Librettist Gardner McFall is the author of two volumes of poetry, The Pilot's Daughter and Russian Tortoise, as well as two children's books. She lives in New York and teaches at Hunter College.

"The characters quote literature and repeatedly quote each other in a libretto rich in allusion, metaphors, dreams and magical realism. These extra dimensions give poetry and depth to a story that, stripped of them, might have been just another sentimental tear-jerker centered on a fragile woman. The complexity is potentially confusing, but McFall and Wadsworth achieved admirable clarity…."(Opera News) "It is a credit to Ms. McFall's poetic yet direct language and Mr. Hagen's expressive, basically tonal music that this psychological, metaphorical and theatrical layering works so well…. Everything about 'Amelia' seems to have been tailored exactly for it, thus powerfully communicating its message and its modernity in an engaging theatrical event."(Wall Street Journal) "This is an opera of riveting dramatic and musical strength, proudly American yet rising above jingoism, profoundly personal yet universal in context…. Whether this in the masterly new American opera we have long been waiting for is a question best left to the future. For now, it stands as an achievement at once profound and hugely enjoyable."(Seattle Times)

• Foreword by Speight JenkinsDramatis PersonaeAct 1, Scene 1Act 1, Scene 2Act 1, Scene 3Act 2, Scene 1 Act 2, Scene 2 Act 2, Scene 3 AfterwordAcknowledgmentsAbout the author

Librettist Gardner McFall is the author of two volumes of poetry, The Pilot's Daughter and Russian Tortoise, as well as two children's books. She lives in New York and teaches at Hunter College.

"The characters quote literature and repeatedly quote each other in a libretto rich in allusion, metaphors, dreams and magical realism. These extra dimensions give poetry and depth to a story that, stripped of them, might have been just another sentimental tear-jerker centered on a fragile woman. The complexity is potentially confusing, but McFall and Wadsworth achieved admirable clarity…."(Opera News) "It is a credit to Ms. McFall's poetic yet direct language and Mr. Hagen's expressive, basically tonal music that this psychological, metaphorical and theatrical layering works so well…. Everything about 'Amelia' seems to have been tailored exactly for it, thus powerfully communicating its message and its modernity in an engaging theatrical event."(Wall Street Journal) "This is an opera of riveting dramatic and musical strength, proudly American yet rising above jingoism, profoundly personal yet universal in context…. Whether this in the masterly new American opera we have long been waiting for is a question best left to the future. For now, it stands as an achievement at once profound and hugely enjoyable."(Seattle Times)

• Foreword by Speight JenkinsDramatis PersonaeAct 1, Scene 1Act 1, Scene 2Act 1, Scene 3Act 2, Scene 1 Act 2, Scene 2 Act 2, Scene 3 AfterwordAcknowledgmentsAbout the author

Librettist Gardner McFall is the author of two volumes of poetry, The Pilot's Daughter and Russian Tortoise, as well as two children's books. She lives in New York and teaches at Hunter College.

"The characters quote literature and repeatedly quote each other in a libretto rich in allusion, metaphors, dreams and magical realism. These extra dimensions give poetry and depth to a story that, stripped of them, might have been just another sentimental tear-jerker centered on a fragile woman. The complexity is potentially confusing, but McFall and Wadsworth achieved admirable clarity…."(Opera News) "It is a credit to Ms. McFall's poetic yet direct language and Mr. Hagen's expressive, basically tonal music that this psychological, metaphorical and theatrical layering works so well…. Everything about 'Amelia' seems to have been tailored exactly for it, thus powerfully communicating its message and its modernity in an engaging theatrical event."(Wall Street Journal) "This is an opera of riveting dramatic and musical strength, proudly American yet rising above jingoism, profoundly personal yet universal in context…. Whether this in the masterly new American opera we have long been waiting for is a question best left to the future. For now, it stands as an achievement at once profound and hugely enjoyable."(Seattle Times)

• Foreword by Speight JenkinsDramatis PersonaeAct 1, Scene 1Act 1, Scene 2Act 1, Scene 3Act 2, Scene 1 Act 2, Scene 2 Act 2, Scene 3 AfterwordAcknowledgmentsAbout the author