The bell rings

Fluorescent lights hum over a classroom in Anywhere, USA. Desks are pushed aside to make room for a makeshift stage. A group of teenagers stands in a circle as a community. Outside the room, the world feels loud—fractured by headlines, arguments, and the constant, low thrum of fear.

Inside, someone begins to sing.

This is where "Time to Act" begins.

Not with spectacle. Not with grandiosity. But with young people daring to ask hard questions: How do we live with fear? How do we speak to one another across anger and grief? How do we build something better than what we’ve inherited?

Our documentary follows the creators and professional singers bringing this new opera to its world premiere at Pittsburgh Opera. We capture the fragile, electric process of making art in real time: rewriting scenes, shaping music, confronting uncomfortable truths. We witness what happens when a classroom becomes a rehearsal hall, and a rehearsal hall becomes a space brave enough to hold trauma.

At the heart of this story is a belief that music and drama are not escapes from reality, but tools to reshape it. That art can transform impending fear of gun violence into collective courage. That when young voices are centere, not silenced. Something shifts.

This film is about more than an opera. It’s about what happens when artists inspire us to surrender despair. It’s about choosing collaboration over division. It’s about building the world we want to see, note by note, scene by scene.

We are inviting you into the room. Help us finish this documentary and bring this story into the wider world. Because the act of creating hope is not passive. It’s something we do. Together. One Voice.

Eight years of manifestation

I’m Crystal Manich, the writer and director of the new opera “Time to Act.” I started writing the libretto (the words) of the opera in 2018 after the tragedy in Parkland, Florida. I wondered how the arts could play a role in healing a community in the aftermath of gun violence. Eight years later, “Time to Act” is a reality. Below is a model box of our set design inside the Pittsburgh Bitz Opera Factory, designed by Lindsay Fuori. Our world is a classroom containing a platform that serves as a stage.

The documentary, produced by Vinegar Hill, follows me and the other creators and performers behind "Time to Act" as we workshop, rehearse, and bring a new opera to its world premiere, capturing the rare, vulnerable process of making art in response to gun violence and youth trauma in America. Set inside rehearsal rooms and performance spaces, the film reveals how music and drama become tools for dialogue, healing, and collective courage.

Art reflects life

The music for "Time to Act" is written by acclaimed composer Laura Kaminsky. In addition to this being my debut as a librettist, I am also the stage director collaborating with conductor Michael Sakir who leads from the podium. In the opera, a high school drama club prepares a production of Sophocles’ ancient Greek play "Antigone." As the students grapple with the ancient story of love, loyalty, and loss, a strange new girl, Alona, joins the group, sparking discomfort and discord. Triggered by a safety drill, Alona reveals that her brother was the shooter in a school tragedy one year prior and is still trying to process the events. Inspired by their struggles and discoveries, the students decide to perform the ancient play using their own words as a rite of healing and change in the aftermath of gun violence: a living response to the world they are inheriting.

At a moment when young people are navigating fear, grief, and inherited political realities, this project uplifts their voices. The camera bears witness to our development of the opera at Pittsburgh Opera as we work to tell a story about disagreement, growth, and connection. We show how the creative process itself can model empathy and resilience.

Hometown roots

I grew up in Pittsburgh and have worked at Pittsburgh Opera for over twenty years as a freelance stage director. The company nurtured me when I was just starting my career. When Laura and I pitched the idea of "Time to Act" to the company, they immediately supported it and offered to be the lead commissioner. The creation of the show demonstrates Pittsburgh Opera's commitment to community by utilizing young singers from their Resident Artist Program and other local talent. The film will document the process from page to stage as it amplifies youth voices through this inspired group of people.

I've directed important works before that touch on sensitive topics about young people. "Return to Sender" was a world premiere that I staged for Nashville Children's Theatre in 2019 about the tough topic of immigration, based on the play by Julia Alvarez. I had to stage an ICE raid, among other challenging scenes about a family trying to make it in the USA. The message of the play was hopeful and taught me that even in the face of challenge, a better future is possible.

I also directed the world premiere of a new opera about Anne Frank at Indiana University, Bloomington. Although gut-wrenching, directing this young woman’s story was life-changing in many ways, and her inspiring words influenced my work on the piece.

Build the world you want to see

$10,000 will allow us to complete the documentary for “Time to Act.” Surpassing our funding goal will allow for this story, and the work that goes into it, to not only be feature-length, but also travel beyond the premiere and into the wider world: festivals, classrooms, and communities to foster conversations that are in urgent need. Supporting this film means believing that art can do more than reflect reality. It can help shape it. As one line in the opera reminds us, “Build the world you want to see.” This documentary is an invitation to do exactly that: to invest in youth, in collaboration, and in the power of music and drama to ignite change in the real world. Famed Pittsburgh TV station WQED (PBS affiliate) has provided Vinegar Hill a letter of intent to broadcast our film upon completion. The studio is best known for producing "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood."

The future is bright

We have earned the support of leading companies and grantmakers because "Time to Act" meets this moment with artistic excellence, proven collaborators, and a bold commitment to amplifying youth voices through transformative storytelling.

Subsequent productions of "Time to Act" will be shown nationwide, and is a Co-Commission by Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Montana and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, with additional funding by Opera Santa Barbara. By permission of the publisher: Bill Holab Music. The production of “Time To Act” received commissioning and production development support from New Music USA's Organization Fund, OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers program supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, OPERA America’s Opera Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts.