The hero-villain binary as a queer construct in Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk Reimagined

Stewart Wallace’s opera Harvey Milk Reimagined depicts the assassination of one of the first openly gay politicians in the United States. The depiction of LGBTQ activists reflects the period of the Stonewall Riots and the earliest demonstrations following the events on Christopher Street. An analysis of Michael Korie’s libretto uncovered three important overarching themes: activism, identity, and othering. Wallace’s score also engages with each of these themes, primarily through the depiction of Dan White as the villainous homophobe in stark contrast to the predominantly gay cast. The ensemble is given moments of humor, popular culture references, and a variety of musical techniques to position them on the “right side of history.” Harvey Milk Reimagined occupies a place in the growing operatic repertoire by openly queer composers. While queer theorists reject binary categorization, the opera presents a distinct binary polarization between the queer community and its supporters and the straight community, raising questions of social agenda, heterophobia, and queer discourse.