Opera’s hallowed traditions and America's cowboy culture converge to celebrate the collaborative power of art in the new documentary film “Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera.” 
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​WINNER of three 2021 regional Emmy® Awards
Best Arts/Entertainment Program, Best Director, and Technical Achievement
Distributed by First Run Features

​"A soaring and epic testimonial to the creative process." BROADWAY WORLD

Available for Libraries and Universities

 RIDERS of the PURPLE SAGE: THE MAKING OF A WESTERN OPERA follows classically-trained composer
as he mounts Zane Grey’s frontier novel for the operatic stage. The composer and librettist,
along with a team of designers, musicians, singers, and fine art painter Ed Mell, translate
America's cowboy culture and sprawling beauty of the West ​into the realm of Puccini and Verdi.

A novel that defined a genre.
A new American opera.
​A documentary film about how artists create.

The Novel / 1912
A lone gunman silhouetted against the sky, a rancher fighting to save her land, a stampede, a shoot out, and a feared masked rider. These classic frontier themes were made legendary by author Zane Grey. With his signature mix of action and romance, Grey's books inspired hundreds of Hollywood movies and "golden era" TV shows, and helped establish a distinctly American art form, the Western. Zane Grey's writing transformed the history of the frontier into the mythic territory of the West.
 
When the novel was first published in 1912, "Riders of the Purple Sage" was met with fascination and criticism for its harsh characterization of Mormons. The book's polygamist antagonists played their roles against a "patriarchy-smashing heroine", the devout Jane Withersteen, creating a clear conflict between two views of religion. Add to the story an outlaw bent on vengeance, young lovers hidden in a desert Eden, rustlers and a stampede, and you have the bedrock of an entire genre.

Over the past century the novel "Riders of the Purple Sage" has been translated into 20 languages, made into five Hollywood movies, and ranks on the Library of Congress list of "One Hundred Books that Shaped America". Now, for the first time, Zane Grey’s work is being adapted for the live stage in the grandest way possible: as an Opera.
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"Riders of the Purple Sage" was adapted for the silver screen in 1918, 1925, 1931, 1941 & for television in 1996. Poster for the 1925 Tom Mix movie courtesy of The Everett Collection.
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Zane Grey & his steed Don Carlos on the set of the 1918 movie of "Riders of the Purple Sage". Photo courtesy of Dr. Kevin Blake & Zane Grey, Inc.
"Lake Rain", 18"x24", oil on linen, © Ed Mell, 1993
The Opera / 2017 ​
The opera "Riders of the Purple Sage" marks an unprecedented collaboration between the work of Zane Grey, celebrated American composer Craig Bohmler, librettist Steven Mark Kohn, and Arizona's "visual poet laureate," painter Ed Mell. In 2012 Craig Bohmler discovered Zane Grey's most famous work when he ducked into the Zane Grey Cabin in Payson, Arizona to escape a thunderstorm. Five years later a new adaptation of a beloved Western celebrated its world premiere as a fully staged grand opera.

"Riders of the Purple Sage" is performed by seven principal singers, a chorus of 16 men, seven supernumeraries, 53 musicians, and one conductor. Those 84 performers are backed by a small army of stage hands, props and make up artists, artisans from the costume and scenic shops...as well as the artistic team, designers, coaches, and staff it takes to mount a new work. Arizona Opera is a 46 year-old opera company that took a shot at adding its voice to the 500 year-old art form. The risk was immense and the reviews were unanimous. Audiences responded passionately to a new work in English about the American frontier. 
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Every adaptation of "Riders" has stayed true to Zane Grey's iconic opening scene. In the opera, Elder Tull (Keith Phares) threatens Jane Withersteen (Karin Wolverton), while his men prepare to whip Jane's head rider, Venters (Joshua Dennis). Photo by Tim Trumble, courtesy of Arizona Opera.

"Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera"
​FILM TRAILER
The Documentary Film / 2020
A Confluence of Landscape, History & Art 
The documentary film RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE: THE MAKING OF A WESTERN OPERA explores the influence of the Southwest on author Zane Grey, composer Craig Bohmler, and painter Ed Mell.  We discover the real life inspiration behind Zane Grey's best-selling novel and witness the evolution of an adaptation of a classic American story for the operatic stage. We hear Craig Bohmler's score as it matures from new music mapped out on piano, to a melodic score played by a full orchestra. Our journey culminates opening night when the seminal story of the West plays out for the first time against a stylized landscape painted by Ed Mell, with a sweeping score, itchy trigger-finger passion, and vocal fireworks.
Pipe Spring National Monument
​​Photo by Robert Pflumm • Quantum Leap Productions ©2016