(A Lot of) Music (and Lyrics) for a While
Yikes, it’s been a busy summer! I’m back from my residency in rural Pennsylvania, followed by an incredible experience in Wichita culminating in the world premiere of Staggerwing at Opera Kansas. It was a whirlwind of rehearsals, radio and TV interviews, outreach events, and meetings with many Wichita luminaries including the children and grandchildren of Walter and Olive Ann Beech. (And so much food I could barely fit into my opening night dress at the end of the week). I’m relieved to say the Beech family, whose support went a long way toward making this production happen, responded enthusiastically to the result and are excited to see more productions of Staggerwing in the future. Most importantly, though, after two years of hard work and uncertainty, Lisa and I were so proud of what Opera Kansas was able to accomplish in the wake of such national insanity. Putting up a world premiere opera is hard enough during the best of times, but this was just…holy cats. “Alllllll the malted milk balls” to the cast, designers, orchestra, and crew who made it a physical reality. And most of all, so much love to Artistic Director Ashley Winters, Dr. Lyle Zepick, and the opera company board—the most dedicated, exuberant, and hands-on board you will ever see. If you have any shekels to spare, please send them to Opera Kansas to get this company more resources to keep producing adventurous new work and making good on their promises to involve their community. Together we created something that truly spoke directly to the heart of Wichita, including some former Ninety-Nines and aviation experts (who complimented me on the accuracy of the libretto!) But the highest praise came from audience member, who told me in his joyfully inebriated condition, “I don’t even like opera. I HATE opera. But tonight, you saved it!” I think that’s a fairly grand overstatement, but you know what? I’ll take it. Unfortunately, the livestream (thanks to all who tuned in) had some audio issues, but I understand that Opera Kansas is working to make a new video available to those who purchased tickets. I will also add a gallery of production photos once they are available. And there is more on the horizon for our Louise, Blanche, Dewey, Olive Ann, and Walter, so please stay tuned!
So: now that I’ve returned to Brooklyn, what’s going on? I can now elaborate about various endeavors about which I’ve previously dropped hints, as well as some new items currently occupying my time on earth.
First up, beginning this weekend, Resonance Works Pittsburgh and Bare Opera are teaming up for a virtual recital series including several of my songs. I’m especially excited that my setting of “Music for a While” is kicking it off. This is one from the vault that is so rarely done, and I can’t wait to have a stellar performance and recording publicly available. (Coloraturas, if you like it, hit me up!) More information and tickets here.
Additionally, I recently finished a new song cycle for soprano Janani Sridhar. It’s always so heartwarming when someone I don’t already know well reaches out to ask for new music. No matter how old I get (now 44, as of a week ago), I’ll never be jaded about that. Janani’s recital has also been postponed a few times due to the pandemic, surprising no one. Right now we anticipate a Spring 2022 performance of For Janani, which includes settings of poetry by Joshua McGuire and Reese Leyva, at Centenary College, where she is on the faculty.
Next on the DeSpain/Peters docket is a virtual micro opera adaptation of Dorothy Parker’s short story, Men I’m Not Married To. I’ve alluded to this in previous posts, and now I can finally name it. This is a collaboration between Cleveland Opera Theater, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, and On Site Opera. Like everything else in the universe, the release has been moved around a few times. We currently believe it will happen in October; fingers crossed. For now, here is an overview of the whole series of micro operas; I must say, we are in some pretty fine company! When we have firm dates and complete details about how to view, I will publish a more detailed post about this project.
Meanwhile, you can hear more about that one, Staggerwing, and the larger process of collaboration alternating between what Mister Nonmusical Husband calls “The Blah-Blah-Blah Hat” (for text) and “The La-La-La Hat” (for composing) on this episode of the Words First Podcast, which was released earlier this week. Generally I am overwhelmed by the glut of podcasts out there, and there’s so much noise to wade through. But I believe Keturah Stickann is doing yeo[wo]man’s work by focusing on the craft of opera from the librettist’s point of view, which is something we don’t talk about enough as a field. This interview definitely cements my belief that I come across better on paper, as I was beleaguered by persistent insomnia, continued grief over Adam’s passing, and tunnel vision trying to make progress on my latest score. But Keturah is a delightful interviewer, an extremely knowledgeable professional, and perhaps most importantly in this case, a judicious editor of my nonlinear musings. Check it out while you’re doing the dishes if you’re so inclined.
Over the past year, I’ve been on my maiden voyage in a writers’ room for Public Access, an operatic fantasia miniseries on Madame Mari Lyn, that phenomenon of 1980s NYC public access TV and cult favorite of opera fans. If you are not familiar with Madame Mari Lyn and her “Golden Treasury of Song”, this old clip ought to be more than enough to pique your interest. And if you think you already know everything there is to know about Mari Lyn, let me assure you that there’s a *lot* more to be told, more than even her most devoted followers ever suspected. I’m very excited to be part of the gaggle of brains bringing this extremely bizarre story to life. It’s been a year filled with Zoom meetings with this fun crew, comprised of composer Evan Mack, playwrights Jonathan West and Arlene Hutton, director/dramaturg Kristine McIntyre, soprano Emily Pulley (set to star as the infamous MML and many other characters), and producer liaison (and superstar baritone) Michael Mayes. We are now more than ready for further opportunities to bring this wackadoo adventure to audiences far and wide.
Last, but never least, I’m this close to finishing the vocal score to the unexpectedly life-and-perspective-altering commission I alluded to earlier. I know it’s gross to keep being coy about this, but the official announcement won’t come out for a couple of months yet. Trust that I am not at a loss for words when it comes to this piece—indeed, I keep cutting and cutting from the libretto as the music gets closer to completion. Deadline is Monday; pray for me if you are the praying kind!
There’s other stuff, too, but this is already a lot to yammer about for now. As always, I am thankful to have so many fulfilling and satisfying collaborations in progress to focus on in such an unmoored time.
