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Politics is art and art is pol­i­tics. In this case a can­tata based on the Senate Judiciary Committee hear­ings of for­mer Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Unless you were under a rock for the past decade you remem­ber the infa­mous hear­ings in which Alberto Gonzalas denied that he hired and espe­cially fired attor­neys based on their polit­i­cal align­ment. This can­tata uses the hear­ing transcripts.

A won­der­ful musi­cal expe­ri­ence and a new polit­i­cal moment for us all. Oh, did we men­tion Arlen Spector is a soprano?

from the press release:

Philadelphia, PA – “The Gonzales Cantata,” a gender-bending 40-minute choral work, will be given three per­for­mances as part of the 2009 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. The can­tata takes its libretto directly from the 2007 Senate Judiciary Committee hear­ings in which dis­graced for­mer Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales famously said “I don’t recall” more than 71 times. Performances will take place at the Rotunda at the University of Pennsylvania, 4011 Walnut Street, on Friday September 4 at 7PM, Saturday September 5 at 7PM, and Sunday September 6 at 2PM.

Composer Melissa Dunphy, an incom­ing Penn doc­toral can­di­date, was inspired to write the Gonzales Cantata after hear­ing PA Senator Arlen Specter grilling Alberto Gonzales in an NPR story in 2007. She counts among her musi­cal influ­ences Handel, Phil Kline, John Adams and P.D.Q. Bach. In a state­ment against the preva­lence of men in pol­i­tics, the gen­ders of the main roles have been reversed – Gonzales, Specter and Patrick Leahy are set in the soprano reg­is­ter, while a tenor sings Sen. Diane Feinstein – and the staid atmos­phere of the Capitol build­ing has been replaced by the pageantry of Miss America.

Despite the polit­i­cal nature of the piece, Dunphy insists that the Gonzales Cantata is a study of char­ac­ter rather than politics.

“This is a human­ist drama, not a par­ti­san state­ment. We see Gonzales’ mis­takes, but we also feel some real pathos for a man who has dug him­self into a ter­ri­ble hole.” Dunphy is nor­mally seen onstage in Philly as “undoubt­edly the city’s lead­ing Shakespeare ingénue” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Press Photo by Matt Dunphy, www.bitrotten.com Pictured: Melissa Dunphy

The Gonzales Cantata

Friday, September 4th at 7PM
Saturday, September 5th at 7PM
Sunday, September 6th at 2PM

The Rotunda
4011 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Tickets: $20,
pur­chase at the door or through the Live Arts and Philly Fringe Box Office

Melissa Dunphy
contact@melissadunphy.com

(484) 340‑2530 (cell)

www.gonzalescantata.com

www.melissadunphy.com