For more information contact:

Stacy Horn

Horn Communications

(415) 441-1366

SDHorn@mindspring.com

www.wuornos.org

WUORNOS  OPERA  RECEIVES  SUCCESSFUL 

WORLD  PREMIERE

Controversial new opera

about Aileen Wuornos plays to critical acclaim

(San Francisco, CA, August 16, 2001)  The recent World Premiere of Wuornos, the new opera by Carla Lucero, was a huge success!   The production garnered national attention not only for its high-end production qualities but for its controversial subject matter.  Performances were held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, June 22–24, 2001.

The enclosed program and insert will give you a closer look at the Wuornos opera.  It’s success has not been ignored by those who either accept or refute the messages played out on stage.  This opera will endure, for reasons involving controversy as well as the mastery of the artists involved in the staged performances of this beautifully-constructed operatic score. 

Wuornos profiles the actual life story of Aileen Wuornos, the sex worker who is now on Death Row for the murders of six men in Florida.  Aileen, trapped by legal entanglement, has asked the Florida Supreme Court to end the appeals process and set a date for her execution. 

The Wuornos opera examines Aileen’s upbringing and explores the cyclical nature of abuse.  It presents a compassionate profile of a woman abused at every step of her life, including sexual abuse by her grandfather and the torturous treatment endured from the johns she served as a prostitute.  It also examines the evils of exploitation, putting the spotlight on those who profited from her sad story, including those in the media and religion.

In many ways, Aileen’s story is “everywoman’s” story:  A woman who endures torment and lashes out in retaliation.  Wuornos is the first opera to explore institutionalized abuse against women.  Because of this, the production has received critical note from politicians and others preferring to ignore the “whys” of the horrible story, and place blame solely with Aileen and her fateful actions.  Wuornos challenges these knee-jerk prejudices and asks audiences to reexamine abuse and exploitation and their effects. 

Information about the world tour and production of the Wuornos CD will soon be available.

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