Darrell B Cobb

None Shall Sleep Darrell B Cobb

I always wanted to write an opera. Don't ask me why, I'm just weird that way. Sadly, even after I accumulated the tools necessary to achieve the goal, I just couldn't pull off a decent result. It's a lot harder than it looks. When I first started writing novels back in the late 1980's, I was determined to put characters, story and structure first and foremost over every other writing variable. And guess what? I came up with this - a bona fide opera. Sometimes letting go of the dream brings the dream to fruition. This crazy dream of mine weaves fairytales, ghosts, unrequited romance and even a performance of Puccini's Turandot into a libretto-like tapestry. It is both self-referencing and stand-alone in nature. Amanda Deems is a young prostitute plying her trade on the mean streets of San Francisco mere blocks away from the City's opulent opera house. A supernumerary working in the local production of Turandot meets Mindy in a Laundromat and the two strike-up a tentative friendship. The stage actor, Bradley Kinkaid, is an unhappy, lonely man who needs a project to keep from going insane. Mindy meets the criteria, but is undisciplined, surly and works in a particularly nasty industry. At first, the relationship reeks of Pygmalion, but when Mindy begins to paints scrims and backdrops for the opera's production, it quickly becomes apparent that it is Mindy who is in creative control. In fact, Mindy turns out to be an artistic protégé and the talk of the opera town. But Mindy's dark and ugly world will not release its grip on her. Her pimp is on the radar of the fugitive recovery division of the San Francisco Police Department, and the long arm of the law wants Mindy as well. Before the curtain descends, there is murder, retribution and tragedy hitting every character of the story. What good opera isn't awash in multiple layers of tragedy?