Coming to the 2014 Gaithersburg Book Festival (http://gaithersburgbookfestival.org) on May 17? Some of the most frequently asked questions last year were:
When will the studio album be available?
The studio recording of A Roadkill Opera was released on July 4, 2013, on Amazon.com and subsequently on CD Baby, AmazonMP3, and iTunes. It is now available worldwide on nearly all platforms. This comic opera with music in the style of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is recommended for fans of PDQ Bach, Tom Lehrer, and The Rutles–but only if you like classical music with infectious hooks.
How hard it is to sing or play the parts in A Roadkill Opera?
Most parts are suitable for college level. The vocal parts are described below in order of appearance in the score.
If you are a soprano in the market for opera audition pieces, you will be pleasantly surprised to hear the lovely arias composed by Ferdinando Paer. He intended them to be sung by his soprano wife in public concerts and by the Austro-Hungarian Empress Marie Therese in her private concerts.
Holly: Needs to be able to sing a high E flat. Slightly less difficult than Debby, but still requires a legit soprano.
Debby: Virtuoso soprano. Runs galore.
Stephan: Higher end of the baritone range. Needs to have glorious high Fs.
Eddie: Pretty straight-forward baritone role.
Dave: Tenor, needs a high B flat. Not too difficult a role, but needs breath control.
Violin 1: Virtuoso part.
Cello: One very difficult number, but the rest straight-forward.
Bass: All notes are within the playing range of cello.
As to Harrison Ford, you can read all about him at http://gaithersburgbookfestival.org/exhibiting-author-stephan-alexander-parker-roadkill-opera/.
Speaking of the Gaithersburg Book Festival, the official bookseller Politics & Prose is now showing If You See Roadkill, Think Opera for sale on their website.
