 In the early 1980s, Milenski became more widely known to the American opera community for introducing revisionist and deconstructive opera productions into the United States, and for exploring repertory outside mainstream American operatic offerings.His 1983–84 productions of Britten's "Death in Venice" and Monteverdi's "Coronation of Poppea" starring Catherine Malfitano established the Long Beach Opera as a maverick presenter of alternative artistic vision.As a producer, Milenski was an iconoclast, remaining apart from the American operatic establishment.