When John Adams's opera Doctor Atomic premiered at the San Francisco Opera in October 2005, the New York Times' Anthony Tommasini declared that it "must surely be considered the musical event of the year in America." Documentary filmmaker Jon Else was there when the curtain went up, as he had been throughout the previous year, capturing the efforts of the composer and his longtime collaborator, director/librettist Peter Sellars, to tell, through opera, the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the start of the nuclear age. Times film critic Stephen Holden calls the resulting documentary, Wonders Are Many, "enthralling." The film makes its way from successful festival runs to its theatrical debut, opening in NYC and LA this afternoon. Doctor Atomic makes its Metropolitan Opera debut in this October.
When John Adams's opera Doctor Atomic premiered at the San Francisco Opera in October 2005, the New York Times' Anthony Tommasini declared that it "must surely be considered the musical event of the year in America." Documentary filmmaker Jon Else was there when the curtain went up, as he had been throughout the previous year, capturing the efforts of the composer and his longtime collaborator, director/librettist Peter Sellars, to tell, through opera, the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb, and the start of the nuclear age.
Times film critic Stephen Holden calls the resulting documentary, Wonders Are Many, "enthralling." He describes the working relationship at its core this way:
As you watch Mr. Sellars meticulously assemble the libretto from sources that include John Donne, Baudelaire, the Bhagavad-Gita and a book on the military uses of atomic energy whose words are sung in what Mr. Adams calls "faux poetry," the process suggests the artistic equivalent of splitting the atom. It is fascinating to observe Mr. Sellars demonstrating to cast members the exact phrasing and emotional shading for conveying Mr. Adams's austere but passionate score, and to watch the final touches being added to a facsimile of the original test weapon.
The film was given its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007, leading Variety magazine to write:
Art and science form a combustible fusion in Jon Else's elegant and wide-ranging Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic. A dazzling case of the right filmmaker attached to the right subject ...
That review went on to assert that "the film is best seen in cinemas," and today, Wonders Are Many makes its way from successful festival runs to its theatrical debut. It opens this afternoon in New York City, at the Quad Cinema (quadcinema.com) and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema (lincolnplazacinema.com), and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Monica 4-plex (laemmle.com) in Santa Monica.
You can watch the film's trailer here:
For more on the film and the filmmakers, visit wondersaremany.com. To read the New York Times review, visit nytimes.com.
Doctor Atomic makes its Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City this October. For information and subscription tickets, visit metoperafamily.org.
