Speed Dating Tonight! (2013) marches on with an average of 12+ performances per season. Hooray! In 2020, I worked with Paul Houghtaling at University of Alabama on a new opera, RSBE (Remove Shoes Before Entering). It is SpDT!'s deeper cousin. Many of the pieces in SpDT! skim the surface. RSBE is inspired by the idea of writing a show about empathy. It's darker and deeper. Still, some of the pieces are very light and sweet.
Here's a listing of the available pieces:
1. Friendship Bracelet. About rescuing a turtle at the beach.
2. Impostor. The feeling of impostor syndrome
3. Samaritan. Failing to give aid and resolving to do it next time.
4. I See Me. Searching for inclusivity and belonging
5. Alaskabout you. Bitterly remembering being abandoned by their father
6. N-Word/One Square at a Time (Duet). Telling a friend not to use the N-Word. Remembering a beautiful family quilt.
7. Imaginary Friend. Recalling and conjuring their imaginary friend.
8. Gramma’s Lesson (Where the Wonder Never Ceases) Remembering gramma, who took took away their phone and took them outside to see the magic in nature.
9. The First Time I Heard Mozart. Hearing Mozart for the first time.
10 You’re in my car (Duet). Getting into the wrong car on a busy day. Oh, and it's occupied.
11 Reading Frederick Douglass for the first time
12 Picture of You. Recalling departed love.
13A So Sad. Long term depression, knowing the trigger is 13B
13B Just Between Us. Recalling a childhood abuser.
14 Me That Used to be. Arriving at a woman's shelter
15 Console Consolation (Duet). Recalling great old video games.
16 Shedding. Could you have too much stuff?
17 Interconnected. Recalling a sermon about our common, inescapable bonds.
18 What I had to do. Reading a letter grandfather sent from overseas during war.
19 Hide With the TV. Wanting to nest with old B&W TV during stressful times.
20 Don’t let the music end. Recalling an old flame.
21 Another motherfucking snowstorm. Recalling what it says.
22 Beautiful traveler. Trying to take a picture of a butterfly.
If you've done Speed Dating Tonight! you know how flexible it is. RSBE is structured the same way, with all of the pieces being flexibly cast. It has a touch more ensemble singing, but it is all really easy. The premise is very slight (there's even an alternate premise) . Speed Dating Tonight! takes about ten minutes to set up the scene; RSBE dives in within about 90 seconds. The original premise is a group of students visiting a mysterious building, part old sanctuary, part old second hand store. The alternate premise is students in a classroom.
I'll leave you with one more. #20 Don't let the music end. Co-written with Reg Huston.
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