SMASHED: The Carrie Nation Story - Video
PUBLISHED:  May 29, 2013
DESCRIPTION:
"A truly extraordinary theatrical experience... an opera with belly laughs... joyous"
–The New York Times

An opera by composer James Barry & librettist Timothy Braun, commissioned by Opera on Tap for its Roadworks Series.

Overture: 0:00
Scene 1: 0:40 (I'm So Fucking Wasted)
Scene 2: 2:10 (Oh, Shit, It's Carrie Nation)
Scene 3: 11:51 (Carrie Now Know The Twenty-Seven Evils)
Scene 4: 20:42 (I Admire Your Strength)
Scene 5 Aria: 25:41 (How Did This All Come To Be?)
Scene 6: 31:27 (Your Husband Made A Choice)
Scene 7: 35:21 (Oh Shit! Take Cover!)

REVIEWS
"Anyone who experiences the absurd booze-opera will go happy and with a fully transformed view of opera."
–feastofmusic.com
“This party of a show… A delicious brew of top-shelf singers mixed with downtown creativity.”
–NYTheaterNow.com
“A cross-genre mix of theatre, cabaret, opera, and interactive game.”
–FringeReview.co.uk

April 6, 2013, HERE Arts Center, New York, NY.

FEATURING
Krista Wozniak as Carrie Nation
(Bass Baritone), Bartender/the Officer/the Scientist/the God
Merlyn Wolf as the Narrator

CARRIE NATION ALL-STARS
Cameron Russell as Amberleigh
Christiana Little as Anne
Kayleigh Butcher as Cameron
UNCLE JIMMY LIQUID COURAGE BRIGADE
Patricia Vital as Lizzie
Michael Bragg as Timmy
Seth Gilman as Jimmy

Director: Jenny Lee Mitchell
Set Design: John Pizza
Costume & Props: Ramona Ponce
Lighting Designer: Christopher Weston
Assistant Stage Director: Daniela Hart
Stage Manager: Samantha Erenberger

Music Director: Mila Henry
Conductor: Conrad Chu
House Band: Hotel Elefant

Producer: Anne Hiatt
Associate Producer: Sara Noble

PROGRAM NOTE
Smashing Sensation
Tonight's leading lady is arrested at one point for "portraying a historical figure in an exaggerated fictionalization." Truth, however, is stranger than fiction and Carrie Amelia Nation's life is no exception. "Six feet tall, with the biceps of a stevedore, the face of a prison warden and the persistence of a toothache," Nation (1846-1911) bulldozed her way into American History thanks in large part to her exaggerated persona. She was impossible to ignore, with her imposing physique and penchant for haranguing sinners—bartenders and politicians alike—with Bible and hatchet in hand. Even her name marked her out for fame. She genuinely believed her mission was to Carry A. Nation to prohibition and, as if to leave no room for doubt, registered her name as a trademarked slogan in 1903.

Underneath the larger than life façade was a foundation of "bitter grief" and pain. Nation knew first-hand the devastating effects of alcohol —her first husband, a handsome doctor who wooed her with Shakespeare, died a hopeless alcoholic and she believed his addiction had caused their daughter's chronic poor health. In the late 1880's Nation moved to Kansas—one of the first states to enact prohibition laws—and became actively involved with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She called herself a home defender and strove to prevent saloons—she preferred the term "murder mills"— from destroying other families. After several years she grew increasingly dissatisfied with the WCTU's peaceful tactics and sought divine guidance on how to further her cause. In June 1900 God spoke to her in a dream, commanding the 54-year old to "take something in your hands, and throw at these places in Kiowa and smash them." And thus Carrie Nation set off on her decade-long crusade, a matronly Joan of Arc doing battle against the whiskey joints of the world.

Nothing could stop her. Angry mobs repeatedly pelted her with rotten eggs and vegetables; prostitutes and wives of saloon owners attacked her with broomsticks and whips. She was arrested nearly three dozen times and suffered a humiliating divorce—a sharp blow for a woman who relentlessly defended the sanctity of family life—at the height of her fame. Nonetheless she continued undaunted on her quest to abolish the sale and consumption of liquor. The violent smashings and "hachetations" that had propelled her into the national spotlight gradually turned into lecture tours and stints on the vaudeville stage. Towards the end of her life she settled in Arkansas, opening Hatchet Hall as a shelter for families of alcoholics. Nation passed away in 1911, eight years before prohibition became the law of the land. While she was just one of many passionate temperance advocates, Carrie Nation certainly was the most memorable.

Julie W. Squire is a freelance writer and former arts education manager
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