Performances
September 12-14
*There are two performances each evening*
Performance #1: 6:00 - 8:30 PM
Reception - 6:00 - 7:00 PM
Walk/Trolley to the Catacombs - 7:00 - 7:30 PM
Show - 7:30 - 8:30 PM
Performance #2: 7:30 - 10:00 PM
Reception - 7:30 - 8:30 PM
Walk/Trolley to the Catacombs - 8:30 - 9:00 PM
Show - 9:00 - 10:00 PM
Each performance includes an hourlong spirits tasting, followed by a twilight walk through the cemetery to the Catacombs.
“Sly and sweet, wistful and winsome and altogether lovable... Gelsey Bell’s wonderful, uncategorizable guide to what might unfold on Earth in the millions and billions of years after human history”
– The New York Times
mɔɹnɪŋ (the phonetic spelling for the word "morning" as well as the word "mourning") is an operatic masterpiece by singer and composer Gelsey Bell that begins just after humanity has disappeared from the Earth, and traces the weeks, months, years, and millennia that follow. What emerges is a journey through time that is simultaneously whimsical, fantastical, playful and profound, offering a poignant reminder of what it means to be human – despite taking place entirely after our species has vanished from the planet. This specially adapted, abridged telling of this critically acclaimed opera was created just for the Catacombs.
Nothing lasts forever, but let the magnificent Gelsey Bell welcome you to the Catacombs with her merry band of virtuoso music-makers, as they spin us a tale that takes us to the heart of what truly matters in this life.
Gelsey Bell is a Brooklyn-based songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and scholar. She has been described by The New York Times as “one of New York’s most adventurous musicians” and “a charismatic and fiercely intelligent performer.” She is a core member of thingNY, Varispeed, and the Chutneys. She has received awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Opera America, the Japan Foundation, and others. Recent residencies include HERE Arts Center, Pioneer Works, Mount Tremper Arts and the Kinosaki Arts Center in Japan. Her works include Cairns (2020), a soundwalk for Green-Wood Cemetery (included on the New York Times Best Theater of 2020 list); shuffleyamamba: Yamamba as a Bear (2021), a dance piece created with Yasuko Yokoshi; SubtacTTTTTTTTT (2020), an early pandemic online performance created with thingNY; and Skylighght (2019), created with saxophonist Erin Rogers. She has released multiple albums, including Heads Together and This is Not a Land of Kings. Performance highlights also include Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway) and Ghost Quartet, Robert Ashley’s Improvement and Crash, Kate Soper’s Here Be Sirens, and other works by John King, Paul Pinto, Raven Chacon, Alaina Ferris, Brent Michael Davids, Aaron Siegel, Tomomi Adachi, and others. She has a PhD from New York University in Performance Studies, and is part-time faculty at the New School.