Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings Tickets

Once again ERic Whitacre delivers utter brilliance with his vision of music, meaning and innovation. The cast was stunningly talented and amplified by a 350+ voices in a choir formed of all ages and types from local volunteers who came and auditioned to be a part of it. The music is beautiful, the story and all its metaphors is inspiring and it was beautifully played out. Of course, the venue is amazing - feeling so intimate though containing a large sized audience - and finally, to witness Eric, in person, conducting the show and feel his peace and passion flowing out of him all at once was breathtaking. Thank you for this amazing evening.

I loved this concert production of "Paradise Lost". The music was epic and I kept picturing costumes and set design that would only add to the experience. I hope they decide to make this a full on production for the stage. I laughed, cried and fell in love with the characters. Thanks Eric for a fabulous evening of entertainment :)

Whitacre's music is a recent fascination for me; however, Paradise Lost is a theatre piece in my most favorite genre. Although Mr. Whitacre noted that they are working toward a Broadway run, I like the simplicity of the "reader's theatre" presented at Disney. The sound complexities that Whitacre cooks up are just stunning and get you at gut level. Paradise Lost is company to Harry Partch, Diavilo Dance, and Cirque du Soleil.....all using multiple performing elements in ever-changing degrees. It feels GOOD!

Some good singers, especially the heroine, who displayed tremendous range, tonal quality, and intonation. She was also given the best songs to sing. Whitacre writes evocative choral music--rich with pleasingly dissonant chord clusters---and the 300 voice choir was magnificent, beautiful, and haunting. But the chorus was too often relegated to inaudible background status, as the over-amped narration, recitative, drums, cello, and synthesizer drowned them out. Also very distracting was the convoluted "plot" and the gratuitous violent action involving the soloists. I came to hear some great choral music but was continually frustrated by my inability to hear that wonderful choir.

A remarkably refined performance of a truly outstanding work. Eric is to be congratulated as is his wife, Hila, who constantly astounds me. The rest of the cast was uniformly outstanding as was the choir.

The production was absolutely amazing. The choral attributes were nice. The lead soprano's voice was impeccable and very clear from the terrace seats. All the voices were absolutely clear. The cello music was beautiful. Was dissappointed that ushers were not allowing photos to be taken (of the stage area and theatre) prior to the show. I would like an answer as to why not.

The best part of this disjointed show are the exciting choral passages which Whitacre truly has a knack for. The acting was weak. While the voices were strong, most were broadway style with the exception of Hila Plitmann who seemed to be the only true classically trained vocalist. The choreographed fight scenes were not very tight and came across as silly. However the cellist, Fang Fang Xu, was amazing! I would have been happier watching Whitacre conduct the chorus and the instramental ensemble all night.

The hall is lovely, the music and chorale fine, story and production need work...though sold as performance it presents as a work in progress. Eric admitted as much by introduction and by elimination of the intermission. Leads have fine singing voices but lack onstage rapport critical to their roles (you don't buy their relationship...) Voice-over narration lets you know immediately there's a problem with the story, it's not compelling but muddled. Philosophical positions (fear vs. risk and choice) are obvious but lack "Gravitas" (who was one of the best things about the piece!) Dialogue and choreography are stiff and unwieldly. Large chorus in this venue was a bright spot. Found the piece disappointing, felt like I paid for a SHOW and got a rehearsal.

Although this was a compressed version of the full theatrical production of Eric Whitacre's Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, the performance was not lacking in power and beauty. We fully enjoyed the energy and vibrancy of the cast, glowingly augmented by the talent of guest choirs from various Southern California colleges.

The best music by Whitacre ever! I love classical and electronica, to see them both together was an ethereal experience!

The music was transcendent. I can't wait to attend the fully staged musical.

The production was beautiful and the cast and choir appeared to have so much fun performing. Beautiful!!!! The last fifteen minutes of the performance, my 15 year old daughter and I had tears flowing from the exquisite sound of it all. Thank you for the wonderful experience and memory . Hila, was simply amazing. Her effortless and elegant voice....angelic. Eric…what can be said? Watching you perform with such exuberance, now, that was fun to witness. To all of the cast....kudos. Kudos to all behind the scene as well.

Eric Whitacre is extremely talented. This was just so amazing to watch and listen to. I thought Pieta was a wonderful character and beautifully played by Sara Jean Ford!!!!

Such a fun show, can't wait until it is fully produced.

Eric Whitacre, as usual, has set the bar for quality entertainment in modern music. The staging was wonderful, the storytelling was stellar, and the music was just mind-blowing, inspirational, beautiful! If you get a chance to see this show, do NOT pass it up!

At the concert, I looked around and saw people from13 to 85 years old crying as the musical unfolded. Whitacre has the incredible talent of composing music that approaches transcendence for all, regardless of age or gender. He is also humble, and makes himself almost invisible during the performance because of his subtle yet effective conducting style. It's not about him, its about the music! Our hope is that Paradise Lost makes it to Broadway sooner than later, so it can be shared on an even bigger scale!

It's not very often you get the opportunity to see a show in the before days. I mean the way before days. This show has the potential to be an amazing spectacle. I loved the presentation, simple but elegant. I would go again in a heartbeat.

While this performance was scaled down from the original the cast was still devoted to their characters and gave an amazing performance. I would definitely like to see this full production with set and effects.

Even in this 'rough' edition, the musical was completely worth the three hour drive! Eric Whitacre is a muscial mastermind and this techno-classical musical was a joy to experience. We couldn't decide whether to watch Hila Plitman or the awesome percussian. Cannot wait for a final version to see and a CD to finally buy.

We were looking for something to do and ran across Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings. There was not much information about what it was, but I was pleasantly surprised by the great, innovative music. It was not a full on performance....no costumes, or stage sets other than the risers that held the enormous choir. The storyline was captivating and the actors were wonderful with amazing voices. Truly an afternoon treat.