The Postman Always Rings Twice (opera)
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| The Postman Always Rings Twice | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Stephen Paulus | |
 The composer | |
| Librettist | Colin Graham |
| Language | English |
| Based on | The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain |
| Premiere | |
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1982 opera with a libretto written by Colin Graham and music by Stephen Paulus, based on the 1934 novel by James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice.
The opera was the first of four commissioned from Paulus by the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. It opened to generally strong reviews, and prompted the critic from the New York Times, in an otherwise mixed notice, to call Paulus "a young man on the road to big things".[1]
The opera has since been performed numerous times around the world, and Paulus composed eight more operas before his death in 2014.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 17 June 1982[2] (Conductor: C. William Harwood) |
|---|---|---|
| Cora | soprano | Kathryn Bouleyn |
| Katz | tenor | Carroll Freeman |
| Nick | tenor | Michael Myers |
| Kennedy | baritone | David Evitts |
| 1st Cop | baritone | David Evitts |
| 2nd Cop | bass-baritone | Stephen Morton |
| Frank Chambers | David Parsons | |
| Sackett | bass | Daniel Sullivan |