Wendy Steiner, professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, will present her pilot preview of "The Loathly Lady" at screenings in Philadelphia and New York July 19 and 28.

'The Loathly Lady" is the first-ever animated opera.  Based on a Chaucerian tale, the plot follows the adventures of an Arthurian knight, condemned to death unless he can find the answer to the question, "What do women want most?"

"With the advice of Merlin and Freud, the Knight sets out on a quest to interview a series of opinionated women: Jane Austen's Emma, Sheherezade, the Lady of Shalott and Virginia Wolf," Steiner said.  "It is a Loathly Lady who finally tells him what women want, but at quite a price."

The original score for "The Loathly Lady," composed by Paul Richards with musical concept by John DeLucia, is a mixture of medieval and modern musical idioms and is performed on such early instruments as the sacbut, shawm, dulcian, rebec, and viola da gamba. The images for the project are by the UK artist John Kindness, whose work has been exhibited in European and American venues, including Penn's Institute of Contemporary Art.  Animation development is by Joshua Mosely, associate professor of design at Penn.  Among the early-music virtuosos to be heard on the sound track are Susan Hellauer, Nina Stern, Robert Mealy and Ben Harms.

The first screening of the pilot at 7 p.m., July 19, at ICA is part of the ICA's annual summer "Whenever Wednesday: Philadelphia Freedom" series.  ICA is located at 118 S. 36th St. in Philadelphia.  The next screening will be held on Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus July 28 at 8 p.m. in the Lowenstein Building, 12th-floor lounge, 60th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues in New York.  Both screenings are free and open to the public.