The Face On The Barroom Floor Opera

The face on the barroom floor.

The face on the barroom floor opera.

I stayed at the teller house while working up there and the whim struck me to paint a face on the floor of the old teller house barroom. The eponymous face on the barroom floor in central city colorado that inspired the one act opera by composer henry mollicone and librettist john bowman. The poem the place the opera 2013. Directed by lawrence kraman.

Commissioned by the central city opera in 1978 and produced there each year since its premiere in 78. The story of a strange ballad poem written in 1887 which became a unusual portrait on the barroom floor in a quaint former boomtown in colorado and became the inspiration for one of the most performed modern american operas in history. Libretto by john s. He didn t speak it from memory but he did reference it often.

It is a site to see and. Henry mollicone s one act pocket opera the face on the barroom floor was commissioned in 1978 by central city opera in colorado also responsible for giving birth to the now classic the ballad of baby doe and has enjoyed a highly enviable success among contemporary american operas ever since this is due in part no doubt to its strict economy of scale. Know before you go the central city opera house and teller bar are open to the public during the opera season. With henry mollicone catherine o rourke patrick o halloran nathan milholin.

A later version was adapted from the titus poem by hugh antoine d arcy in 1887 and first published in the new york dispatch. The central city opera house association hired me to do a series of paintings and sketches of the famous mining town which they were then rejuvenating as an opera center and tourist attraction. The face on the barroom floor may be proof that art rarely makes an effective revenge. Comments about the face on the barroom floor by hugh antoine d arcy.

Courtesy of teller house composer henry mollicone was a young man 40 years ago when the central city opera company in colorado commissioned him to write something short something. Butch whidden 9 10 2020 12 37 00 pm this is one of dad s favorite poems. I have been to the teller house bar in central city colo twice and saw the painting of the face both times.