They’re Supreme Court besties, even though they don’t see eye to eye. And now their relationship is going to be set to their favorite kind of music: opera.
Derrick Wang, a graduate of the University of Maryland’s Law School, has penned the start of an opera entitled “Scalia/Ginsburg,” which charts the sometimes frazzled friendship between conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Wang, talking to the Associated Press, said that he got the idea while studying constitutional law and reading Scalia’s “often fiery and well-constructed” dissents.
That inspired him to write Scalia’s part in an 18th century style known as opera seria. “The justices are blind. How can they spout this?” the Scalia character rages. “The Constitution says absolutely nothing about this.”
Ginsburg’s part starts in a 19th century style and gets more modern through the work. “How many times must I tell you, dear Mister Justice Scalia: You’d spare us such pain if you’d just entertain this idea,” the Ginsburg character sings.
Wang got both Supremes to listen to the completed portions of the opera in June, the AP reported, the day after the Court handed down its decisions on gay marriage. Now, Wang hopes to finish “Scalia/Ginsburg” so that it can be performed in Washington, D.C., sometime next year.
