‘Alice Ryley’ – To Debute October 30th


Specially commissioned by the Savannah Voice Festival and debuting to an anticipatory hometown crowd during Halloween weekend, “Alice Ryley,” a hot new Savannah-centric opera, delivers a woeful tale peppered with passion, history and murder.

The show – slated to premiere at 4 and 7 p.m. Friday, October 30 2015 at Savannah’s historic Morris Center – masterfully draws the audience into the tragic story of Alice, an indentured servant in the 1700s who, along with her lover, is accused of killing her master. Setting an ominous and foreboding tone, the opera intertwines beautiful moments with haunting melodies to take form as a musical journey through the history of Savannah while telling the story of one of its most famous ghosts.

It was penned by renowned American composer, Michael Ching, and was inspired by the book; “Historic Haunts of Savannah,” by Savannah based Michael Harris and Linda Sickler. “I’m flattered to have been tasked with bringing the story of Alice Ryley to the stage. The opera encompasses the unique energy of Savannah and of course Wright Square, the original location of the gallows in the city’s very early days. Alice, the first woman to be sentenced to death in Savannah, was executed shortly after giving birth and is said to haunt the square while calling for her baby,” Ching said.

For more information on the Savannah VOICE Festival, please visit www.savannahvoicefestival.org. For more information on “Historic Haunts of Savannah,” the book that serves as the basis and inspiration for “Alice Ryley, visit www.facebook.com/ historichauntsofsavannah.



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