PROTOTYPE – OPERA/THEATRE/NOW is an annual festival of visionary opera-theatre and music-theatre works by pioneering contemporary artists from New York City and around the world. PROTOTYPE is a co-production of Beth Morrison Projects and HERE, two leaders in the creation and presentation of contemporary, post-classical, multi-disciplinary opera-theatre and music-theatre work. The festival is the only of its kind in New York City - presenting both complete performances as well as works-in-progress through partnerships with local performing arts venues.

Historically, the marriage of music and drama has been something composers tackled further along in their careers. Fast forward to today: serious young composers are now creating new works of opera-theatre/music-theatre, and we are in a second golden age of creation for the art form. It is poised to become the most exciting live arts medium in the 21st century, embodying a modern day notion of Wagner’s gesamtkunstwerk.

PROTOTYPE gives voice to these composers whose works would generally be categorized as “contemporary classical” or “post-classical” rather than the more commercial musical theatre idiom that is being explored by other producers in New York and elsewhere. The festival provides a recurring showcase of these visionary chamber-sized opera-theatre and music-theatre pieces that are currently flooding the New York scene and are ready to explode at the national and international levels. The festival also presents exciting new works by international artists, and hopes to be a global reference of artistic excellence in the field of opera and music-theatre.