The opera-musical “El Colibrí Mágico (The Magic Hummingbird) —A California Story”, is an updating of St. Francis.
It involves a trio of sheltered, upper-middle class So Cal teen rockers headed to Tijuana perform at a punk club and to explore Tijuana nightlife.
Their partying adventure takes a surreal turn when supernatural events
hurl them headlong into a community of refugees, who bear ancient secrets.
Mater Nostra
Our Mother Who Is Heaven
And Earth
And Us
And Everything All Around Us
Hallowed Be The Ground
Hallowed Be The Creatures
Mosses And The Trees
Sacred Is The Loam
Sacred The Worms In The Soil Beneath Our Feet
Sacred Are The Bees
And The Humans
Who Toil In The Garden
Amidst The Hibiscus In The Sun
Sacred The Grey Whales
Who Sing In The Sea
We Give This Day Clear Thoughts
Clear Air And Water
Clean Energy In The Day
Coolness At Dusk
Safety From Guns And Violence
We Bather This Day In Trust
We Sing This Day Together
In Communities Without Borders
Sing With The Whales
The Song Of The Sea
Sing With The Wolves
The Song Of The North
Sing With The Birds
The Song Of The Dawn And The Dusk
Sing With The Cicadas
The Song Of Seven Years
Sing With The Frogs
The Songs Of The Springtime
Sing With The Crickets And Grasshoppers
The Songs Of The Summer Night
We Stretch Our Eyes
Beyond Our Fingertips
To Accept Our Troubles
Accept Our Joys
Accept Each Other
Accept Ourself
With Patience
And Tread The Day
From Second To Moment
With Mindful Deliberation
Stepping Softly
Gentle Consideration
Practice Ecstasy
Continuously
As A Backdrop To Our Consciousness
From Dream To Dawn
From Dawn To Dusk
From Breath To Breath
From Birth To Death
The June 18th, 2022 performance at The Cutting Room in NYC
was a world premiere in the form of an old-fashioned radio drama,
with live sound effects, voice actors,
singers, musicians and narration.
Cast for the Magic Hummingbird LIVE production On June 18.
Lauren Haughton-Gillis, Director
Richard Dueñez Morrison, Music Director, Conductor
Barb Macz, stage manager
David Smith – sound effects, live foley
Featuring:
Rudy Alexander Giron, counter tenor, “Francisco”
Karen Garcia, soprano, “Apolonia”, “Ixazaluoh,”
and Francisco’s mother, Spanish translation
Cat Rojo, alto, “Clara”
Leonard Patton, tenor, “Franklin”
Gustavo Alcoser, tenor, “Elias”, co-writer
Scene one, composer of mariachi music
Scene two.
Charles Coleman, baritone, “The Preacher
Philip Gomez, countertenor, plant spirit, refugee
Geoffrey Burleson, piano and accordion
Daniel Castro, guitar and mandolin, additional Spanish translation
and additional audio editing and recording.
Michael Jones, electric guitar
Andrew Michel, bass
Daniel Pate, percussion and drums
Todd Rewoldt, saxophone
Antotina Styczen, piccolo, alto flute, bass flute, nose flute
Joseph Waters, narrator, composer, librettist, lyricist, sound design.
Book by Joseph Martin Waters, Gustavo Alcoser and Michael Gillis
Story by Joseph Martin Waters
Based on the sacred poetry of Maria Sabina, from the opera “El Colibrí Mágico (The Magic Hummingbird) —A California Story”… This visual interpretation conceived by Mexican-American opera singer Karen Garcia, based on her experiences of Mexican curandera ceremonies and the ancient traditions interwoven into contemporary Mexican experience. The lyrics are based on the sacred psilocybin mushroom chants of Maria Sabina, a great healer and true saint, who lived in abject poverty in the mountains of Oaxaca.
While we were shooting in the moonlight and fog a young garden rat emerged from the bushes and stood there smiling with us.
It felt as if the tree and flowers were there with us, participating in their silent and majestic way.