Daniel Emond's Kill the Whale will be presented at Joe's Pub April 14 at 6 PM. Nine years in the making, the 2023 Larson Grant Recipient's rock-hip-hop-folk opera follows a rock band on a quest for vengeance. The evening celebrates the digital and physical release of the full score as a concept album.

Built on the characters of Moby Dick, Kill the Whale centers on Ishmael, a young rocker with an unknown past, who meets the hiphop harpooner Q. They join Peak-Wow, the Whaleship-rock band led by steel-eyed frontwoman Ahab, who sets her crew upon a course to kill the gigantic sperm whale that maimed her, a plan opposed by Ahab's first mate (and secret admirer), Starbuck. 

The 90-minute performance will feature performances by Courtney Bassett (Teeth), Grace McLean (Bad Cinderella), Amber Gray (Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812), Jessie Shelton (Hadestown), Jana Djenne Jackson (Almost Famous), Daniel Emond (Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812), Camellia Hartman, and Kyle Scatliffe (Hamilton). 

Kill the Whale features music and orchestrations by Daniel Emond. The band will include Camellia Hartman on violin, Josh Henderson on viola, Rick Martinez on drums, Jamie Mohamdein on bass, David Kawamura on electric guitar, Julia Henderson on cello, and Simone Allen on keyboards. Music preparation and additional arrangements are by Andrew Griffin, Cynthia Meng, Jacklyn Riha, Simone Allen, and Daniel Emond. Sound design is by Evan Tyor.

“When I started writing Kill The Whale, it was my hope in using the classic American text of Moby Dick and bringing it into the modern zeitgeist to elevate the material and explore contemporary themes of inclusion, conversations of gender, stardom, and power dynamics, and the way they shift based on the bodies that inhabit the world,” said Emond in a statement. 

For tickets and more information, visit here.