Opera Lafayette’s first live performance this season was performed for the benefit of the Manco’s Cattlemen’s Association and the Mancos Creative District. Yes, that’s Washington DC’s and NYC’s Opera Lafayette performing on a ranch in Colorado; I kid you not and have photos to prove it. Or as we say now: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you 2020.
Not so fast - as it turns out, OL Artistic Director/Conductor Ryan Brown is also a rancher, or at least his family owns a ranch, the Reddert Ranch in Mancos, Colorado, inherited from his grandparents. As fate would have it, the historic Menefee Barn and Blacksmith Shop on the ranch became the venue for Opera Lafayette’s first live performance in 2020, an opéra comique by composer François-André Danican Philidor made over in the 1890’s American Southwest tradition; the opera, really more like musical theater, premiered in sold out performances, October 9-11; every socially-distanced bale of hay slot was taken. A film of the performance will be made available online starting November 15 (see below). You might reasonably ask: Has Mr. Brown wandered a little too far astray - did I mention that it includes singalongs? Keep the faith; there is a method to this apparent diversion. I chatted with him on the telephone about that. So, let’s take a deeper look.
The dress rehearsal of Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith) at the Menefee Barn with a socially distanced audience in Mancos, Colorado. Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.
If you don’t know, Ryan Brown and Opera Lafayette have a stellar big city reputation mainly built on authentic productions of forgotten masterpieces of 18th century French opera. However, even before 2020 became 2020, this Colorado adventure was in the planning stage. There were to have been premiere performances of Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith, 1760) in the Mancos Opera House, followed by May 2020 performances in the company’s normal venues, Washington DC and New York City. However, the pandemic arrived this past Spring and started shutting everything down. Nonetheless, the question that still jumps out is how did Mancos get added to the performance sites? Well, that was a confluence of events and circumstances orchestrated by Maestro Brown.
Cast (L-R) Sarah Shafer as Jeannie, Arnold Livingston Geis as Cody, Dominique Côté as Marcel the Blacksmith, Joshua Conyers as Eustis , Frank Kelley as Slim MacBride, Pascale Beaudin as Claudine. Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.
Opéra comique, a French opera genre that includes spoken dialog and arias, is right in OL’s wheelhouse, and it is normally performed in the US in the French tradition. You might know the composer Philidor through his fame as a chess player (the Philidor Defense), but he also helped popularize opéra comique, and his operas were quite popular in his day. “The power of opéra-comique resided in its literary, musical and dramatic characteristics – bestselling stories, catchy tunes, situational comedy – which made it malleable, easy to sell and easy to follow,” states one history of the genre. Members of this genre aren’t necessarily comedies, but this one is; the librettist is Antoine-François Quétant, and the plot is based on a story from Bocaccio’s Decameron. The plot involves a blacksmith named Marcel (played by baritone Dominique Côté) and a love quadrangle - his daughter Jeannie (soprano Sarah Shafer) who he wants to wed Slim MacBride (tenor Frank Kelley) while Slim is attracted to his sister Claudine (soprano Pascale Beaudin), though she’s not having any of it, at least at first, and let’s not leave out Cody (tenor Arnold Livingston Geis) who wants Jeannie, and the feeling is mutual. The action includes an apparently lethal ingestion of a sleeping elixir meant for horses and then blacksmith customer Eustis (baritone Joshua Conyers) being enlisted to move the apparently dead body, followed by people thinking they have seen a ghost. Mr. Brown says that it involves situations we can all relate to. I’m thinking life must be different in Colorado, or maybe it’s the French influence; I don’t know.
Here is the interesting thing that Mr. Brown revealed about opéra comique as an opera genre and the reason for OL’s adaptation. These operas were written in the vernacular, the spoken language of ordinary people, and appealed to audiences of ordinary citizens and not just the elites. It was through translations and adaptions in the vernacular of each country that opéra comique spread across Europe. Beyond the features of the artform, there were sociological and cultural issues at play. Thus, Artistic Director Brown had an idea – perform the opera in the American vernacular and use the one close to his heart from his stays in Colorado. Could he convey the spirit of opéra comique more authentically to American audiences through an adaptation using the vernacular of the Southwest? His approach also raises another question. In Europe, opéra comique played largely to urban audiences. Would an adaptation geared to the less populous, more rural Southwest also appeal to urban audiences? If so, might such an adapted opera genre be effective at expanding the audience for opera across the US as it did in its heyday in Europe? Of course, it is likely right now that any live, in person performance will be cheered. Artistic Director Brown hopes The Blacksmith will be successful enough to take the show on the road. Well, the game is afoot.
Local community musicians playing during the folk songs: (L-R) Andrew Saletta, Nick Lawrence, Alice Gausch, Marilyn Kroeker, Lynne Lewis, Erika Alvero. Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.
Director Brown’s collaborator for this venture is DC Director Nick Olcott, who has been a Helen Hayes Award nominee for acting, directing, and writing for theater and opera. He grew up in Montana, and Mr. Brown says he and Mr. Olcott were both regaled with the regional stories their grandmothers told, imbuing them with the vernacular of the area, so there was a mutual understanding of what was needed. Another issue to be dealt with was breaking the 4th wall, the invisible wall that separates the performers and the audience. While composer Philidor wrote the music for the opera, he also utilized popular songs from his day and included audience participation. Mr. Brown wanted to use American folk songs such as “Red River Valley” and “Old Gray Mare”, rather than the original French songs, and Mr. Olcott also wanted to include audience singalong as part of the performance. Mr. Brown says he has been less inclined to break the wall in the past, but for this production, he told his pardner to go all out. Thus, OL’s The Blacksmith includes singalongs and local musicians to help provide the music for the songs. Director Olcott went further and translated the libretto (in his words) into “cowboy English”; the role of the Blacksmith is portrayed as a French immigrant to keep a French flavor and accent.
Leading the singalong are Emilie Faiella as Jeannie and Arnold Livingston Geis as Cody. Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.
The adaptation of the music might have been even more of a challenge than the libretto. Philidor wrote his music for a small chamber orchestra. Besides being prohibitively expensive, assembling an orchestra in Mancos would be logistically daunting given pandemic restrictions. Conductor Brown chose to limit the instruments to one violin, one contrabass, and one guitar (plus the local musicians contributing on the songs). Working out the harmonies was difficult admitted Mr. Brown. Fortunately, joining Mr. Brown who plays violin is a world class guitarist, Adam Gardino, two-time champion of the International Finger Style Guitar Competition. You can hear him play one of his compositions, the Bartender’s Special, in the OL Friday Musical Moments. Also aiding the adaptation was contrabassist Doug Balliett, who is also a composer. I can’t wait to hear how this all works out, especially when playing Philidor’s music.
An onlooker taking in the ensemble for this work: Doug Balliett on contrabass, Ryan Brown on violin, and Adam Gardino on guitar. Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette. (Somehow this photo reminds me of Picasso’s Three Musicians - check it out and see if you see the resemblance.)
This performance was challenged by the pandemic as well as by the compositional and staging issues. The switch from the Mancos Opera House to open air, socially distanced seating on the ranch was necessitated by the coronavirus. The bales of hay for seating had to be at least 25 feet from the stage and attendance was limited to 150 people due to Colorado guidelines. The performers had to self-quarantine for two weeks prior to joining rehearsal, and like sports teams, each member of the cast had to maintain strict guidelines during the production. Soprano Sara Shafer who plays Jeannie was unable to meet the guidelines in time for start of rehearsals, and for the first rehearsals she had to sit socially distanced from the stage which necessitated bringing in an additional soprano to cover the role. Soprano Emilie Faiella was added to the cast, and she performed in the role of Jeannie for the October 11 performance.
The barn as the venue presented some challenges for staging. First, the barn had to be set up as a backstage and two flat beds had to be brought in the serve as a makeshift stage. Outdoor performances are subject to weather impairments, and there was particular concern with wind affecting sound quality, especially with seating so wide spread. The decision was made to utilize microphones for this production. Clearly, none of this was business as usual for Opera Lafayette, though the venue has the advantage of offering Southwestern sunsets; the performances began at 5 pm and finished at sun down. If you have been to the outdoor Santa Fe Opera theater, you know the beautiful sunsets are an added bonus.
A sunset behind the Menefee Barn; the performances ran 5 pm until sunset. Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.
Director Brown wanted to engage the local community in as many aspects of OL’s performance as possible. Spectators were allowed at dress rehearsal. The OL team, assisted by music teacher, Andrew Saletta, worked with middle and high children on learning the songs being used, and had them perform at the barn. Seating-limited recitals were performed in the Mancos Opera House observing pandemic guidelines. I suspect this outreach very likely contributed to the third performance being added and all three sold out, and perhaps built a bridge to the future.
Audience at educational program with middle and high school students performing. Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.
My assessment is that Artistic Director Brown is doing what he has always done, display a spirit of adventurousness and make the most of resources at his command. The company which he founded has constantly evolved under his leadership. Recently, he has collaborated with the cutting edge Heartbeat Opera in updating a work by seventeenth century composer Stradella and in the past, he has taken OL to perform at Versailles. In Americanizing opéra comique, he has potentially expanded the American audience for opera and has turned potential defeat at the hands of the pandemic into an innovative journey offering employment for musicians and singers, fun entertainment for its audiences, and something new to a region of personal importance to him; and who knows what might become of this adaptation and where it might lead Opera Lafayette. Kudos to Director Brown and the entire Opera Lafayette team!
A standing ovation for Opera Lafayette’s Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith). Photo by Paul Boyer; courtesy of Opera Lafayette.
Cattlemen, guitars, sing-alongs, opera? What would Philidor think? More importantly, what will audiences in DC and NYC think? I suspect Philidor would approve; he apparently understood the need to innovate and how to connect with audiences (he was also not opposed to putting other people’s music to good use). I can’t wait to see The Blacksmith, but the question that remains is how will it play in DC and NYC, especially when moved indoors? No doubt, it is fun, but is there enough there there? You will soon be able to see the movie and next Spring the hoped for live performances closer to home, if the pandemic will allow.
The Fan Experience: A film of the performance of Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith) will begin streaming on November 15 and will be available through November 29. Ticket prices have not been announced as yet but will be available shortly at the OL website. Opera Lafayette intends to have indoor, live-staged performances in NYC and DC next Spring. The date for NYC has been set for June 22, but the date for DC has not been firmly established as yet.
Opera Lafayette has posted a video clip of the lead up to the performances at this YouTube link.