This was followed during the summer of 1980 by staging of "Don Giovanni", cast, costumed, and presented to resemble a blaxploitation film, with Don Giovanni partying almost-naked (underwear only) and shooting heroin. The production was performed under the aegis of the Monadnock Music Festival in Manchester, New Hampshire. "Opera News" hailed it "an act of artistic vandalism". In the winter of 1980, a production of George Frideric Handel's "Orlando", again at the American Repertory Theatre, brought him to national attention—perhaps because of the novel concept of setting it in outer space. Later, Sellars studied in Japan, China, and India.