Staggerwing: Landing the Damn Plane

Composer Lisa DeSpain and I were delighted to premiere our opera, Staggerwing, about the historic flight and Bendix Trophy win of aviatrixes Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes, with Opera Kansas last summer after various pandemic-related postponements. It was a beautiful production with a wonderful cast, but…something was missing. More than one something, in fact. The parameters of the commission, which was the winner of the Zepick Modern Opera Competition call for proposals, dictated that we end the piece within an hour, and we came pretty close. This meant that a lot ended up on the cutting room floor. As a result, at last count, there were 12 different drafts of the libretto—I do love a feminist anthem, but there were, indeed, a lot of them. As the final deadline for the music neared, Lisa exclaimed in a moment of frustration, “RACHEL! Just LAND THE DAMN PLANE already!” to me over the phone. I trimmed it down, and we hoped we’d get to expand the story someday to flesh out the relationships and the characters’ backstories further, and make some of the quick jump-cuts in time make a little more sense as Blanche and Louise make their way across the skies to their victory in Los Angeles.

…And we are relieved that the time for that has finally arrived! Staggerwing is the the inaugural work of the new Vanderbilt Opera Theatre Lab at the Blair School of Music! Lisa and I “lift off into the heavens” (aka Nashville) next week for our first bout of tinkering with the material. After some rehearsals and masterclasses culminating in an informal run-through at the end of the week, we’ll race back home, finalize our nips, tucks, and additions, then return to Vanderbilt for a more polished presentation on February 20th. We are so excited to have this opportunity and be supported so enthusiastically by the Vanderbilt faculty and staff.

Join us next month in Nashville if you can, and watch this space for more exciting Staggerwing news once the workshops are complete!