Vireo: Alcatraz (2016)

Vireo: Alcatraz is the ninth episode in an original opera series that tells the story of 16-year-old Vireo, a girl whose visions lead her through time and space in a quest to find a mysterious voice that haunts her life. Whether she's seen as a 15th Century witch's accuser, a 19th century psychiatric patient, or a 20th century artist's muse, Vireo is a solitary figure in a social landscape where men try to define "hysteria" in girls who act outside common social norms. The complete Vireo is a twelve episode opera composed by Lisa Bielawa (Philip Glass Ensemble member) with a libretto by Erik Ehn, directed, designed, and adapted for the screen by Charles Otte. The film is unprecedented: it is an opera being created expressly for episodic release via television broadcast and online media and the pilot episode recently won the ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Multimedia Award.