling format where five actors on stage are telling the audience a story rather than performing it. The cast consists of three original members with two new actors joining the Miami production; all are New York-based performers.
The stage is simple and bare; instruments are spread about. The actors roam around the small space plucking at their instruments and singing as they take the audience on a journey that spans hundreds of years.
As with many sci-fi, dystopian future-type tales, some of the onus is placed on the audience to visualize the setting as the story unfolds. The format of the musical was done purposefully as Bell says she wanted to leave plenty of space for individual interpretation. Each viewer can pull from their own unique life experiences, which will influence how they see the show and what they take away from it.
“Often, when we have art about nature or the climate it’s put in these kind of message oriented tones,” says Bell. “And it doesn’t really leave space for us to actually explore the depth of our emotions about these issues. So, I really tried to create something that leaves space for people to sit with.”
The show begins at a moment in time when all the humans disappear. Poof, gone.
“We don’t linger on the question of why humans left or what that means,” says Bell, explaining the storyline. “Every audience member makes their own assumptions.”
The first third of the show talks about the first 100 years after humans disappear. There are references to nuclear power plants, exploding cockroaches, and extreme weather. “And then we start to move on larger time scales. And so, time moves exponentially into the future,” says Bell.
While the show deals with the themes of climate change and how humans treat Mother Earth, the takeaway runs much deeper.
“My hope is that while people are taking in the story that the performers are telling, they’re also imagining things. The design of the show, the lighting of the show, it’s all meant to invoke emotions but not to paint a clear picture,” explains the playwright.
Garcia gushes about how “Morning/Mourning” drew her in from the beginning and kept her attention throughout the duration. “I wasn’t distracted for one single second,” she says about seeing it at the annual Prototype Festival, which is known for showcasing visionary opera-theater and music-theater works. The next Prototype Festival in New York is upcoming in January.
Akin to a good book you can’t put down, Garcia describes Bell’s work as a page-turner.
“The show just ignites the audience’s imagination with all of these crazy descriptions and ideas about what might happen in the future that you’re stuck in a fantasy land for about 90 minutes, and it’s a beautiful thing,” says Garcia.
Whereas a story about humans disappearing and the planet being left desolate might cause some theater-goers anxiety, Garcia says the musical put her nerves at ease. “It leaves you with this amazing wonder about the planet and about nature. It actually kind of soothed my anxiety (about climate change) and I left feeling like it’s all going to be okay.”
“Morning/Mourning” will embark on a national four-city tour after the performances at The Art Lab.
“My experience of touring other works is that wherever you take a piece there’s something that we learn from that space,” says Bell. “I’m really excited to see what we learn from Miami.”
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Where: The Art Lab, Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., Miami
When: 7 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17, 18 and 19
Cost: $35
Information: (305) 237 3010 or .
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