Page 31 - AT

A31
PEOPLE & ARTS Friday 8 February 2019

Opera, orchestra team up to tell story of deadly 1913 flood

By ANDREW WELSH-HUG- pumped so much debris
GINS into the atmosphere that
Associated Press it led to a long, cold “vol-
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — canic winter.” As a result,
A new opera revisits the rainfall produced by the
Great Flood of 1913, a Mid- convergence of three ex-
western disaster that killed treme storm fronts in late
hundreds, left thousands March had nowhere to
homeless, and destroyed go, according to historian
countless bridges and busi- Conrade Hinds, author of
nesses, but that also paved “Columbus and the Great
the way for flood control in- Flood of 1913.”
novations. — The catastrophe be-
The dark subject matter is gan with a series of deadly
well-suited to opera, said tornadoes in eastern Ne-
Peggy Kriha Dye, general braska and western Iowa
and artistic director of Op- that killed more than 150
era Columbus. people on Easter Sunday
“We’re used to drama and and injured hundreds more
death and dealing with before the storm system
those topics,” she said. creating the tornadoes
“Opera is the perfect form pushed eastward.
to do that because ev- — State historians say that
erything is heightened in at least 467 people died
this art form. It can handle In this 1913 file photo, rescuers carry a woman from the 1913 Dayton floodwaters in Dayton, Ohio. in Ohio during the flood,
heavy topics.” Associated Press and that more than 20,000
The inundation began on of millions of dollars in dam- the present day as the per- “The Flood” is in English and homes were destroyed.
Easter weekend as usually age. Many smaller Ohio sonal and public effects of just over an hour long. It A list of victims published in
heavy rain fell on ground River communities from the disaster are examined. was commissioned through the Columbus Evening Dis-
either frozen or already sat- Cairo, Illinois, to Wheeling, While not everyone has a $150,000 Arts Prize grant patch included “Mr. and
urated from snowmelt af- West Virginia, were all but experienced a flood, most from the Columbus Foun- Mrs. George Eckert and
ter a harsh winter, eventu- destroyed. people are familiar with dation’s Arts Innovation seven children.” In hard-
ally flooding most rivers and The opera tells the story of tragedy of one kind or an- Fund. Some details about hit Dayton, the amount of
streams across the region. the flood through a mystery other, said Janet Chen, the flood and its aftermath: water that passed through
The same weather system involving a family affected ProMusica’s executive di- — The June 1912 eruption the Great Miami River and
led to significant flooding in by the destruction. It begins rector. “There’s an element of the Novarupta volcano its tributaries in three days
more than a dozen states, in Columbus after the flood within this work that I think in Alaska — 30 times more equaled the amount of
from Illinois through Con- has struck and follows fami- people can take away on powerful than the Mount water that flows over Niag-
necticut, causing hundreds ly members through time to a personal level,” she said. St. Helens explosion — ara Falls in a month. q

Keith Urban to play at NHL Stadium Series outdoor game

By STEPHEN WHYNO tors fans, and he sang the One way to do that was
Associated Press national anthem during expanding the kinds of acts
The NHL took the Stanley their 2017 playoff run. Ur- the league was looking for.
Cup to Keith Urban’s stu- ban and Kidman got to “We’ve also opened up
dio last year, and now the spend some time with the our musical entertainment
country music star will be Cup in April when the NHL to other genres other than
taking his talents outside to had it in Nashville during classic rock,” Mayer said.
play a league event. the playoffs, one step to- “We do know that our fans
Urban will perform during ward getting them more love classic rock and we’re
the first intermission of the involved with hockey. not shying away from it, but
Stadium Series outdoor “Keith really has fallen in we also are looking to bring
game in Philadelphia be- love with the game, fallen in more casual fans and
tween the Penguins and in love with hockey, thinks going to what they love in
Flyers on Feb. 23, the NHL this is a really cool opportu- the music world.”
announced Wednesday, nity and wants to work with The other goal is to get mu-
making him the latest high- us more and more promot- sic fans into hockey, with
profile music act to play ing the game,” Mayer said. Mayer saying, “If we get
a league event following Years ago, the NHL was the some Keith Urban fans to
Weezer at the Winter Clas- In this Nov. 14, 2018, file photo, Country music star Keith Urban subject of some jokes for watch the game in Phila-
sic and Bebe Rexha at All- performs at the 52nd annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena booking Billy Idol and other delphia and they would’ve
Star Weekend. in Nashville, Tenn. artists past their prime for normally not watched the
“We’re thrilled that these Associated Press big events. When Mayer game, we win.”
artists are now consider- Steve Mayer said. “For us of that.” joined the NHL in 2015, he Canadian band Glorious
ing our events to be of the as the NHL, we’re just look- Urban has no connection wanted to up the enter- Sons will play pregame fes-
highest level and incred- ing for the biggest artists we to the Flyers or Penguins, tainment value with the art- tivities outside Lincoln Finan-
ible exposure for them,” can find, and we think that but he and wife Nicole Kid- ists playing for big hockey cial Field and then during
NHL chief content officer Keith Urban transcends all man are Nashville Preda- audiences. the second intermission.q