Our Venue Partner

The 1885 ship Wavertree has a well-documented and fascinating history. Built in Southampton, Great Britain, she circled the globe four times in her career, carrying a wide variety of cargoes. The ship called on New York in 1896, no doubt one of hundreds like her berthed in the city. In 1910, after thirty-five years of sailing, she was caught in a Cape Horn storm that tore down her masts and ended her career as a cargo ship. She was salvaged and used as a floating warehouse and then a sand barge in South America, where the waterfront workers referred to her as “el gran Valero,” the great sailing ship, because even without her masts she was obviously a great windjammer. She was saved by the Seaport Museum in 1968 and towed to New York to become the iconic centerpiece of the “Street of Ships” at South Street. The 130-year-old Wavertree, built of riveted wrought iron, is an archetype of the sailing cargo ships of the latter half of the 19th century that, during the “age of sail,” lined South Street by the dozens, creating a forest of masts from the Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge.

SUPPORT

This production is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

“The Unknown Is My Realm” from Amistad composed by Anthony Davis to a libretto by Thulani Davis; presented under license by G. Schirmer Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.
“Ahab” composed by Juliana Hall to a libretto by Caitlin Vincent; Produced by permission of ECS Publishing Group, St. Louis, MO. Sole Agent for E. C. Schirmer Music Company, Publisher and Copyright Owner.
1619: A Song Cycle composed by Damien Geter is presented through special arrangement with DG Music: Sans Fear Publishing www.damiengetermusic.com. Revised narration written by Damien Geter was commissioned by On Site Opera for What Lies Beneath.
“O Beauty, O Handsomeness” from Billy Budd composed by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier; by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
“Sea Fever” composed by John Ireland to a poem by John Masefield.
“Maurya’s Lament” from Riders to the Sea composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams based on the play of the same name by John Millington Synge; licensed by arrangement with Oxford University Press.