“Grapes of Wrath” the Opera

“The Grapes of Wrath” has become, here in the frozen North, an opera. Many composers over the years have wanted to make the classic American 1939 novel into one, but the John Steinbeck estate and the author’s publisher always said no. The green light was finally given when Minnesota Opera suggested that the composer be Ricky Ian Gordon, an exuberant New York songwriter with one foot on Broadway, one in the Copland style and an extra foot or two available for rhapsodic operatic elaborations. He passed, apparently, the publisher’s plain-speaking, easy-listening Americana test.
-copied from Los Angeles Times Calendar Live.com-

The “here” in this article is St. Paul, Minnesota. Not the place you’d expect to see John Steinbeck’s Great American Novel being  played out in all its operatic glory!  Apparently the sprawling musical portrayal of the novel is doing well with sold out performances for its entire run.