LA Opera announced Wednesday it will present two Halloween weekend performances of “Hercules vs Vampires,” in which singers and an orchestra perform a live operatic score synchronized with a screening of the 1961 cult fantasy film “Hercules in the Haunted World.”
The performances will begin at 8 p.m. Oct. 30 and 31 at the United Theater on Broadway, 929 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, according to LA Opera. The Halloween performance will be followed by an afterparty and costume contest with a $10,000 grand prize.
“Hercules in the Haunted World,” directed by Mario Bava, stars former Mr. Universe Reg Park as Hercules and Christopher Lee as Lycos, a ruler seeking immortality. The story follows Hercules as he journeys to the underworld while attempting to rescue the woman he loves.
Composer Patrick Morganelli wrote the operatic score and adapted the film’s dialogue for live singers, officials said. The work was originally commissioned by Opera Theater Oregon and premiered in 2010.
Morganelli later revised and reorchestrated the work for nine singers and a 26-piece orchestra for an LA Opera presentation in 2015. It has also been presented by North Carolina Opera, Arizona Opera and Nashville Opera.
Blair Salter, LA Opera’s head of music, will make her LA Opera conducting debut leading members of the LA Opera Orchestra. Baritone Joel Balzun will perform the role of Hercules, with soprano Alexis Seminario as Dianara and baritone Gabriel Manro as Lycos.
The cast also includes tenor Roy Hage as Theseus, soprano Gabrielle Turgeon as Medea and other roles, mezzo-soprano Gretchen Krupp as Persephone, bass James Hayden as the God of Evil and Procrustes, tenor Orson Van Gay II as Kyros and tenor Robert Norman as Telemachus.
The production is part of LA Opera’s Off Grand initiative, which presents works at venues outside the company’s home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
The costume contest following the Oct. 31 performance will award $10,000 and two VIP tickets to an LA Opera performance to the first-place winner, along with a private tour for two of the LA Opera Costume Shop, officials said.
The second-place winner will receive $2,500 and two VIP tickets, while the third-place winner will receive $500 and two VIP tickets. The afterparty and contest are included with admission to the Oct. 31 performance.
More information is available at LAOpera.org/Hercules.