Standing Above Pájaro: An Operatic Developmental Presentation

Standing Above Pájaro is a Filipino American opera inspired by the 1930 Watsonville Riots, with an original story and libretto by Conrad A. Panganiban and music by Jeremy Rafal. It is part of the 2026 Spark Musical Theatre Festival NYC. On a desperate early morning in 1930, a Filipino farmworker named Celestino Tobera breaks into the Watsonville General store seeking refuge from an angry mob threatening to kill all the Filipino Immigrant workers there. Melissa Crawley, the store owner, must decide between helping Celestino or the person in charge of the mob–her son. Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li directs, and the cast is Sara Beth Pearson, Joachim Luis, and Billy Huyler, with Melinda Faylor at the piano.