having guests for dinner
Delight with us in the genius of Nicholas Bentz and Robert Feng’s dark comedy Having Guests for Dinner. A macabre and fun story of two young people who find themselves invited for dinner at a stranger’s home, they become suspicious as the friend they were meant to invite is missing and they find curious items in their food.
Written for three singers and 10 instruments, the work is economical for any season. Your artists will still find the piece challenging and fun, and your artistic staff will love the story.
/kor/ productions is a proud co-producer of the first concert workshop this past February, and is currently looking for partners to bring the work to its full realization. If your company is interested in partnership, please email Artistic Director, Johanna Moffitt at their email johannamoffitt.kor@gmail.com.
HAVING GUESTS FOR DINNER SYNOPSIS
Laura and Marcus have been invited by their friend, Scott, to dine in the remote part of town. Laura notices that Scott’s car isn’t at the house when they arrive, and Marcus attempts to text him when he realizes they have no cellphone reception.
Oh.
They’re suddenly greeted by the owner of the house, Christian. He welcomes them, and assures them that Scott couldn’t make it, he was feeling unwell. Laura reluctantly enters Christian’s home, as Marcus assures her she’s reading into too much - Christian seems eccentric but kind.
Marcus delights in the food, having never tried tartar before. Laura reels, unsure of raw meat. As Christian packages her tartar to try later, Laura feels a strange foreboding. Scott isn’t there, Christian has brought up his work with cannibalistic tribes… What if the “fresh meat” they’re trying is really their friend Scott? She accuses Christian, getting them kicked out of the house. As more suspicious clues come their way, Marcus and Laura make a plan to get reinvited for dinner to find evidence at Christian’s home they can take to the authorities.
wHy hAVING gUESTS FOR diNNER?
Audiences raved at the comedic timing, joy and connection they felt to this piece. It was fun to sit in a room of people and share a laugh, delight in the puns, and connect with the characters of the work.
At a time when most operas are centered in tragedy, Having Guests for Dinner gives the audience a reason to smile.
libretto
robert ellsworth feng
Hailed by Opera News as a “booming, well-crafted bass,” Chinese-American bass and librettist Robert Ellsworth Feng is a born collaborator who creates powerful performances. Robert’s 2023-24 season began as a Young Artist at Hawai’i Opera Theatre where he performed the role of Papa in Jack Perla & Jessica Murphy Moo’s An American Dream, and also appeared with Washington National Opera / Vision Into Art / Beth Morrison Projects in
Paola Prestini and Brenda Shaughnessy’s Sensorium Ex (Ensemble/Corp cover). Upcoming performances include La Bohème (Colline) with Hawai’i Opera Theatre and the Mozart Requiem (Bass Soloist) with Glens Falls Symphony. Through his singing experience, Feng has found himself called upon to create original libretti for new and emerging works. Feng’s works often
find themselves interwoven with his identity as an Asian-American, with the ambition of helping create an equitable industry and a stage that reflects the diverse and multicultural audiences of today. Robert holds degrees from Peabody Conservatory & Manhattan School of Music.

MUSIC
nick bentz
Nick Bentz is a composer, violinist, and multimedia artist whose work is drawn to remote fringes and recesses of experience. In his work he seeks to render intimately personal spaces imbued with an individual sense of storytelling and narrative. His art centers around the blurring, juxtaposition, and amalgamation of stylistic idioms into singular sonic statements. Nick's music has been performed by leading artists including the Philadelphia Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, and yMusic, and featured at Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center, and the Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai. Current projects include co-commissions from Ensemble Intercontemporain and Wigmore Hall, as well as works for Sandbox Percussion and percussionist David Moliner to be premiered at the Musikverein. Nick has held residencies at Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Suncoast Composer Fellowship, and Atlantic Center for the Arts. He is currently a PhD candidate pursuing a doctorate in Music and Multimedia Composition at Brown University.

Producer
JOHANNA MOFFITT
American soprano, Johanna Moffitt, relocated from Western New York to Chicago where they have since been making a splash across the Chicago arts scene. They have performed all over the Windy City, making a name for themselves particularly in the repertoire of Puccini and Mozart where their “brilliant and silvery” voice especially shines. As a producer, they have sought to bring accessible performances to non-traditional venues with 501(c)3 company /kor/ productions. They are proud to be part of the female run team at /kor/ productions to help bring innovative experiences to new audiences unlike anything they participated in before. As a stage director, Johanna has led and co-led several projects. Among their favorites are BOHEME 2.0, an innovative take on the Puccini classic in which the entire cast was spread across the continental United States. They worked hard to help the cast find ways to connect with the audience and each other across the world wide web, and were successful doing so, reaching over 3,000 audience members worldwide. As a Music Director, they’ve worked in several Chicago community projects. Among their favorites are leading the choir at the Vi at the Glen retirement community where the choir has performed to great success, studio nights at the Newport Theatre, and several one-woman shows Swipe Left and their own project, One-Woman SCHICCHI. In their spare time, Johanna very much enjoys teaching in their private voice studio, performing as a storyteller, and hanging out with their adorable pups, George and Charlie.

WNYCO
Lead by Artistic Director Glenn Cortese and Executive Director Lisa Layman, the Western New York Chamber Orchestra is an established regional treasure of Chatauqua County, New York for the past 30 years. The orchestra boasts excellent musicians from the surrounding area, and a complete season including opera, classical and new works, and community access.