Jackie Dempsey and Steve O'Hearn, Artistic Directors
Current Shows
Description
Based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, Squonk Opera’s Inferno is set in the Appalachian coal town of Centralia, PA, where a mine fire simmers underground to this day. It is a town where trees, still standing, turn to ash. Pets disappear. A place that would melt your shoes where you stand.
Squonk Opera’s Inferno combines revolutionary projection puppets with the aural beauty and visual wit that has come to define a Squonk Opera show. The cast of seven musicians and actor/puppeteers propels the show into the shadowy world of memories that the industrial revolution left behind.
Created in 2001, Commissioned by City Theatre
Visit our Store to purchase or download a CD of the music from this production.
Based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, Squonk Opera’s Inferno is set in the Appalachian coal town of Centralia, PA, where a mine fire simmers underground to this day. It is a town where trees, still standing, turn to ash. Pets disappear. A place that would melt your shoes where you stand.
Squonk Opera’s Inferno combines revolutionary projection puppets with the aural beauty and visual wit that has come to define a Squonk Opera show. The cast of seven musicians and actor/puppeteers propels the show into the shadowy world of memories that the industrial revolution left behind.
Created in 2001, Commissioned by City Theatre
Visit our Store to purchase or download a CD of the music from this production.
Reviews
“Old as Dante, New as MTV.” - American Theatre
“the funny, smart performance band of your brightly fevered dreams” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“dazzling, often enigmatic and playful images and the weird but haunting music that has long been [Squonk’s] trademark” - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“…inventive, layered fun. It's a surreal dreamscape, alternately sweet, silly, satiric, portentous…and cool. An entertaining cross between a Kennywood outing, an eccentric opera and an interactive video installation, it's a 70-minute visual and musical geekathon that scurries back and forth between many levels.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Artists
The Artistic Directors
Steve O’Hearn & Jackie Dempsey
The Band
Vocals
Jody Abbott
Piano & Accordion
Jackie Dempsey
Upright & Electric Bass
Nathan Fay
Acoustic & Electronic Percussion
Kevin Kornicki
Flute, Sax, Wind Synth, Manybell Trumpet
Steve O’Hearn
The Team
Music
Jackie Dempsey
Design & Staging
Steve O’Hearn
Concept Development
Steve O’Hearn, Jackie Dempsey, Rick Kemp, Juanita Rockwell, Chas Marsh, David Petersen
Lighting Design
Bob Steineck
Stage Direction
Rick Kemp
Assistant Musical Direction
Kevin Kornicki
Lyrics
Jody Abbott with Jackie Dempsey
Video Design
Chas Marsh with Steve O’Hearn
Production Management & Mr. Coal Mine
Joel Mason
Co-Writing
David Petersen
Stage Management
Adelka Polak
Costumes
Susan O’Neill & Maura Morgan
Set & Prop Artists
Lisa Hatcher, Matt Jackson
Choral Arrangements
Lynette Garlan
Guitar Tracks
David Wallace
Graphic Design
Seth Jackson
Voiceover Artists
Miner
Jack Dempsey
Ringmaster
Rick Kemp
Young Don
Jon Miller
Steve and Jackie would like to acknowledge everyone involved in this production for their creative contributions, especially the Squonk musicians for adding their own individual flavor to the music, and the designers, builders and technicians who added detail and richness to the production.
Touring History
City Theatre ... Pittsburgh, PA
Stanford University ... Palo Alto, CA
Prince Music Theater ... Philadelphia, PA
George Mason University ... Fairfax, VA
Black Sheep Puppet Festival ... Pittsburgh, PA
Ferris State University ... Big Rapids, MI
Weinberg Center ... Frederick, MD
Great Valley ... Malvern, PA
Rex Theatre ... Pittsburgh, PA
Scranton Cultural Center ... Scranton, PA