It Ain’t Over Till the Guy in the Turtleneck Sings: A Steve Jobs Opera Comes to SF

“Unchecked ambition, fickle love, rivalry, betrayal, death and redemption.” The story of Steve Jobs has it all, which is why, according to Wired, it makes total sense to make an opera about the late Apple founder.

San Francisco Opera’s full-scale production about the man behind the Mac, The (Re)volution of Steve Jobs, finally lands in the mecca of tech this September after stints in Santa Fe, Austin and Seattle.

Created by Bay Area composer Mason Bates and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Mark Campbell, the one-act opera tells the life story of the late Apple founder and CEO in 19 scenes that jump between 1965 and 2011 and capture some of Jobs’ most pivotal life moments. 

While the opera has been called both “tedious—and a triumph,” the production quality promises to be just as dazzling as the devices Jobs brought to life and as equally dramatic as the tech mogul’s life. Thousands of images flash across banks of desktops and extended screens, according to one review. Bates’ electronically infused score, which won a Grammy for Best Opera Recording, pushes the arc of Jobs’ life forward and nods to the devices that populated his life, according to others. 

“In fact, Jobs’ story is just as torrid as anything in Carmen or La Traviata,” wrote the Wired reviewer referenced above.

Baritone John Moore will play the Apple icon, probably in a turtleneck and rimless glasses as previous productions have done. Musical numbers include intriguingly titled songs such as “One Button, Turn It On”  and “The Rise and Fall of Steve Jobs.” 

Here’s a little preview from Santa Fe Opera, which premiered the opera back in 2017. 

Tickets are available at sfopera.com.