The University of Kentucky Opera Theatre presented the world premiere of “A Nation of Others,” a production celebrating immigrant stories on Ellis Island, at the Lexington Opera House.
The American opera depicted a day in 1921 on Ellis Island, New York, featuring personal narratives of immigrants making their way through arriving, inspections, interviews and finally entering the United States.
Created by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell, the production was the second show in UK’s “Telling America’s Stories” series. The series began last spring with “Sanctuary Road” and highlights overlooked American stories.
“A Nation of Others” provided students involved with the opportunity to work directly with the composer and librettist as they rehearsed, something production stage manager Megh Jennings-Posner said is unique to UK.
”Our students don’t get to talk to Mozart, whereas we could ask Paul, ‘Hey, can you help me figure out how to make this musical line work?’ And seeing that collaboration is really amazing,” Jennings-Posner said.
While Jennings-Posner said the opera was focused on giving students professional experience, she also felt a personal connection to the show.
Jennings-Posner and the opera staff traveled to Ellis Island in December 2025, which is where her family originally passed through to immigrate to the United States.
“We got off the ferry, and I stepped onto Ellis Island for the first time. I had never been, even as a child, and I was just in tears because that is where my family started,” Jennings-Posner said. “That felt like a place of privilege, and walking around and seeing that this is what she (her great grandmother) saw.”
Another member of UK’s staff, Sarah Meyers, the stage director, also visited the island.
“The island feels alive with the stories and the history that are there. I find myself transported back in time while still feeling like I’m in the present, and I feel like I can walk in two time periods at once. It’s like a time capsule,” Meyers said.
While Meyers said she felt connected to the past the island holds, she also said the show is linked to the present.
“It’s a story that is about as much our future as it is about our past. It’s about what kind of community we want to be and what kind of country we want to be,” Meyers said.
Meyers said the opera is meant to be a reckoning with the past and remind audiences that every American story, regardless of origin, is important.
The opera ended with each character describing their lives in the United States and their contributions to the country.
Dylon Crain, a graduate student at UK, said he believes the show should resonate with audiences, especially with current immigration policies rapidly changing.
”And one of the biggest immigration insecurities right now are people, undocumented immigrants, who are contributing to our labor force,” Crain said. “Having that intersection, hopefully the audience will recognize, you know, some of the parallels between the current state and the art form.”
