10 Days in a Madhouse

10 Days in a Madhouse is a Tapestry Opera and Opera Philadelphia production & commission, co-presented by the Luminato Festival and the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in association with TO Live.

In a Canadian premiere co-presented with Luminato Festival and the Canadian Opera Company, Tapestry Opera’s season will culminate with the highly anticipated 10 Days in a Madhouse. This psychological opera is inspired by the true story of journalist Nellie Bly, who in 1887 feigned insanity to expose the brutal realities of Blackwell’s Asylum. With a libretto by celebrated Canadian writer Hannah Moscovitch and orchestral score by rising star composer René Orth, Bly’s journey exposing misogynistic pseudo-psychology and abuse at the asylum is vividly and heartbreakingly directed by Joanna Settle. Canadian conductor Sandra Horst leads the musical direction with a dynamic score that blends electronic and acoustic elements to create a sense of tension that mirrors the drama on stage. This world premiere production, awarded Best New Opera 2024 by the Music Critics Association of North America, promises a gripping and unforgettable experience.

Canadian soprano Mireille Asselin stars as Nellie. Deemed “a treasure” by the Toronto Star, Asselin brings her “power [and] dramatic chops” to the role of Nellie, navigating the violence of indifference and its swift corrosion of one’s grasp on reality. American mezzo-soprano Taylor-Alexis DuPont brings her “beautifully rich and spirited voice” (Washington Post) to the role of Lizzie, whom Nellie befriends on the inside, while American baritone Jorell Williams, with his “stunning vocals” (Seattle Times) performs as the asylum’s malevolent Dr. Josiah Blackwell. Canadian soprano Lauren Pearl completes the cast, reprising her role from the world premiere as Nurse/Matron, effectively “physically embod[ying] the institution’s sadism” (The Wall Street Journal). The main cast is supported by a chorus of 9 singers.

Is she insane — or just pretending?

10 Days in a Madhouse follows trailblazing journalist Nellie Bly as she fakes madness to be admitted to Blackwell’s Asylum in 1887. Her goal: to uncover the truth about life inside. What she finds instead is a world built to break women — where grief, poverty, and trauma are mistaken for insanity, and where doctors decide who is sane enough to be heard. 

Once inside, Nellie quickly drops her “mad act.” But no one notices. Surrounded by women who have been silenced and dismissed, she witnesses the violence of indifference — and begins to question how thin the line between sanity and madness really is. 

Based on Bly’s groundbreaking exposé, this gripping psychological opera exposes the biases that shaped women’s mental health and the systems that sought to contain them.