A Nigeria-inspired Rock n’ Roll Opera Killin Republicans will debut from November 30 to December 17 in the United States.
Killin Republic is led by Dick D. Zigun, under the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, with concept and libretto by Zigun, and Arturo ‘Artie’ Rodriguez as composer and musical director. It is directed by vagabond, with Omar Villegas as production manager.
Far from a cry for violence, the opera unveils what happens when actress Jodie Foster is stuck in a first-class cabin of a transatlantic flight with two wealthy individuals, an Afrobeat artiste, Goodness Gracious. Studying for her USA Citizenship test, and her husband, Billybob, a Mississippi oilman and rockabilly aficionado. The couple are aware that Foster was the hapless inspiration for John Hinckley’s attempt shooting of president Ronald Reagan in 1981. Reagan was leaving the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC, where he had addressed 5,000 members of the AFL-CIO when shots rang out. Hinckley, wielding a 22 handgun, had attempted the assassination to impress Ms Foster, with whom he had a psychotic obsession.
The opera is an intellectual discuss about violence in the history of the Republican Party, and was inspired by Zigun’s wife and music aficionado, Princess Patience Mukoro, and his uncle-in-law, popular poet and playwright, J.P Clark, both from Kiagbodo Mein, Delta State, who encouraged the penning of the story over a non-stop, two days conversation.
“After I was welcomed to Warri by my in-laws. Commissioner for Education, Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, Delta State, and His Royal Highness, King Pere Bigborogha in the Throne Room of his palace at Kiagbodo, were very influential to the birth of this production,” said Zigun.
The entire opera is either sung or performed in a variety of styles including Rockabilly, Punk, Beatles, Willie Nelson, and Heavy Metal.
