The Red Balloon

When the cast and crew of “6:01 a.m. — A Working Class Opera” began rehearsals more than four months ago, they weren’t trying to be topical.

“We didn’t start off that way,” Reno doctor Richie Panelli said, “but the play fits into the time we’re in now.”

Panelli wrote the lyrics for the more than a dozen songs that form the meat of “6:01 a.m.,” a “hip-hopera” that uses spoken-word pieces instead of traditional songs to tell the story of residents in an urban apartment building.

“It deals with the average day struggles that the working class goes through — not being able to pay rent or put food on the table,” Panelli said. The play spans a day of turmoil as residents pull together to help one another.

The ambitious piece combines spoken-word, a live orchestra, traditional theater, choral music and dance. Booked for more June and July shows at Piper’s Opera House after its Reno debut, “6:01 a.m.” is about more than the performance.

The entire production is a fundraiser for Rainshadow Charter High School, which serves at-risk youth, and the Holland Project, which provides art programs for area teens.

The cast and crew are mostly young people from the community, some of whom attend Rainshadow.

That’s what makes the project unique, Panelli said. “I’m the oldest person, and I’m only 32.”

Writer-director Pan Pantoja is 27, and composer-conductor Fred Crase of Missoula, Mont., is 24.

“6:01 a.m.” pairs the young actors with a professional production, including a 24-piece orchestra with members from Nevada Opera and the Reno Philharmonic.

That mixing of hip-hop with classical arts has Panelli hoping “to see millionaires next to kids with no money” in the audience.

Origin story

Pantoja, an artist in residence for the Nevada Arts Council, teaches drama at Rainshadow High School. The idea for “6:01 a.m.” began in August when fellow instructor Sam O’Brien brought Pantoja and Panelli together at Mel’s Diner in the Sands Regency Casino.

O’Brien knew that the students were fans of Panelli’s work and thought it might be interesting to mix them with Pantoja’s plays.

With songs in hand, “Pan wrote a script in 30 days,” Panelli said. “He’s amazing; he doesn’t sleep.”

The script connects and transitions between the spoken word pieces Panelli penned. He said the film “Across the Universe,” which used songs by The Beatles, is a good comparison because his works were not originally linked or meant to carry a plot.

But creating a professionally done musical drama from scratch and performing it at a venerable Reno institution isn’t cheap.

Panelli said the organizers estimated production costs to be $40,000, and they hoped to raise enough money to give $10,000 to both Rainshadow and Holland.

“People said we were crazy and there’s no way we could do it,” Panelli said. “I didn’t think we could do it at first … but the whole thing’s been like a ‘Rocky‘ movie.”