Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast

Tony Caruso's Final Broadcast is a one-act opera on a libretto by Dana Gioia. Here is a synopsis: The opera takes place in a classical music radio station on the last night of its operations. (At midnight the station’s new management will convert to an easy-listening format.) The station’s final program, “Opera Lover,” is hosted by Antonio Caruso, a failed tenor who has worked on the show for 27 years. The station intern and radio engineer try to comfort Tony for his impending loss. Meanwhile the new management plots its market-drive tactics aimed at the drive-time listener. During the final broadcast, Tony remembers his early dreams of artistic fame and success as the “second Caruso.” In his desperate state, Tony is visited by three ghosts or visions—his dead mother, Maria Callas, and finally a mysterious woman. ---Dana Gioia Scene 4 is a flashback to Tony's childhood when was found to have a beautiful voice. He sings his favorite hymn (Tantum Ergo) for a Nun and Priest. In Scene 8 the station engineer and his intern reminisce about Tony and in Scene 9 are joined by the Marketing Trio and the Nun and the Priest and the Marketing Trio to examine their own "path of tears." In Scene 10 Tony is visited by his final ghost.