On the heels of its critically acclaimed world premiere tour, Before It All Goes Dark, a one-act opera about Nazi-looted art by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, will reach new audiences as a film and album this spring. Commissioned by Music of Remembrance and based on reporting by legendary Chicago journalist Howard Reich, the work examines the generational impacts of the Holocaust. Fittingly, EuroArts will release the film and album on April 25, 2025, just before the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe.
As the Seattle Times notes, “Jake Heggie has an instinct for recognizing when he has alighted on a story that will send his imagination into overdrive.” Before It All Goes Dark is based on the compelling true story of Gerald “Mac” McDonald, a gravely ill and deeply troubled Vietnam War veteran, which was first reported by Howard Reich in the Chicago Tribune. Mac grew up poor, angry, and disenfranchised in the suburbs of Chicago, his family’s Jewish ancestry hidden from him – until Reich tracked him down as part of an investigation inspired by his own family’s experiences during the Holocaust. When Mac learned that he was heir to a priceless art collection stolen by the Nazis, the two men embarked on a quest to Eastern Europe to uncover secrets of the past.
“When Howard Reich told me Mac’s story, I immediately felt a shiver of recognition,” said composer Jake Heggie. “The story is bursting with surprising influences, soaring vocalism, and remarkable intimacy. It is a very specific American story, yet universal, for we are all in some way heirs to the tragedy of the Holocaust. These events still ripple and vibrate through our world, commanding us to pay attention.”
The prologue to the opera is set in the vibrant salon of Mac’s ancestor Emil Freund in Prague in the early 1930s, surrounded by projections of the looted art and the sounds of chamber music – all written by Jewish composers of the period who would ultimately perish in Nazi camps. The action then moves to Mac’s sparse, dark apartment in Chicagoland 63 years later, drawing a sharp distinction between Mac’s reality and the astonishing world of color, identity, and connection embodied by Freund’s collection.
Ryan McKinny as “Mac” in Jake Heggie & Gene Scheer’s Before It All Goes Dark / Photo by Terry Lorant
“When I first identified Mac as the heir to this invaluable art collection, I had no idea how this news would change his life,” said longtime Chicago Tribune journalist Howard Reich. “If Mac were alive today, I believe he’d be stunned and pleased to discover that the world still wants to hear from a long-forgotten Vietnam vet. Thanks to Before It All Goes Dark, Mac’s story of tragic loss and surprising redemption will live forever on the operatic stage.”
Bass-baritone Ryan McKinny created the role of Mac, with Musical America hailing him as “Riveting… With the imposing biceps of a hair-trigger brawler, he managed to capture Mac as both a wary warrior and an unhappy soul searching for peace. In Heggie’s unsettled melodies, McKinny’s authoritative bass-baritone carried a plaintive hint of inconsolable, ages-old sadness.” Mezzo-soprano Megan Marino took on three characters: Mac’s neighbor, a curator at the Jewish Museum in Prague, and Mac’s ancestor, Emil Freund. Opera Magazine noted the “great emotional responsibility,” praising Marino’s “admirable work finding distinct timbres for each role” in “an eloquently poignant performance.”
The film version of Before It All Goes Dark, directed by Erich Parce and conducted by Joseph Mechavich, will be accessible via Amazon Prime on April 25, 2025, followed by worldwide TV broadcasts. The same-day release of the album on the EuroArts label, distributed by Warner Classics, will be available for download on all major streaming platforms.
“Without giving us easy answers, Before It All Goes Dark explores the complicated relationship between art and identity, while challenging audiences to consider the unexpected ways that historical events affect later generations,” said Music of Remembrance Artistic Director Mina Miller. “Through an aging veteran’s odyssey, we’re reminded that we are never too old to understand the world and ourselves in new ways. In many regards, this story encapsulates what Music of Remembrance is about – demonstrating the power of art to make a difference in the world.”
Before It All Goes Dark
Composer: Jake Heggie
Librettist: Gene Scheer
Conductor: Joseph Mechavich
Director: Erich Parce
Scenic Designer: Peter Crompton
Mac: Ryan McKinny
Sally/Misha/Emil: Megan Marino
Music of Remembrance Ensemble: Demarre McGill, flute; Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Mikhail Shmidt, violin; Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola; Eric Han, cello; Jonathan Green, double bass; Jessica Choe, piano
Audio Engineer: Dmitriy Lipay
Video Editor: Andrew Mayatskiy
Critical Acclaim for Before It All Goes Dark
“Jake Heggie, a composer singularly attuned to the power of narrative, knows when a great story has found him. Before It All Goes Dark is a striking fusion of intensity and emotional range, historical context and dramatic immediacy. A rich experience…Heggie and Scheer have discovered an expansive story of layered themes that both captures and transcends its source material.” –San Francisco Classical Voice
“The musical forces are small but the impact could hardly have been more potent. Vividly portrayed by McKinny, Mac finds redemption of sorts at the end. But thanks to Scheer’s tightly focused libretto and Heggie’s evocative music, the wounds he suffers along the way resonate long after we leave the theater. The opera’s impact stems from the intimate simplicity of Heggie’s music and Scheer’s straightforward prose. By searingly exploring one man’s wounded heart, the work leaves us thinking of larger, universal issues of identity and acceptance.” –Musical America
“A remarkable work and a memorable one. This new, small opera is an incredible journey of transformation for Mac and a powerful drama set beautifully to music. Heggie’s music captures Mac’s despair when we first encounter him, and it develops slowly, like a smoldering fire that takes time to burst into flame. When Mac cries out to Emil, trying to understand the horrible course of his life, and grieving his death, it is a catharsis of immense power.” –Hyde Park Herald
“The opera is in rough Chicago vernacular laced with expletives, expressed with muscular clarity by the principal singers, is a compact and relatively short piece. ‘Before It All Goes Dark’ has unquestionably captured something uniquely Chicago, yet universal in its emotional appeal.” –Buzz Center Stage
“A new art form graced San Francisco’s Presidio Theatre – a collaborative work that interweaves related themes in a salon and an opera. The structure allows for a compelling theme to resonate to the maximum… Worthy of many more performances.” –Aisle Seat Review
“A tremendous achievement... The score played an active role in the drama, especially in the instrumental parts that connected the scenes, and Scheer’s libretto was truly a great asset. The greatest contributions to the success of this premiere tour were the two soloists, both of whom gave their heart and soul to bring the story to life. Before It All Goes Dark not only teaches the dangers of letting history repeat itself, but also demonstrates the transformative power of Art.” –Parterre Box
“It packed an emotional punch. Scheer turns Reich’s stories into a poetic journey of self-discovery for Mac that demonstrates the transformative power of art. The score was trademark Heggie in its contemporary yet approachable style, inflected with elements of the blues and rock ’n roll. Just off his star turn as Joseph De Rocher in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at the Metropolitan Opera, McKinny lent his powerful bass-baritone to the similarly troubled role of Mac. Heggie once again has written an appealing mezzo part that displayed Marino’s solid yet malleable voice to the best effect.” –Chicago Classical Review
“A simple, sincere narrative had a direct emotional effect… With its expressive power, the story and music achieve an extraordinarily quiet and sweetly unsettling climax. It was here that Heggie’s score flourished, undulating with waves of eloquently pungent harmonies and orchestral colour. The towering performance of McKinny as Mac was an eloquently poignant performance with universal echoes, despite the chamber scale of this touching new opera.” –Opera Magazine
Established in 1998, Music of Remembrance (MOR) has made a unique impact through works that honor the resilience of all people excluded or persecuted for faith, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. Its programs pay tribute to historic memory, and directly confront challenges to human rights and dignity today. In addition to its work discovering and performing music from the Holocaust, MOR is acclaimed for developing new art works that confront compelling issues in today’s world. Recent premieres have included works addressing the separation of families at the US-Mexico border, the worldwide refugee crisis, and the struggle for women’s rights in Iran. This season’s premieres bring the organization’s total commissions to 48 new works, including song cycles, chamber works, operas, film scores, and choreography – all persuasive testimonies for tomorrow. MOR’s annual David Tonkonogui Memorial Award welcomes new generations along on this journey, nurturing young musicians who seek to address issues of human rights through their art.