Cast & Characters

The Cast

Conductor: Alan Gilbert
Kitty Oppenheimer: Sasha Cooke
Pasqualita: Meredith Arwady
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Gerald Finley
Edward Teller: Richard Paul Fink
General Leslie Groves: Eric Owens

The Characters

Kitty Oppenheimer (Mezzo-soprano): Oppenheimer’s loving wife, she is afforded tremendous insight through her observations of her husband. She, like Pasqualita, prophetically contemplates the realities of the situation.

Pasqualita (Contralto): The Oppenheimers’ Tewa (Native American) maid, her indigenous songs eerily foreshadow events to come. She offers a soothing and calm voice, which counters the manic energy and anxiety of the scientists.

Robert Wilson (Tenor): Young and motivated, Wilson’s enthusiasm for the project conflicts with his idealistic humanitarian perspective. He deeply wants to be a hero and “save civilization,” but his subconscious awareness of the darker reality makes reconciliation difficult.

Captain James Nolan (Tenor): As the Army Medical Corps physician at Los Alamos, he has the unfortunate task of being the bearer of bad news. Slightly sarcastic but always honest, Nolan earnestly conveys the harsh realities of the bomb’s toxic effects as well as diagnoses the widespread panic.

J. Robert Oppenheimer (Baritone): As director of the Manhattan Project he is a charismatic and respected leader. Yet his massive amount of responsibility causes great internal moral conflict – trusted by important political and military minds in Washington he is obligated to finish the atomic bomb, yet his strong moral fiber makes him teeter on the brink of breakdown.

Edward Teller (Baritone): Teller is a physicist working on the Manhattan Project whose edgy and jaded personality makes it hard for him to collaborate with others. He insightfully poses the moral questions and raises the difficult points that everyone else is trying desperately to ignore.

General Leslie Groves (Baritone): The military head of the Manhattan Project, Groves serves as the politically-minded character who contrasts Oppenheimer and the other scientifically-oriented physicists. As such, Groves views the bomb as a means to an end. The intense pressure from Washington makes him unforgiving and temperamental, and he often bullies the others to expedite their work.

Jack Hubbard (Baritone): An honest yet nervous man, Hubbard is the chief meteorologist for the Trinity test site and meekly succumbs to Groves’ bullying.