Dark electronic opera ‘Queen Midas’ unpacks late-20th century queer culture at The White Hotel

Billed as an experimental opera for soprano and electronics, The White Hotel presents the first ever live performance of Queen Midas, a pulsating and profound voyage through late 20th century queer culture written by Arizona-born, Manchester-based prodigy, Devon Bonelli, on Sun 25 Jun.

Bringing The White Hotel’s sprawling, innovative classical and choral programme into the dark electronic dimension, the show follows the titular unreliable narrator as they attempt to both celebrate and lament, through ‘corrupted recollection’, the pivotal moments of joy and anguish in 80s and 90s gay and queer culture.

Staged in-the-round – a central stage surrounded by a largely unseated audience – and accompanied by a full AV production, Queen Midas stars Devon Bonelli, soprano Georgie Malcolm, libretto by Spencer Mason and choreography by Imogen Reeve and Chloe Smith.

Opening the evening, the wonderfully sibylline artist Kaprow performs live, with DJ support throughout the event from TWH favourite Rosa Methol.

Bonelli said: “Queen Midas is a show that retells the fallout of the AIDS crisis by using the allegory of a ‘fear of touch’.

“The music I’ve written is a celebration of 80s house, a genre pioneered by queer people, with roots in visionaries like Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy. Equal parts ‘dance track’, ‘electronic soundscape’, and ‘opera diva at the disco’, the music takes a narrative journey, spinning a story that pulls Queen Midas through her own battle with reality.

“My main goal with most of my work is to highlight queer resilience in the face of adversity. What’s queerer than an opera in a nightclub?”

Click here to book tickets.