Composed by: Missy Mazzoli
Libretto by: Royce Vavrek
Zachary Rioux (Miles)
Marcel Sokalski (Pa)
Kourtney Holmes (Ma)
Simran Claire (Taller Daughter)
Jaclyn Grossman (Littler Daughter)
Proving Up is a surreal and haunting commentary on the American dream as experienced by the
Zegners, a fictional family of 1860s homesteaders. This narrative examines and reevaluates the
achievability of the American Dream while focusing on normal people trying to do the "right" thing under
extremely impossible circumstances. The Zegner’s desperately try to "prove up" itching to maintain the
land they have claimed, resorting to crime if necessary to do so.
In this scene, Miles recounts the story of how his father, Pa, obtained the window crucial to the “proving
up” process. Dead sisters add to the grim retelling mimicking the family who Pa stole from in order to help
his own family.