Note from Composer

Thus begins Paradise Lost, a work of music theater with book by Edward Esch, music by Eric Whitacre, and lyrics by director David Norona and Whitacre. The story follows the last remaining tribe of angels, marooned in a post-apocalyptic Paradise as children and now grown into young adulthood. Within their fortress they have created a militant, martial society, always training for the next attack, always afraid. One angel, Exstasis, remains untouched by the brutal world in which she lives and dreams only of flying.

The show, heavily inspired by and infused with the style of Japanese anime and manga, is a powerful and visceral hybrid of musical theater, opera, electronica, film score and Asian drumming. A sold-out 6 week run in Los Angeles (summer 2007) was followed by a sold-out concert performance at Carnegie Hall (June, 2010).

Watch the trailer for the 2007 staged production.

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