Release Date: February 12, 2027
10 Days in a Madhouse is a studio recording of the chamber opera by composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch, based loosely off of Nellie Bly’s memoir of the same name. In 1887, Nellie Bly, a trailblazing reporter, feigned madness in order to be admitted to Blackwell’s Asylum for the Insane so that she could report on conditions from the inside. Once inside, she discovered that most of the patients were not, in fact, insane, as they were placed there because they were poor, too emotional, an immigrant, or simply a nuisance to society. Conducted by Daniela Candillari, the cast features Kiera Duffy, Raehann Bryce-Davis, and Will Liverman, along with a chorus of 9 women and the orchestra features 11 players, along with electronics. 10 Days in a Madhouse exposes - as Nellie Bly did herself - the feminization of madness, the bias of doctors against the sanity of women, and how the system and social structures in which women find themselves induce madness.