Lyric Opera of Chicago’s The Factotum on Film available for free streaming through September 19

CHICAGO (8/3/2023) – The original film of the world-premiere production of The Factotum, by Grammy award-winning baritone Will Liverman, DJ King Rico, and Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj is now available for free streaming through September 19 on Lyric Opera of Chicago's YouTube channel. The Factotum on Film features the full stage performance with the original cast, along with behind-the-scenes glimpses of the opera's journey from page to stage and never-before-seen cast and creative team interviews from Chicago filmmaker Raphael Nash and Endangered Peace Productions

Regarded by the Chicago Tribune as "...an extraordinary event in Chicago’s cultural history, re-imagining the definition of opera," and hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times for being among the "first anywhere to have an entirely Black and BIPOC cast and creative team," The Factotum has left a lasting impact on the art form and the city of Chicago. The film now extends the work's reach to a global audience, spreading the opera's powerful celebrations of Black joy and deep-rooted connections to Chicago far and wide.

The Factotum, loosely inspired by Rossini's The Barber of Seville, is a joyful and original piece all its own. Updating the action to a Black barbershop on Chicago's South Side, the powerhouse team of Liverman and Rico have created an irresistibly upbeat work that celebrates the strength of community. The Factotum blends diverse musical styles with boundless imagination to create a soul opera, moving from gospel and funk to rap, hip-hop, classic barbershop quartet, and R&B. Those styles connect brilliantly with classical singing in a very human comedy that redefines everything that opera can be.

To view the film and for more information on this world premiere production from Lyric Opera of Chicago, visit lyricopera.org/factotumfilm.

Concept, Music, and Lyrics by Will Liverman and DJ King Rico
Book by Will Liverman, DJ King Rico, and Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj
Dramaturgy by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj

Commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago and Houston Grand Opera. Co-production of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Portland Opera, and Washington National Opera.

Lyric’s world premiere of The Factotum is generously made possible by the Ford Foundation, The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center Board, Roberta L. & Robert J. Washlow, the John R. and Grace K. Stanek Charitable Fund, Gene & Jean Stark, OPERA America, the Bill & Orli Staley Foundation, Mary Stowell, the Eisen Family Foundation, an Anonymous Donor, and Laurel Appell Lipkin.

Additional support is provided by Lyric Opera of Chicago's Production Circle.