Projection Designer and Director of Photography
Music, drama, words, visuals, theatrical spectacle — it’s hard to imagine all these aspects sharing a small performance space with such vividness and grace. But the evidence was unmistakable in this potent triumph of the imagination." The San Francisco Chronicle
"A uniquely cinematic blend of live music and film, the opera is synchronized to a screening of director and poet Jean Cocteau’s classic 1946 film version of Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s 18th century fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, replacing the soundtrack with Glass’ original score and augmented with immersive projections." SFJazz
Directed by Brian Staufenbiel
Costume Design by Natalie Barshow
Costume Design by Mextly Couzin
Wigs & Make Up Design by Y. Sharon Peng
VFX Artist Sam Clevenger

Père approaches the La Bête's castle. Photo by Richard Gelfand.

"the new version goes even further. Staufenbiel and Murakami then shot a new version of the film, recreating Cocteau’s distinctive black-and-white visual palette with members of their own cast. The 90-minute entertainment that results is a multi-veined phantasmagoria of sights and sounds, drama and pathos and humor. Excerpts from the two films complement each another and Glass’ music. The live performers sometimes venture into the aisles of SFJazz’s Miner Auditorium, as video projections on the side walls create an illusion that plunges the audience into the opera’s mysterious world." 
Following Photos by Cory Weaver
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