The United States may be a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of quotas. For more than a century, Congress has imposed laws to control the influx of immigrants. Written between 1922 and 1923, the ballet Within the Quota by Gerald Murphy and Cole Porter is a biting critique of the Emergency Quota Act (1921). TableTopOpera’s new arrangement juxtaposes images and film clips from Porter’s time with material pertaining to current US immigration policies and their effects on the nation.
Following the performance, there will be a Q&A featuring Frank Novak of Harter, Secrest and Emery, LLC, and Carly Fox, Senior Workers Rights Advocate, Worker's Rights Program. The moderator will be Th. Emil Homerin, Chair of the Department of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester.
The project has been a collaboration between TableTopOpera and the George Eastman Museum.
This event is part of KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival, a ten-day multidisciplinary visual and performing arts festival. For tickets and more information, visit rochesterfringe.com.