Stonewall (2019)

What made this opera a success was that the creators not only knew the world in which they are working, but also had the objectivity, clarity, and theatrical chops to externalize it.

“Stonewall” is a stirring tribute to the movement that began on a night in June 1969 when many of New York City’s disenfranchised and despised just said ‘No!” Hopefully this hypnotic and passionate opera will return to the stage soon for a much longer run.

Together, Bell and Campbell successfully tell the courageous story behind a community of voices that unite during the Stonewall’s uprising. With a masterful combination of modern classical music, that supports an efficient and effective libretto, one might consider this new work to be a game changer in the age of modern opera ... Bell’s proficient and adept connection to the human voice is apparent all throughout. He develops cinematic responses within a technicolor landscape that simultaneously entertains and informs the audience.

"Stonewall" ... defies the simplification opera demands — not least of all because the bar catered to everyone on the queer spectrum, and they all deserve representation.On that front, “Stonewall” is groundbreaking.

... there is so much to applaud with Stonewall. Mr. Bell has written a tense and intense score rife with appropriate anticipation, commotion, and reverie. Mr. Campbell’s libretto infuses the evening’s heroes with humanity, dignity, pathos and humor. And unlike the recent feature film treatments of the Stonewall uprising, the opera reflects the true racial, economic, and sexual diversity of the people who made history 50 years ago in Greenwich Village.

Bell writes particularly well for the human voice. Composition and character are richly varied. Yet each character has his/her own tone and texture ... Stonewall is a reminder that we are all human, whatever our sexual orientation. It is a terrific evening of opera.

Iain Bell’s music is thrilling; he writes well for the voice … and distinguished each character with a sort of instrumental obbligato, pairing characters with a single or small group of instruments to great effect.

Bell’s writing eventually rose to the level of psychological detail in the pre-dawn music that opened Part III. Tender and bruised, it spoke to the exhaustion of a hard-won victory.