![]() They have produced contemporary opera festivals (Compōs-it Opera 2017, 2018) and new play workshops (PTC Playlab 2019). Their opera “Would You Eat Me?” will be produced by Thompson Street Opera in 2022 after winning their 2020 call for scores. Their work often explores the unbearable ordeal of being known, the magic of the mundane, and the existential dread of living in the twenty-first century. Heggie’s opera runs a bit long (roughly three hours) and loud, but Lyric’s production does it full justice.įor tickets, call Brown (he/they) is a multimedia artist working at the intersection of beauty and nonsense. But Dead Man Walking isn’t a political piece it’s a very human story of love and redemption. Although the debate on capital punishment has moved forward considerably since this opera’s premiere, the conversation on prisons remains timely. There’s no doubt that this is a thoroughly American opera, and a very contemporary one. ![]() Other bit parts are filled by promising members of the Ryan Opera Center, while the Chicago Children’s Choir opens and closes the production with their happy renditions of “He will gather us around…” ![]() Also worthy of mention is tenor Clay Hilley’s Lyric debut as Father Greenville. His performance is visceral and raw, portraying his character’s anguish with just the right mixture of anger and penitence.Īmong a large cast of minor characters, Susan Graham, who debuted the role of Sister Helen at the opera’s premiere in 2000, is noteworthy as Mrs De Rocher. Bass-baritone Ryan McKinny makes his Lyric debut as the condemned prisoner. Racette gives a strong, restrained performance, one that highlights the humility and simplicity of her character. Soprano Patricia Racette, who stars as Sister Helen, hasn’t been seen at Lyric since 2013/14, but was seen more recently at Chicago Opera Theater in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine. Moreover, the production is assisted by a dialect coach. Later, when Sister Helen is driving to the prison, she’s stopped by a cop in full uniform on a real motorcycle. I can understand not wanting to minimize the sheer horror of the crime, but the nudity seems a bit gratuitous. The De Rocher brothers appear and kill the man, before raping and killing the woman also. Then De Rocher’s victims run onstage completely naked, and then proceed to make out on a blanket. It begins with a real car on set, headlights on, radio playing. Otherwise, much of Heggie’s vocal writing comes across as either dull and colorless or atonal and unnatural.ĭirector Leonard Foglia opts for maximum realism in this production, which is helped along by Michael McGarty’s sets and Jess Goldstein’s costumes. The most memorable and melodic music of the score, however, is the bouncy spiritual “He will gather us around, all around,” which is unlike almost everything else in the score and serves as its unifying theme. As with Jimmy Lopez’s Bel Canto, which premiered at Lyric Opera in 2015, Dead Man Walking is simply too loud, its climactic moments culminating in cacophony. It suffers from a tendency that afflicts many first-time opera composers: overstatement. The score is about one-third to one-half melodic and tonal, which makes it more delightful to listen to than, say Alban Berg or Heggie’s contemporary Ricky Ian Gordon. Fortunately, McNally infuses the libretto with enough humor to keep it from getting too heavy. We never really understand how and why this connection between nun and prisoner developed it just is. As a result, the plot feels strangely unmoored, even hollow. Along the way, De Rocher engages Sister Helen as his spiritual advisor.ĭead Man Walking explores redemption, confession, and forgiveness, but strangely shies away from social justice and the ethics of capital punishment. Based on the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean, with a libretto written by Terrence McNally, the story follows Joseph De Rocher from the rape and murder that landed him in jail to his execution by the State of Louisiana. Jake Heggie’s first opera premiered at San Francisco Opera in 2000. The libretto and score aren’t terribly satisfying though. But when Lyric Opera does go contemporary, it goes boldly, with big, splashy productions - and Dead Man Walking has got an excellent cast, good direction, and superbly realistic sets and costumes. Lyric Opera doesn’t put on many contemporary operas, at least not like the Windy City’s edgier companies Chicago Fringe Opera and Thompson Street Opera.
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