Writing/Essay/Journal
Dominick Argento is a talented librettist—or person who writes the words and lyrics for an opera—who regularly contributes to (and who helped start) the Minnesota Opera. In his opera The Dream of Valentino, Argento tells the true rags-to-riches story of Rudolph Valentino, a dancer and silent film actor who was “discovered and destroyed by Hollywood.”

Write a 200- to 300-word description of an historical figure you would feature in an opera. What is it about this person that captures your imagination?

Activity
In the most recent re-release of The Dream of Valentino, Dominick cut several pages until only the most essential lyrics and story points remained.

Edit your description above to a “tweetable” version of 140 characters (individual letters and spaces.) (Hint: if you type your description on a computer, you can see the word count at the bottom of the page. If you highlight a selection and click on the word count, it will show you characters as well.)