November 17, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scenes from
Man: Biology of a Fall

a NEW OPERA-in-PROGRESS
by EVAN HAUSE
Libretto by Gary Heidt

50 years ago, November 28, 1953, Army biochemist Frank Olson crashed through a window of the Statler Hotel in New York City and fell 10 stories to his death. A few months earlier he had been Chief of Special Operations Division at Camp Detrick (Maryland). A week earlier he had been drugged with LSD against his knowledge at a secret lake retreat in Maryland. Days after this incident he tried to quit his job, which included mind control research for the secret CIA program MK-ULTRA. His death occurred during a visit New York City for psychological "treatment" during the Thanksgiving week.

Composer Evan Hause and librettist Gary Heidt conclude their operatic "Defenstration Trilogy" with the startling story, coined "the CIA's Darkest Secret," of Frank Olson's final week in Maryland and New York City. Man: Biology of a Fall stars Gregory Purnhagen and will be performed on Wednesday night, December 17 at 8:00 PM at Galapagos Arts Space (70 N. 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY; 718-782-5188; $8) as part of the "New Music on North 6th" series. The scenes will also be previewed in workshop on Sunday, December 14 at 6:00 PM at OfficeOps (57 Thames St. Brooklyn, NY; 718-418-2509; Free). Call or visit the venue websites for directions.

Opera News praised Hause's May, 2002 run of Nightingale: The Last Days of James Forrestal at the Present Company Theatorium as "fresh and dramatic...the makings of an engrossing music drama....the score rises to the drama's strongest moments." The accompanying music is fully electronic. The performances are funded in part by a Brooklyn Arts Council Community Regrant.

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