Miss Havisham's Fire Miss Havisham's Fire Miss Havisham's Fire is an opera in 2 acts by composer Dominick Argento with an English language libretto by John Olon-Scrymgeour. The work is loosely based on Charles Dickens' 1861 novel "Great Expectations", and centers on an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Aurelia Havisham. Commissioned by the New York City Opera, the work premiered on March 22, 1979, at the David H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan. "Miss Havisham's Fire" was initially intended to be a farewell vehicle for soprano Beverly Sills, but she pulled out of
Dickens in America of Dickens's children and Grip the raven that Dickens and Catherine took with them to America. Miriam then boards the RMS Queen Mary 2, which like the RMS Britannia which transported Dickens, his wife Catherine and Catherine's handmaid, is a Cunard ocean liner. It is summertime. Dickens embarked on January 2. One of the first things she sees is a sign saying "Do not use the handrails when descending" Apparently that helps avoid getting diarrhea aboard the moving ship. Miriam wanders the ship and says, "It's huge. It's like a village." Dickens on the other hand complained how small the