Missy Mazzoli's new opera, "The Galloping Cure," which uses a carnival merry-go-round as an allegory for the opioid epidemic, premiered Sunday at the Edinburgh International Festival. The work, described as a haunting portrayal of the drug's destructive power, was inspired by the deaths of two of Mazzoli's cousins, who died at age 25 from opioid overdoses.
Composed by Mazzoli with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, the opera centers on a charismatic character named Lucky Man, portrayed by baritone Justin Austin. He arrives in a town called Yourtown and offers residents relief from chronic pain through free rides on a carousel, eventually hooking them on a substance. As the town descends into addiction, Lucky Man begins charging for the rides and demanding body parts as payment to build more carousel horses, symbolizing the devastating human cost of the epidemic.
"When he offers you the cure, he never tells you the price," sings Dr. Theresa Hart, played by mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, whose endorsement of Lucky Man leads to the death of her daughter, Noy. The opera's narrative draws parallels to characters like Harold Hill from "The Music Man" and Sportin' Life from "Porgy and Bess," identified by director Tom Morris as a "grifter/magician/snake-oil salesman."
"The Galloping Cure" is one of two major premieres for Mazzoli within a short period. She is also set to become the first woman composer to have a premiere at New York's Metropolitan Opera with "Lincoln in the Bardo" on Oct. 19.
Mazzoli, 45, and Vavrek, 43, have previously collaborated on operas including "Song from the Uproar," "Breaking the Waves," "Proving Up," and "The Listeners." They began developing the concept for an opioid opera years ago, but made significant progress after commissioning a treatment from author Karen Russell in 2022. Russell's contribution, initially titled "The Devil's Miracle," was influenced by fairy tales and Franz Kafka's "A Country Doctor," aiming to approach the difficult subject matter through a fairy-tale lens to foster compassion and offer an unexpected perspective.
"It wasn’t until we collaborated with Karen that we found a way in that wasn’t preachy or predictable," Mazzoli said. "Coming at it via this weird fairy tale allows us to bring in all sorts of compassion and allows us see it in an unexpected way."
The opera runs through Wednesday in Scotland before moving to Sweden's Norrlands Opera from Sept. 12-23, with a planned run at the San Francisco Opera in the fall of 2027. The production features a 2-hour, 15-minute runtime with one intermission, conducted by Stuart Stratford. Set and lighting design contribute to a hallucinatory effect, and the score incorporates electronica mixed with the Scottish Opera Orchestra.
"It’s the same kind of charismatic person that will sell you on anything," Mack said of Lucky Man. "From an outsider’s point of view, you can objectively say, 'Oh, well, I would never do that.' But actually, would you never do it? You don’t know until you’re in a situation. This is not a piece that passes judgment on any of those things but rather asks a really big question about who’s at fault for these ills in society and what we do moving forward."