Doctor Atomic

Opera

Writers: John Adams Peter Sellars

Songs

Act One

Overture

  • ‘We believed that “energy can be neither created nor destroyed”’ - Chorus

Scene 1

  • ‘The end of June 1945’ - Chorus
  • ‘First of all let me say’ - Teller, Oppenheimer
  • ‘We surround the plutonium core’ - Women’s chorus
  • ‘We are bedeviled by faulty detonators’ - Oppenheimer, Teller, Wilson
  • ‘The test must go on as scheduled’ - Oppenheimer, Teller, Chorus
  • ‘Our only hope is to convince ev'rybody’ - Teller, Wilson, Oppenheimer

Scene 2

Scene 3

  • Electrical Storm
  • ‘What the hell is wrong with the weather?’ - Groves, Oppenheimer, Hubbard
  • ‘Five hundred U.S. Superfortresses are raining bombs’ - Groves, Hubbard, Oppenheimer
  • ‘I’ll sign the report, sir’ - Hubbard, Groves
  • ‘With respect, sir, anyone with two good eyes’ - Nolan, Groves, Oppenheimer
  • ‘I have been preoccupied with many matters’ - Groves, Nolan, Oppenheimer
  • ‘Get them out of here’ - Groves, Oppenheimer
  • ‘General, you are bearing up with remarkable fortitude’ - Oppenheimer, Groves
  • ‘Batter my heart’ - Oppenheimer

Act Two

Scene 1

Scene 2

  • ‘It’s midnight, Jack’ - Wilson, Hubbard
  • ‘I’ve dreamed the same dream’ - Wilson, Pasqualita
  • ‘To the farthest west, the sea’ - Kitty, Pasqualita
  • ‘A delay in the Potsdam Ultimatum’ - Groves, Pasqualita,
  • ‘Fermi is taking wagers’ - Teller, Groves, Oppenheimer
  • ‘I’ve spent a great deal of time indulging’ - Teller, Oppenheimer
  • ‘Edward, the test will be delayed an hour’ - Teller, Oppenheimer, Hubbard, Pasqualita

Scene 3, Countdown Part 1

  • ‘Panic’ - Chorus
  • ‘This program has been plagued from the start’ - Groves, Offstage Voice, Chorus, Oppenheimer
  • ‘To keep the weakness secret’ - Oppenheimer, Kitty, Pasqualita, Wilson, Chorus
  • ‘The winter dawned, but the dead did not come back’ - Pasqualita, Kitty, Oppenheimer,
  • ‘The only saviors are the ham sandwiches’ - Teller
  • ‘At the Sight of This’ - Chorus

Scene 4, Countdown Part II

  • ‘Lieutenant Bush, keep a weather eye on Oppenheimer’ - Groves, Teller, Chorus
  • ‘To what benevolent demon’ - Oppenheimer, Chorus
  • ‘That’s their signal!’ - Oppenheimer
  • ‘The sky is clear to the east’ - Hubbard, Pasqualita
  • ‘In the midnight, in the flame-brilliant midnight’ - Kitty
  • ‘Zero minus two minutes’ - Oppenheimer, Teller
  • ‘Countdown’ - Chorus

A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.


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