Admin

Ozarks Lyric Opera

Dramaturge

Wolfgang Wiens

Stage director

Robert Wilson

Singer

Sean Spyres

Wilhelm

Claire Herzog

Käthchen

Derrick Devonne King

Robert

Georg Schmidt

Todd Payne

Wilhelms Onkel

Kelly Osborne

Anne

Steve Ames

Der junge Kuno

Orchestra

OLO Orchestra

The Black Rider: The Casting of The Magic Bullets

Springfield

United States

Gillioz Theatre

The Black Rider: The Casting of The Magic Bullets: The Black Rider Waits

Public

The Black Rider

Simon Samuel

Approved

By TOM WAITS and WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, this Midwest Premiere is an opera like you
have never experienced before. Featuring a haunting, operatic score by the one and only
singer-songwriter, and actor Tom Waits and words by legendary writer, William S. Burroughs,
this Faustian musical fable had its stage premiere in 1990, and was followed by an eponymous
album title released on Island Records by Waits in 1993.
​
The opera centers on the character of Wilhelm, a clerk, who is in love with a huntsman’s
daughter, but must win her father’s approval by proving his worth as a marksman. He is offered
magic bullets by Pegleg, the Devil, which he believes he can control. Based on elements of
German folklore and Burroughs’ real-life “William Tell legend” tragedy, this RARELY produced
opera presents an enigmatic tale of addiction and intrigue.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble