The opera tells the story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore: two women – romantic and artistic partners - Jewish activists and surrealist photographers who used their art to magnify resistance against Nazi Germany.

Says librettist Fleischmann, ‘When I first came across the iconic image of Claude Cahun in boxing garb, with the words “Don’t kiss me, I’m in training” inscribed across their chest, I felt I had found my hero. Delving deeper into their body of work, which encompasses surrealist writing and collage as well as chameleonic feminist self-portraiture prefiguring Cindy Sherman by half a century, I was transfixed by their collaboration with lifelong partner Marcel Moore and the way these two women—camouflaged as a pair of cat-loving spinsters—harnessed their inquiry into gender and identity to implement a resistance on the Isle of Jersey during World War II that was perceived by the Germans as the work of a small army. Larger than life, infused with a dream logic and a heightened, angular theatricality, their story was crying out to be opera.’

Claude & Marcel is the third complete length opera to be commissioned and developed by West Edge Opera. Claude & Marcel was commissioned in 2023 and will premiere in August 2027.

Commissioners & Supporters Include: Norm Abramson, Hilary Honore, Terry McKelvey & Heli Roiha, Erica Nietfeld & Royce Kelley, Michael Walsh, and The National Endowment for the Arts

The development of Claude & Marcel is taking place over the course of four years, with a series of milestones built into the process including:

September 2024 | A libretto workshop at The Chan National Queer Arts Center in San Francisco, led by director Elkhanah Pulitzer.

November 2025 | A piano-vocal workshop of Claude & Marcel, led by conductor Jonathan Khuner.

April 2026 | Preview Performance at The Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco.

October 2026 | Complete Piano Vocal Workshop, location TBD

August 2027 | World Premiere with West Edge Opera Summer Festival in Oakland, CA.