Dance with the dead, live in HD

The dead will return for one last dance as Frida Kahlo’s world bursts across the big screen when the Newport Performing Arts Center hosts the Metropolitan Opera’s “El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego” this Saturday, June 6.

The final presentation in Oregon Coast Council for the Arts’ Met Opera in HD season features American composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s acclaimed debut opera, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Set during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebration, the opera imagines Kahlo returning from the underworld for one final reunion with husband Diego Rivera. The production reinterprets the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through the turbulent, passionate relationship between two of the 20th Century’s most influential artists.

Written in Spanish by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, the libretto blends mythology, politics and deeply personal emotion while Frank’s score draws from Latin American folk traditions, contemporary classical music and vivid orchestral textures. Critics have praised the opera’s originality and visual richness, with Deborah Colker’s production transforming the Met stage into a living version of Kahlo’s paintings.

Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard stars as Kahlo opposite baritone Carlos Álvarez as Rivera.

The production is sung in Spanish with English subtitles and runs approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes with one intermission.

Saturday’s screening begins at 10 am at the Newport Performing Arts Center, located at 777 W Olive Street. Tickets range from $12 to $28. For more information, go to coastarts.com or call 541-265-2787.