Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings

Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings is a musical work of theatre, with music by composer Eric Whitacre, lyrics by Whitacre and David Noroña, and book by poet Edward Esch, set in two acts. The innovative music combines styles of opera, musical theater, cinematic music, as well as electronic music techniques of trance music, ambient music, and techno to portray the story of an abandoned tribe of angels in search of their wings. Although it has various non-classical influences, it is meant to be performed by singers with operatic or musical theater backgrounds.

The musical begins with a prologue set years before. The angels of light leave their children behind a rock wall in preparation for the battle with the forces of darkness. The children are left without wings, which leaves them unarmed and mortal, until the war has ended. The angels of light promise to return soon, with wings and to bring the children home.

Seventeen years later, the angels of light still have not returned. Logos and his henchman, Ignis, two of the many angel children who were left long ago, are creating a powerful army by engaging the tribe in nightly combats. This vigorous training is conducted because of Logos’s belief of a darkness beyond the wall.

Logos’s restless lover, Exstasis, experiences flashbacks of the night when the parents left the children. While her visions and memories are helping her better realize the true events of that life-changing night, Exstasis believes that there is a better world outside of the prison where they reside. This captivity causes Exstasis to question if staying behind the rock, wingless, and preparing for war is the best life to live. Her faith in a better world compels her to begin a journey in search for the hidden wings in order to return home.

During the musical Logos and Ignis are tempted with the idea of power, while Fervio and Gravitas provide comic relief as a troublemaking loner and a thief while progressing the plot. Throughout, the largest struggle is the tribe constantly contemplating if it is worth breaking through the rock barrier to face the unknown, good or bad.

The audience and the characters are held in suspense until the end. Ultimately, the tribe breaks through the wall and experiences a musical and emotional victory.

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Wikipedia