As a longtime student of music and physical theater, Moody says rock opera is the "most digestible way" to show Goldman off. At a recent rehearsal, the necessity of the cast's lengthy physical warm-up becomes apparent as soon the performance begins. The choreography is full of movement and gesture. The singers pose; they jump on tables; they weave in complex variations of hands and bodies—all while projecting their voices (i.e., singing). We feel the energy of Goldman's "trying and wonderful times." And we begin to understand why the US government deported her back to her homeland of Russia—out of sight, out of mind.

"She was very controversial—passionately loved and passionately hated," Moody says. "People felt differently about her, and sometimes those people get erased easier."

