Composer Kamala Sankaram / Cover no. 5 / Librettist Minita Gandhi

“Sankaram is strikingly original...” – The New York Times

Graphic Novel Becomes Grand Opera:
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

 Major new work by Kamala Sankaram & Minita Gandhi
to open Minnesota Opera’s 2026-27 season

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – March 11, 2026 – Opera has long adapted literature and legend – now, for the first time, a graphic novel becomes grand opera. 

With The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Minita Gandhi transform the acclaimed graphic novel into a major new opera that will open Minnesota Opera’s 2026-27 season. The BOOM! Studios comic by writer Ram V and illustrator Filipe Andrade, widely praised for its poetic storytelling and striking artwork, explores the fine line between living and dying through the lens of magical realism.

At the center of the story is Laila Starr, the goddess of Death, who is cast down to Earth as humanity is on the brink of immortality. Forced to live as a mortal in Mumbai, she encounters Darius, the boy destined to make this world-changing discovery, at pivotal moments across his life. As their paths continue to intersect, Laila witnesses the ordinary experiences that give human life meaning – and it becomes clear that impermanence may be part of what makes life beautiful.

For Sankaram, the project carries deep personal resonance. She discovered the graphic novel shortly after the death of her sister, Sheela, from an aggressive cancer at the age of 39. The story’s profound meditation on grief and mortality immediately struck Sankaram as a myth that demanded music. Librettist Minita Gandhi shared her conviction that the story belonged on the stage, and the project ultimately moved forward with the support of Minnesota Opera General Director Ryan Taylor.

To create a sound world for the opera, Sankaram mirrored the story’s shifting boundaries between divine and mortal, while placing the action in a recognizably modern India. The score draws on the emotional qualities of ragas and the vocal percussion art of Konnakol, while field recordings Sankaram captured in Goa, India, evoke the ocean as a liminal space between the worlds of gods and humans.

“In this opera, the gods don’t sing,” said composer Kamala Sankaram. “They speak, underscored by electromagnetic interference – the world underpinning ours. The act of singing becomes something uniquely human.”

Hailed as “one of the most exciting opera composers in the country” (Washington Post), Sankaram has built a reputation for expanding the possibilities of contemporary opera. Her work melds experimental music and theatrical storytelling, ranging from chamber operas such as Thumbprint, based on the life of Pakistani activist Mukhtar Mai, to immersive experiences like The Last Stand, a sound installation created for the trees of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. With The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, Sankaram turns that exploratory energy toward her most expansive operatic work to date.

The opera emerged from Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative, an innovative commissioning model that engages composers and librettists over multiple seasons rather than through one-off assignments. This structure offers creators sustained support – financially and artistically – as new works evolve from early concept to full-scale production. Sankaram and Gandhi joined the initiative’s inaugural cohort in 2022, and The Many Deaths of Laila Starr marks the first opera by two women of South Asian descent produced by an American opera company.

The world premiere production will be directed by Mary Birnbaum, with sets by Mimi Lien and choreography by Rohit Gijare. Principal Conductor Christopher Franklin will lead the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The cast features soprano Leela Subramaniam in the title role, tenor Omar Najmi as Darius, and baritone Efraín Solís as Pranah, the god of Life.

"For more than sixty years, Minnesota Opera has championed bold new creative voices in the operatic field," said General Director Ryan Taylor. "We work to expand the circle of storytelling, and The Many Deaths of Laila Starr embodies that commitment. We're proud to nurture visionary artists while inviting our community into a work of imagination and profound humanity."

In its final panel, the graphic novel offers a quiet truth: “Perhaps it is enough to remember … the miracle that it was simply to have lived.” For Sankaram, that understanding is deepened through music.

“We are the way that people are remembered,” she says. “And music is one way those memories endure.”

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
World Premiere • Minnesota Opera

Composer: Kamala Sankaram
Librettist: Minita Gandhi

Conductor: Christopher Franklin
Production: Mary Birnbaum
Choreographer: Rohit Gijare

Associate Director: Miriam Laube
Scenic Designer: Mimi Lien
Costume Designer: Oana Botez
Lighting Designer: Anshuman Bhatia
Sound Designer: C. Andrew Mayer

Laila Starr: Leela Subramaniam
Darius: Omar Najmi
Pranah: Efraín Solís
Agni / Ka the Crow / Cigarette: Mariam Mouawad
Brahma / Bardhan: Ashraf Sewailam
Mun Mun / Gilly: Emily Finke

Saturday, October 31, 2026 @ 7:30pm Gala
Thursday November 5, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, November 7, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, November 8, 2026 @ 2:00pm

Ordway Music Theater
345 Washington Street
St. Paul, Minnesota
Tickets start at $69; Students $20
mnopera.org/laila-starr

About Kamala Sankaram
Composer Kamala Sankaram moves freely between the worlds of experimental music and contemporary opera, earning praise from Opera News for her “eclectic, infectious, and three-dimensional” scores. Her work has been performed worldwide at venues such as Dutch National Opera, Santiago a Mil, and Washington National Opera, and she has been featured as artist-in-residence at the Glimmerglass Festival and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. As a biracial Indian-American and trained sitarist, Sankaram has drawn on Indian classical music in many of her works, including Thumbprint and Jungle Book. She is also known for pushing the boundaries of form and style, having created an opera for the trees of Prospect Park, the world’s first virtual reality opera, and a techno-noir opera incorporating live audience data-mining. kamalasankaram.com 

About Minita Gandhi
Minita Gandhi (she/they) is a Los Angeles-based multi-hyphenate artist born in Mumbai, India. A NYSAF Pfaelzer Award finalist, Gandhi is a critically acclaimed playwright nominated for multiple Jeff Awards. In addition to three commissions with Minnesota Opera, Gandhi is the lyricist for Rising Tide, a choral-orchestral piece on climate change activism by Emmy Award-winning composer Jonathan Beard. Their work has been developed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, UNCSA, Theatreworks, NNPN, and ANPF. Gandhi has appeared in more than 30 plays on national stages and in television and film, including Deli Boys, St. Denis Medical, and Chicago Fire. Gandhi is the founder of IGNITE, a national mentorship program for theater artists, and a member of the Kilroys, a collective dedicated to ending gender disparity in American theater. minitagandhi.com

About Minnesota Opera
Since its launch in 1963, Minnesota Opera has grown into one of the largest and most innovative opera companies in the United States, known for its engaging stagings of existing repertoire and the development of new American works. Today, the company’s mission is to connect people in the pursuit of an empathetic, equitable, and joyful life while advancing the art and experience of opera. Its vision – “to sing every story” – reflects a commitment to intentionally expanding whose voices and experiences are represented onstage. Guided by the core values of curiosity, equity, collaboration, and integrity, Minnesota Opera seeks to bring artists, audiences, and community together through powerful musical storytelling. mnopera.org

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