Sister Helen Prejean’s ‘Dead Man Walking’ arrives at Met in Jake Heggie’s operatic version
By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Jake Heggie’s version of “Dead Man Walking” reaches the Metropolitan Opera for the season’s opening night in a production by Tony and Olivier Award winner Ivo van Hove starring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen Prejean. Based on Prejean’s 1993 book and following the 1995 movie that earned Susan Sarandon an Academy Award, “Dead Man” has become the most-performed 21st century opera. Prejean worked with Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally and will be in the audience for the Met premiere. Now 84, Prejean has been a spiritual adviser who has accompanied six people to execution.