Months before Moby-Dick drops anchor at the Metropolitan Opera as part of the 2024-2025 season next March, the show’s composer, Jake Heggie, is bringing the critically acclaimed contemporary opera to Nantucket. But don’t expect to see the original production that debuted in 2010 and won immediate praise for what the Washington Post described as a “colorful, singable score that has its own undeniable unity and through-line.”

For the July 30 show at the Dreamland, Heggie will lead a behind-the-scenes presentation of his arresting adaptation of Herman Melville’s great American novel about Captain Ahab and the elusive white whale, Moby Dick, told through the eyes of sailor Ishmael. The book is famously set on Nantucket.

“I’ll walk people through the whole creation of the opera, not necessarily Melville because everyone knows the story of Moby-Dick, but how we managed to take that massive book and create a workable libretto that inspired me to write music that illuminated the story for people. And then that led to this brilliant production,” says Heggie, adding that he’ll share excerpts of the score and manuscript and play some of the music on the piano. Clips of the San Francisco production of the opera will be shown to highlight the sweeping stage experience.

The idea to do a stage performance of Moby-Dick in Nantucket started with Heggie’s friend Franci Neely, the Houston-based philanthropist who summers on Nantucket and sits on the board of the Metropolitan Opera. Neely introduced him to Niles Parker, executive director of the Nantucket Historical Association, to talk about how they could bring the show to the island this summer in advance of the Met’s run. It wasn’t long before the Dreamland was on board for the project. Less than a year later, the show is shaping up to be one of the season’s hottest arts and culture tickets.

“This is an incredible opportunity to experience the transformative power of live performance on our small island with the world-class Metropolitan Opera. While Dreamland has long been a venue for sharing the Met: Live broadcast screenings in our theaters, the opportunity to bring this live, one-of-a-kind evening to our Nantucket community is truly extraordinary,” says Alicia L. Carney, Dreamland’s executive director.

Unlike Melville, who wrote the book without ever visiting Nantucket, Heggie thought it was essential to experience the island in order to create the piece. He visited with the show librettist Gene Scheer during late spring in 2008 and was pleased to find “moody weather and few people out.”

While many familiar faces will be in the crowd for Moby-Dick, Heggie is most excited about the new showgoers, some of whom may be experiencing opera for the first time.

Says Heggie, “Opera builds community in a very special way and that’s what I really love about what I do. I can set a vibration that might resonate with people. You don’t necessarily know how they feel about issues that are important to you. But all of you can experience something together. That’s a big human drama and it opens up the possibility for dialogue, exchange, communication, and new perspectives.”

Buy tickets at nantucketdreamland.org.