Work on the Internet by Karren LaLonde Alenier

Karren LaLonde Alenier | Poet


This list includes essays, fiction, interviews, poetry, and reviews written by Karren LaLonde Alenier.

STORIES

FurnitureforthePeople.com
"The Gourd" [an excerpt from Shall I Have Pleasure, an unpublished novel]

Poems published on various websites:

Praxilla, October 22, 2009
"Red Rant Gone Green ," "Those Dear Ones"

Ocho, #23 April 2009
"Mosaics of Love," "Epiphany Years Later: Jane Bowles Reminisces," "No Accident," "Strokes"

Poetry REpairs, #4 April 2008
"Gift"

Poetry REpairs, #2 February 2008
"Inimical, she said"

The Innisfree Poetry Journal, #5 September 2007
"Drawing Room Comedy"

urbancode
urbancode magazine is in pdf format. To find the following poems, double click on issue #2 and when the pdf loads, go to the magazine page numbered 40. "Swans," "The Shogun Speaks," "Ofuro"

Ars Poetica
"Stories: On the Nature of Poetry," "Stein Writes It All Down," "Overwrought"

The Innisfree Poetry Journal, #4 March 2007
"Raconteurs in Tangier," "Incisor," "An Onlooker Gossips," "The Parrrott That Spoke to Jane Bowles," "Flower"

Beltway Ezine: Washington, DC Issue
"Up Against the Wall"

Beltway Ezine: Audio Issue
"Up Against the Wall"

The Poet and the Poem Webcast from the Library of Congress
Scroll down the page, click on the photos, move the slider to middle section to find Karren's reading. "How His Fiction Began," "Raconteurs in Tangier," "The Parrott That Spoke to Jane Bowles," "Agonizer," "The Relevance of Mint," "Carbon"

The Innisfree Poetry Journal, #2 March 2006
"Midsummer's Eve 2005," "Hope," "Stingers," "Carbon"

Convergence
"The Ascension"

The Washington Post
A group of five poets read a poem from their work. Following Dana Gioia, Karren Alenier reads "Something Growing." (click on the photo of Karren to initiate the reading.)

Moving Words Award
"Neopolitan Love Song"

Poets Against the War
"The War Against Death "

Beltway Ezine
"Dialectic of the Census Takers," "Diana au Courant," "Race," "The Ride," and "Tarantella"

Guest Poet on Hilary Tham's Website
"Bearing Up," "Gestapo Rebels," and "Looking for Divine Transportation"

Pedestal Ezine
"You Can Tell 'Em I'll Be There," "The Electorate Experiences Its Mortality"

Eye Ezine
"Overwrought"

Poems published in poetrymagazine.com:

Spring 2004
"Flirting," "Down the Wormhole," "Seduction Theory," "Tree Pose," and "Spokes"

Summer 2003
"Neopolitan Love Song," "Aftershock," "Some Men," "Rocks," and "Canto di Capri"

July/August 2002
"Desperate Steps" and "Senor Wences"

May 2002
"Song After Lilith," "Leo on Seesaw," "Desperate Steps," "White," and "Wake"

March 2002
"From the Well," "Composition," "Notes on Disarmament," "Song After Lilith," and "White"

August 1999
"Farewell Concert" and "A Contemporary Decameron"

ESSAYS

American Opera
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay/interview examines what is American opera, what's the difference between opera and music theatre, and how does a composer create an opera. The Steiny Road Poet interviews composers Mark Adamo, Deborah Drattell, Jonathan Holland, Elena Ruehr, and Adam Silverman.

Archibald MacLeish
Extensive look at MacLeish's life with a timeline. This essay was published in Beltway Ezine in a special project devoted to poets who lived in Washington, DC.

Beijing Opera & singing In China
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay discusses the state of Beijing Opera and the popularity of singing in China.

Dramaturgs, Directors, and Artistist Directors
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay discusses the collaborative partners who help shape an opera libretto.

Four Saints in Three Acts: The Most Influential American Opera?
Karren Alenier explores the field of early American opera and concludes that Virgil Thomson's and Gertrude Stein's first opera remains head and shoulders above all other American operas in its continuing influence.

How to Write a Libretto
The Steiny Road Poet provides a step-by-step look at the creative process involved with writing a libretto.

Live Theater Turns To Film To Draw New Audience
The discussion juxtaposes Washington National Opera's production of Madama Butterfly with the performance art theater of Squonk Opera's College Park: The Opera.

Lust in the Arts
Pushing against the line of good taste versus vulgarity, Alenier looks at John Doyl's new production of Sweeney Todd, a new music theatre piece based on Edgar Allan Poe entiteld Nevermore, the InSeries (Washington, DC) Marriage of Figaro: Las Vegas Version, and art exhibition of work by Egon Schiele.

Opera Commissions
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay discusses opera commissions within the context of American opera companies that grant them.

Opera in the 21st Century
Karren Alenier interviews Nancy Rhodes of Encompass New Opera Theatre, an opera company that keeps it finger on new American opera in the mode set by Virgil Thomson.

Poets Are Troublemakers
Alenier talks about her book The Steiny Road to Operadom: The Making of American Operas. Learn how much trouble poets cause in the field of opera. This essay appears with her poem "Inimical, she said" on Poetry REpairs.

Sills: A Tribute to Beverly Sills
The emphasis of this tribute concerns Sills in the role of Baby Doe and her cutting edge work as General Director of New York City Opera. Included is a time line of her life.

Stein's 1934 Lecture Tour
Noted art scholar Wanda Corn speaks about Gertrude Stein's 1934 lecture tour.

Stein's The Making of Americans--How to Read The Long Book
The Steiny Road Poet offers strategies for how to read the very first Modernist novel.

Stein and Medieval Literature
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay discusses Gertrude Stein's so called children's book To Do: A book of Alphabets and Birthdays with medievalist Martha Dana Rust.

Stein & Toklas: Ted Sod & Karren Alenier talk about Bringing Gertrude & Alice to Stage
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay talks about the developing musical 27 rue de Fleurus, Paris, and Alenier's book The Steiny Road to Operadom: The Making of American Operas.

Stein on Stage
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay discusses dramas about Gertrude Stein's life and musicialized plays set to Stein's text.

Stein versus Disney
The Steiny Road Poet explores Beauty And The Beast, the musical, in relation to Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus Lights The Lights.

View from the Bridge: Anatomy of a Listener
The accrued opera experiences that brought appreciation to William Bolcom's A View from the Bridge.

VOX: NYC Opera's New Opera Showcase
Interview of VOX program director Yuval Sharon and the history of this unique program that showcases annually a dozen new work-in-progress operas.

VOX 2011: NYC Opera's New Opera Showcase
Preview of work-in-progress opera excerpts by such composers and librettists as Donna Di Novelli, Paolo Prestini, David Little, Allan Jaffe, Deborah Atherton, Yoav Gal.

Weininger, Otto: Gertrude Stein's Miscreant
The Steiny Road Poet explores why Gertrude Stein was influenced by Otto Weininger, a misogynist and anti-Semite.

2005 World Premiere Operas
What is the state of new opera in the 2005-2006 season versus last season and what's coming up in the future.

INTERVIEWS

Anthony Davis
The Steiny Road Poet interviewed composer Anthony Davis who is working on an opera about Cuba with Robert Wilson and others.

Charles Downey
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed musicologist and Ionarts blogger Dr. Charles Downey about the world of new opera.

Placido Domingo
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed opera impresario Placido Domingo.

Eve Gigliotti
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed soprano Eve Gigliotti, who created the role of Gertrude Stein in Gertrude Stein Invents A Jump Early On.

Libby Larsen
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed composer Libby Larsen.

J.D. McClatchy
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed poet and librettist J.D. McClatchy.

Anchee Min
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed novelist Anchee Min.

Tim Page
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed music critic and author Tim Page.

Nancy Rhodes
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed Encompass New Opera Theatre artistic director Nancy Rhodes.

Ned Rorem
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed composer Ned Rorem.

Michael Scarola
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed opera director Michael Scarola.

Renate Stendhal
Part of the Steiny Road to Operadom series published on Scene4.com, this essay about building interest in the women's community for the Stein Opera is also an interview with Renate Stendhal, author of Gertrude Stein In Words And Pictures.

Anthony Tommasini
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed senior music critic for the New York Times Anthony Tommasini.

Scott Wheeler
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed composer Scott Wheeler whose new opera Democracy will premiere with Washington National Opera.

John Yaffe
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier interviewed Encompass New Opera Theatre music director John Yaffe.

Francesca Zambello
For Scene4.com, Karren Alenier covered a press conference led by director Francesca Zambello.

REVIEWS--Book, Concerts, Dance, Opera, Theater

Books:

But a Passage in Wilderness
by Margo Berdeshevsky

Chinese Writers on Writing
edited by Arthur Sze

Madame Butterfly: Japonisme, Puccini, and the Search for the Real Cho-Cho-San

The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
by Alex Ross

Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice
by Janet Malcolm

Vivaldi's Virgins
by Barbara Quick

Concerts: (alphabetic by composer)

Four Angels, Concerto for Harp and Orchestra
by Mark Adamo

Symphony No. 1
by Steven Gerber

Life: A Journey Through Time
by Philip Glass

The Weary Blues
by Langston Hughes and Charles MIngus as adapted by Charley Gerard

Le Noir de L'Étoile
by Gérard Grisey

Autodreamographical Tales
by Terry Riley

The Cusp of Magic
by Terry Riley

Evidence of Things Not Seen
by Ned Rorem

The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits
by Maurice Saylor

Ghost Opera
by Tan Dun and performed by the Kronos Quartet and Wu Man

The Map: Concerto for Violoncello, Video, and Orchestra
by Tan Dun

Dance:

Parsons Dance Company with the Ahn Trio

Opera:

Acis et Galatee
by Jean-Baptiste Lully

An American Tragedy (Review on CultureVulture)
by composer Tobias Picker and librettist Gene Scheer

An American Tragedy (Feature on Scene4)
by composer Tobias Picker and librettist Gene Scheer

Andrea Chenier
by composer Umberto Giordano and librettist Luigi Illica

Ariadne auf Naxos
by Richard Strauss with libretto by Hugo van Hofmannsthal

Attila
by Giuseppe Verdi with libretto by Temistocle Solera

Armide
by Willibald Gluck with libretto by Philippe Quinault

The Beggar's Opera
by Benjamin Britten

Billy Budd
by Benjamin Britten

Carmen
by Georges Bizet

La Cenerentola
by Rossini

Clara
new in 2004 by librettist Kathleen Cahill and composer Robert Convery

La Clemenza di Tito
by Mozart

David and Jonathas
by Marc-Antoine Charpentier with libretto by Père François Bretonneau

Dead Man Walking
by librettist Terrence McNally and composer Jake Heggie, a feature that includes Lysistrata Or The Nude Goddess

Democracy: An American Comedy
new in 2005 by librettist Romulus Linney and composer Scott Wheeler

Le Déserteur
by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny

Dialogues of the Carmelites
by Poulenc

Dido and Aeneas
by Henry Purcell

Doctor Atomic (Review on Ionarts)
by John Adams with libretto by Peter Sellars

Doctor Atomic (Feature on Scene4)
by John Adams with libretto by Peter Sellars

Don Giovanni
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte

Duke Bluebeard's Castle
by Bela Bartok

Eugene Onegin
by Tchaikovsky

Falstaff
by Giuseppe Verdi with libretto by Arrigo Boito based on William Shakespeare’s plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV

La Fille du Regiment
by Gaetano Donizetti with libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Sant-George, Jean-Francois-Alfred Bayard

The First Emperor
by Tan Dun with libretto co-written by Tan Dun and Ha Jin

Hansel and Gretel
by Engelbert Humperdinck with libretto by Adelheid Wette

Hydrogen Jukebox
by Philip Glass with libretto by Allen Ginsberg

Later the Same Evening
new in 2007 by John Musto with libretto by Mark Campbell

L'Italiana in Algerie
by Rossini, a feature article that includes Miss Lonelyhearts

Jenufa
by Leos Janacek

Kaspar Hauser: A Foundling's Opera
by Elizabeth Swados with libretto by Swados and Erin Courtney

Little Women
by Mark Adamo

Love's Comedy
by composer Kim D. Sherman and librettist Rick Davis based on Henrik Ibesen's play and adapted by Leon Katz

Lucrezia Borgia
by Gaetano Donizetti

Luisa Fernanda
by Federico Moreno Torroba

Lysistrata Or The Nude Goddess (Review on CultureVulture)
by Mark Adamo

Lysistrata Or The Nude Goddess (Feature on Scene4)
by Mark Adamo, a feature that includes Dead Man Walking

The Maid of Orleans
by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky

The Making of Americans
by Anthony Gatto & Jay Scheib

Manon Lescaut
by Giacomo Puccini

Margaret Garner
by Richard Danielpout with libretto by Toni Morrison

Mazeppa
by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky

Miss Lonelyhearts
new in 2006 by Lowell Liebermann with libretto by J.D. McClatchy, a feature article that includes L'Italiana in Algerie

The Mother of Us All
by Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson

Otello
by Giuseppe Verdi

Les Pécheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers)
by Georges Bizet

Porgy and Bess
by George Gershwin

Queen of Spades
by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky

Salome
by Richard Strauss

Satyagraha
by Philip Glass

A Scandal in Bohemia
by Thomas Whitman with libretto by Nathalie Anderson

A Shadowboxer
by Frank Proto with libretto by John Chenault

Sophie's Choice
by Nicholas Maw

A Streetcar Named Desire
by Andre Previn

Sweeney Todd
by Stephen Sondheim as directed by John Doyle

Transformations
by Conrad Susa with libretto by Anne Sexton

Turandot
by Giacomo Puccini with libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni is based on an invented fairy tale by Venetian magician Carlo Gozzi

Turn of the Screw
by Benjamin Britten with libretto by Myfanwy Piper, based on a novella by Henry James

Vanqui
by Leslie Savoy Burrs with libretto by John A. Williams

A View from the Bridge
by William Bolcom with libretto by Arnold Weinstein and Arthur Miller

I Vespri Siciliani
by Giuseppe Verdi

Volpone
new in 2004 by composer John Musto and librettist Mark Campbell

Volpone
by composer John Musto and librettist Mark Campbell (second production)

Die Walkure
by Richard Wagner

Theater:

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
originally conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin

500 Clown Macbeth
by 500 Clown

500 Clown Makes an Elephant Deal
by 500 Clown

Anna in the Tropics
by Nilo Cruz

Assassins
by Stephen Sondheim

Avenue Q
Robert Lopez (original conception, music & lyrics), Jeff Marx (original conception, music & lyrics) and Jeff Whitty (book)

Between Trains
by Juanita Rockwell

Crave
by Sarah Kane

Crowns
by Regina Taylor

Fallen From Proust
by Regina Taylor

Frankie and John in the Claire de Lune
by Terrence McNally

The Green Bird
by Carlo Gozzi

Grey Gardens
with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie

Hallelujah, Baby
by Regina Taylor

The Highest Yellow
by Michael John LaChuisa

Horizon
by Rinde Eckert

I La Galigo
by Robert Wilson

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
by Joe DiPeitro (book and lyrics) and Jimmy Roberts (music)

In Circles
by Al Carmines

In the Next Room Or the Vibrator Play
by Sarah Ruhl

Into the Woods
by Stephen Sondheim

Journey to the End of NIght
adapted by Jason Lindnerfrom Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s novel

Kiss of the Spider Woman
Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb, Book by Terrence McNally

The Light In The Piazza
by Adam Guettel

Mad Breed
by Jacqueline Lawton

The Maids
by Jean Genet

A Man's A Man
by Bertolt Brecht

M. Butterfly
by Bertolt Brecht

Merrily We Roll Along
by Stephen Sondheim

The Music Teacher
by Wallace & Allen Shawn

Nest
by Bathesheba Doran

Nevermore
by Matt Connor with book by Grace Barnes

No Exit
by Jean-Paul Sartre with translation by Paul Bowles

"O"
a Cirque du Soleil production by Benoit Jutras

One Red Flower
by Paris Barclay

Pacific Overtures
by Stephen Sondheim

Passion Play
by Sarah Ruhl

Peter & Wendy
from the novel by J.M. Barrie, adapted by Liza Lorwin with original music by Johnny Cunningham

The Piano Lesson
by August Wilson

The Plague
adapted by Otho Eskin from Albert Camus' novel

Saving Aimee
book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman

Senor Discretion Himself
by Frank Loesser

Shintoku-Maru
by Shuji Terayama and adapted by Rio Kishida

Slide
by Rinde Eckert, Steven Mackey, and eighth blackbird

Songs of the Dragons Flying Up to Heaven
by Young Jean Lee

Spamalot
written by Eric Idle (book, lyrics) and John Du Pres & Eric Idle (music)

Spring Forward, Fall Back
by Robert Brustein

Tamburlaine
by Christopher Marlowe

Ten Unknowns
by Jon Robin Baitz

Witches of Eastwick
Book and lyrics by John Dempsey; Music by Dana P. Rowe

The Word Begins
by Steve Connell and Sekou (Tha Misfit)

Yemaya's Belly
by Qu’ara Alegria Hudes

The York Realist
by Peter Gill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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