THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR: The Poem...The Place...The OPERA

In 1978 an opera, commissioned by the Central City Opera, one of the oldest opera houses in the country, 30 miles west from and 3000 feet higher than Denver, became one of the most performed modern American operas worldwide. "The Face On The Barroom Floor", with music by Henry Mollicone and a libretto by John Bowman took its inspiration from the face on the floor of the Teller House Bar which was adjacent to the Opera House. That haunting portrait, took ITS inspiration from the ballad poem written in 1887 by Hugh Antoine D'Arcy, entitled, The Face on the Barroom Floor. This film, directed by Lawrence Kraman, written by David Patrick Stearns and edited by Dillon Poole, attempts to connect the dots between these three artistic events spanning almost a century.