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Joseph Smith - The Opera

First it was Jerry Springer and now Joseph Smith, although I doubt if the BBC will screen this one.

BYU Net reported that as part of the bicentennial celebrations of the life of Joseph Smith, the BYU School of Music will present the opera concerning the life of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon entitled"Book of Gold".

The article goes on to tell us that:

"On select nights, the show will feature guest artists from the New York Metropolitan Opera. Ariel Bybee will perform the role of Lucy Mack Smith, while Darrell Babidge and Jennifer Welch-Babidge will play Joseph and Emma Smith. An original score composed by BYU professor Murray Boren and will be performed by the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra.

"In this production, the creators hoped to convey the emotional impact of the life lessons that Joseph experienced and help audiences identify with the humanity of the people involved in those historical events."

The opera is only scheduled to have 6 performances and will not gloss over the doubts and problems that Joseph had. However like all good stories, it will have a happy ending. But not before the audience would have seen "Joseph’s trials is a humanizing factor."

The writer of the opera Glen Nelson is reported as saying that in the time period of the opera 1827 - 1830:

"Joseph and Emma have problems and doubts; they make mistakes and they don’t know if everything is going to work out. This allows people to put themselves in their same position."

Hopefully it will make some think as to whether they are in a 'stage production' group and what reality really is.

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