Dream of the Pacific, an opera composed by Stephen Mager and libretto by Elkhanah Pulitzer, is a retelling of the Lewis and Clark Expedition westward to the Pacific Ocean in 1804-1805. Meriwether Lewis (prone to depression, deeply observant of nature, steadfast) and William Clark (extrovert and natural leader) are complimentary foils. Sacagawea, the 16-year-old Shoshone mother and only female member of the expedition, allowed the men to make peaceful negotiations and crucial strategic decisions while encountering unknown people and territory.
The opera explores the darker aspects of this history including slavery, imperial expansion, complicated relations with Native Americans, and even the nascent depression that would lead Capt. Meriwether Lewis to take his own life in 1809.
