Sketches for costume designs by Jennifer Gillettecapture Beale Street, circa 1915. (Illustration: Courtesy Opera Memphis)
If you’re an opera lover, you may think you know La Bohème, Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece about life in 19th-century Paris. After all, it’s not only one of the most-performed operas in the world, but the most popular work in the 68-year history of Opera Memphis.
Think again.
When Opera Memphis presents its latest version of La Bohème at the Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center this Friday and Saturday, you’d best discard any preconceptions before the curtains rise. For, while the music will be performed as the classic score dictates, complete with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the mise-en-scène will be both unfamiliar and, for Memphians, eerily familiar. Rather than being set in bohemian Paris in the 1830s, this version unfolds on Beale Street, circa 1915.
Dennis Whitehead Darling (Photo: Andrea Zucker )
“I wish I could take credit for this inception of it,” says stage director Dennis Whitehead Darling, “but it’s actually the brainchild of [Opera Memphis general director] Ned Canty. It’s been a pet project of his for many years, and the original idea came from a book that Ned read called Beale Street Dynasty.”
Nearly anyone with an interest in our city’s history knows that book well, subtitled Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis, wherein Preston Lauterbach vividly evokes the bustling urban milieu, both creative and destructive, that made Beale Street ground zero for Black America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “Because Paris in the 1830s was a place where artists and musicians and philosophers and writers came together, it was a cultural center for its time. And the same thing was happening here in Memphis. I think that’s what sparked the idea for setting La Bohème on Beale Street,” says Darling.
Indeed, the similarities between the two cities of different eras were so profound that the original opera slotted neatly into the new setting. “Originally, we were going to write something new, or Ned was, but we moved away from that and have kept most of the original text the same,” says Darling.
Jeri Lynne Johnson (Photo: Vanessa Briceno)
As conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson points out, that maintains the integrity of Puccini’s original vision. “Audience members who are fluent in Italian may realize that a couple of things have changed,” she says, “but for the most part, we’ve done this without actually changing the text, which the singers have grown up learning for years and years in the Italian language. Of course, Puccini’s music is so tied to the language, so in order to avoid changing too many actual words, and making sure they stand with the music, there are just a couple of word changes, and some of those are simply within the subtitles.”
Meanwhile, the stage set is similarly subtle. “We’re doing something a little bit more abstract,” says Darling, “using projection screens. It’s minimal but effective. With projections, we’ve layered photos of different buildings and businesses that were part of Beale. Reimagining this in a very minimal way is always challenging, but things that are challenging also allow you to be more creative — oftentimes the things you find challenging are actually opportunities.”
And yet in one regard, there will be plenty of striking visuals, as Darling points out. “We have beautiful costume designs by Jennifer Gillette. That’s been the icing on the cake as we enter tech week because we initially created this show without seeing all of our visual elements. We didn’t have the projections, lighting, or costumes until much later. And it’s always amazing when I see these actors wear their costumes. Another level of character development happens almost immediately, where they just embody these characters, wearing these costumes that Jennifer has designed. They really transform our modern day actors and singers into these period characters.”
The impact of that visual element is deep, as Johnson points out, addressing a whole culture that’s so often rendered invisible. “I’ve done world premieres for the Santa Fe Opera and for the Chicago Opera Theater that had a predominantly African-American casts, having canonical works reimagined with African Americans in the roles. But what makes this particular production so interesting is, it isn’t just the casting, it is really transplanting that bohemian lifestyle into a uniquely Memphian historical period on Beale Street. The setting and the cast together really give you a sense of African-American life at that time. It adds an element of questioning what art is, and who makes art, where moral judgments are embedded into the aesthetic ones.”
While creating this Winter Arts Guide, compiling this long (yet not even comprehensive) list of exhibitions, shows, and various other arts events, I had the pleasure to speak with Ned Canty, Opera Memphis’ director, whose interview you’ll find in this guide. At the end of our conversation, he remarked, “Some things are worth leaving the house for.” And indeed, whether it’s an Opera Memphis show or an artist talk at the Dixon, this arts guide is here to remind you that some things are worth leaving the house for.
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Marquita Richardson will perform in January’s concert. (Photo: Courtesy Opera Memphis)
Opera Memphis’ Variations on a Theme
This year, Opera Memphis introduced a new concert series to bridge between the gap the opera-curious and the opera-enthusiast. Called Variations on a Theme, the series explores “all kinds of vocal music, not just opera,” says Ned Canty, Opera Memphis’ general director. “The goal is to move beyond [opera] into other genres of music and … to look at connections between, say, jazz and opera, blues and opera, hip-hop and opera — all of those things, which we’ve historically either done as one-offs or as online things. The idea here is to now kind of graduate to doing them live.”
Each concert, Canty says, revolves around a different theme, complementing concurrent programming by other local arts organizations. In October, Opera Memphis’ first Variations on a Theme incorporated musical pieces inspired by Shakespeare’s AMidsummer Night’s Dream to coincide with Ballet Memphis’ run of the ballet version. The organization also partnered with Memphis Symphony Orchestra in November and will partner with Theatre Memphis in April. “We’re trying to rebuild some of these connections that were so robust before the pandemic that I think we almost took them for granted,” says Canty.
For January’s Variations on a Theme, Opera Memphis will partner with TONE for an “In the Words of Langston Hughes”-themed performance, which will include spoken word and Hughes’ poems set to music. Unlike Opera Memphis’ collaborations with the aforementioned arts organizations which focus on coinciding programming, this concert will look to a future project with TONE. The objective, Canty says, is for Opera Memphis’ January show to inspire TONE artists to create new music. “We have some money and we will choose the number of artists who are part of TONE’s mission and pay them to create new works, new sort of short songs, that reflect their experiences and the experiences of Memphis.” The hope is for Opera Memphis to then use these new works in future performances, such as its 30 Days of Opera.
Overall, Variations on a Theme, Canty says, is “a compact, enjoyable experience to maybe meet some new music, maybe hear some old favorites, maybe meet some new people. Having an intimate musical experience that you’re sharing with other people, that really is, at its base, what we’re trying to remind people of and how special that is.”
Variations on a Theme: In the Words of Langston Hughes, Opera Memphis Headquarters, 216 S. Cooper St., Saturday, January 27, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, January 28, 3 p.m., $25.
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A NewWorks winner,Don’t Hydroplaneopened Playhouse’s season. (Photo: Courtesy Playhouse on the Square)
NewWorks@TheWorks:Greater Illinois
In January, Memphis will be treated to the world premiere of Greater Illinois, thanks to Playhouse on the Square’s NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition. The play, written by Steven Strafford, is set in a near future Chicago. “In theory, it’s dystopian,” says Savannah Miller, director of NewWorks. “It’s a play basically about what happens if we turn a blind eye to injustices, and how far those justices can go.”
Strafford’s play was one of two winners of 2022’s competition, with Bryan Curtis’ comedy Don’t Hydroplane being the other, having premiered in July. Both of them received a prize of $750 and premieres in Playhouse’s season. “And they’re billed in our season right next to the regional premieres of Catch Me if You Can and Your Arm’s Too Short to Box with God,” Miller says, “so that’s kind of special in and of itself.”
For the NewWorks competition, established in 2013, Playhouse solicits submissions beginning in January, and a “panel of local directors, actors, and designers carefully select six plays to be part of a staged reading series. Of those six plays, two are chosen to be fully produced as part of an upcoming season to be presented onstage and streamed nationwide,” reads the submission guidelines.
“It’s pretty open compared to other playwriting competitions,” Miller says, “so it kind of gives a lot of newer playwrights a chance to get their work out there. … A lot of times once you’ve had that first production you can apply for publishing and for other opportunities, as well.”
Already, Playhouse has announced the two winners of 2023’s competition: LaDarrion Williams’ Coco Queens and Dianne Nora’s Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin. This year saw a historic number of submissions, with over 500 works entered for consideration.
Yet, the playwrights aren’t the only ones who benefit from the competition. Memphis does, too. “It’s great to have something like this in Memphis, in the Mid-South,” says Miller. “We’re bringing these cutting-edge plays that have stories that people need to hear and narratives that people may not always get exposed to, especially in the South.”
For the competition, Miller says, “We try to choose scripts that are important narratives and that uplift historically underrepresented narratives. Memphis is a very diverse city. We want works that speak to that and speak to the Memphis experience.”
The upcoming play Greater Illinois, for instance, touches on themes of gentrification, sexuality, race, and intersectionality. “I think that’s a very good question for folks nowadays to be thinking, so I hope people learn a lot from it or leave the theater with questions.”
Greater Illinois, TheatreWorks@TheSquare, 2085 Monroe, January 12-28, $25.
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Kaylyn Webster,Light Show in July, 2023; Oil on canvas; Courtesy of the artist
“Kaylyn Webster: Commune (verb)”
Just a year after earning her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, Kaylyn Webster has celebrated her first solo exhibition at a museum. Her show, titled “Commune (verb),” opened in October at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens.
“I remember like it was just yesterday, coming to field trips here,” she says. “I went to Overton High School and Colonial Middle, and we would come up here all the time and look at other people’s work, and now it’s mine up here. It’s insane to me.”
The pieces in the show, Webster explains, are portraits of her family members and close friends. “I want to humanize the figures that I painted and hopefully to also humanize people of color in general,” she says. “I want [viewers] to want to know more about these people and their stories.”
For her paintings, Webster shares intimate moments with her loved ones, from the jubilant with her nephews playing horns, clad in Nikes and Jordans, to the more vulnerable with her mother recovering from Covid at the height of the pandemic. The paintings themselves are large in scale, practically larger than the artist herself. “I really want you to feel like you’re a part of these intimate moments,” Webster says.
In composing her works, Webster channels the styles and techniques of the art she learned about in her Western art courses, the very art that historically excluded Black men and women. “I love the style of it, the realism,” she says. “I love the symbolism and the deep narratives and the scale of it. I just wanted to represent people of color using those techniques.”
Yet she adds, “I always want at least one figure looking out at viewers to engage them more in the piece, and to challenge that trend that I saw in art history of Black servants and maids just not being able to look out. It’s almost like a tool to dehumanize them, so I want the stares to re-humanize the figures.”
Only one painting in the show features a person Webster does not know, a woman who upon meeting her in her studio space at Arrow Creative handed Webster a photograph of herself. “She wasn’t going to do anything with the photo, so she allowed me to paint it,” Webster says. “I feel like you can get to know her through her smile, the wrinkles in her face, her hands. I don’t know this woman, but I was able to connect with her. I guess that’s an example of myself participating in the effect that I want to have on other people as they see the show. … I just hope people can feel the emotions for these figures that I feel for them in real life and take that empathy and respect that they have from this exhibition and extend it to people they encounter in everyday life.”
“Kaylyn Webster: Commune (verb),” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park, on display through January 7.
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ON DISPLAY
“Welcome In” Sheet Cake’s inaugural exhibition. Sheet Cake, on display through January 6
“Black American Portraits” The exhibition chronicles the many ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture to envision themselves. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, on display through January 7
“Black Artists in America: From Civil Rights to the Bicentennial” The exhibition considers the ways in which Black American artists responded to the issues of the 1950s to 1970s. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, on display through January 14
“The Molasses Man & Other Delta Tales” An anthology of stories based on Ahmad George’s life and experiences. Crosstown Arts, on display through January 21
“Days” Exhibition of Noah Thomas Miller’s work. Crosstown Arts, on display through January 21
“Hued” Exhibition of Rachelle Thiewes’ vibrant jewelry. Metal Museum, on display through January 28
“China Blues: The World of Blue & White Ceramics” Spectacular works of Chinese art, including jades, paintings, textiles, and ceramics. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, on display through May 2024
“Marking Time” Bold landscapes by Remy Miller and sensitive and introspective paintings by Joe Morzuch. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, January 14-April 14
“It’s a Memphis Thang” New works by Anna Kelly and Calvin Farrar. Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, January 19-March 7
“Everyday People: Snapshots of the Black Experience” Exhibition showcasing Memphis artist Eric Echols’ photo collection of twentieth-century African Americans. Museum of Science & History, January 20-July 14
Paul Wonner, Model Drinking Coffee, 1964; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.
“Breaking the Rules” Paintings, watercolors, and drawings by Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown. Dixon Gallery & Gardens, January 28-March 31
Curtis Arima’s Shifting Hierarchy Royal Blue Brooch (Photo: Radical Jewelry Makeover)
“Radical Jewelry Makeover: The Artist Project” Ethical Metalsmiths’ innovative community mining project repurposes jewelry to create sustainable art. Metal Museum, February 4-April 14
ON STAGE
Company Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s groundbreaking musical comedy. Orpheum Theatre, January 2-7
Viva Elvis Birthday Pops Concert The Memphis Symphony Orchestra presents their annual concert featuring the King’s music. Graceland Soundstage, January 6, 7 p.m.
ABBA Revisited Kick off 2024 with the music of ABBA. Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, January 13, 3 p.m., 7 p.m.
A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play. Theatre Memphis, January 19-February 4
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Journey through Willy Wonka’s factory in this fantastical musical. Playhouse on the Square, January 19-February 18
Iris Collective: Small Business Series Music Box instructors and Iris musicians present a lively evening fusing classical and popular music. Music Box, January 19, 6:30 p.m.
The Children Lucy Kirkwood’s play presents a very real, post-nuclear world. Germantown Community Theatre, January 19-February 4
Guitar Ninja Trace Bundy Internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard. Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, January 26, 7 p.m.
The Lehman Trilogy The rise and fall of one of the most influential families in modern finance. The Circuit Playhouse, January 26-February 11
A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams’ postwar drama. Tennessee Shakespeare Company, February 1-18
Confederates Dominique Morisseau’s exacting new play explores the reins that racial and gender bias still hold over American educational systems today. Hattiloo Theatre, February 2-25
Les Miserables One of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history. Orpheum Theatre, February 2-11
Rise Collage Dance’s hallmark ballet. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, February 3-4
The Glass Menagerie A Southern classic favorite. Theatre Memphis, February 9-25
Memphis Songwriters Series Discover your next favorite local artist. Halloran Centre, February 15, 7 p.m.
A Bite of Memphis Lone Tree Live delves into the heart and soul of Memphis by exploring the vibrant food culture of our city. Evergreen Theatre, February 16-March 3
The Squirrels A boundary-pushing, darkly satirical look at wealth inequality. New Moon Theatre Company, February 16-March 3
Orchestra Unplugged: Mozart’s The Magic Flute A 45-minute version of Mozart’s most fun and fantastical opera with Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Opera Memphis. Halloran Centre, February 22, 7:30 p.m.
Afro-Latino Night Fiesta Las Bompleneras Unplugged will showcase Afro-Puertorican Bomba and Plena music. Memphis Music Room, February 23, 6:30 p.m.
Succession Succession explores the world of Black theater. Hattiloo Theatre, February 23-March 24
Winter Mix Ballet Memphis’ repertoire production. Playhouse on the Square, February 23-25
Trinity Irish Dance Company A performance that will redefine what is possible for Irish music and dance. Germantown Performing Arts Center, February 24, 8 p.m.
The Sound Inside This play explores the limits of what one person can ask of another. Quark Theatre, March 1-17
Awadagin Pratt: Piano Prowess An unforgettable evening with the renowned pianist. Germantown Performing Arts Center, March 2, 7:30 p.m.
30 Days of Opera on Beale St. (Credit: Opera Memphis)
Opera Memphis has sold its building on Wolf River Boulevard and announced its upcoming performance season.
Confirmed so far are a collaboration with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for a concert with famed soprano Renee Fleming on September 8th, and Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca with Opera Memphis favorite Reginald Smith Jr. in his role debut as Scarpia. The Christmas Fiesta, a collaboration with Cazateatro and the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, will return in December, and 30 Days of Opera will celebrate its 11th year in April. Closing the season will be the return of Zach Redler and Jerre Dye’s powerful The Falling and the Rising at the Scheidt Family Music Center at the University of Memphis.
Opera Memphis formed a committee in 2019 to explore new locations, and in early 2020, began preparing for a move. On Friday, June 24th, the Clark Opera Memphis Center was sold to Memphis Obstetrics and Gynecological Association, and will be used as a health care facility.
“The Clark Opera Memphis Center has been an amazing home for almost two decades,” said Ned Canty, Opera Memphis’ general director. “It helped us to grow from 10 or 12 performance days a year to well over 50, but it was designed to meet the needs of who we were 20 years ago. For opera to continue expanding in Memphis, we need to be a part of the positive change and growth that have defined the past 10 years and are creating the next 10, from Crosstown Concourse and Overton Square to Northside Renaissance and TONE’s Orange Mound Tower.”
The organization’s temporary offices will be in Overton Square, while rehearsals will take place at partner institutions throughout the city. The 2022-23 season will be in venues and public spaces across Memphis and Shelby County. This includes performances with its long-standing partners, as well as Opera Memphis’ inaugural performance at the soon-to-open Scheidt Family Music Center at the University of Memphis.
Opera Memphis carolers (Photo: Courtesy Opera Memphis)
If anyone has a good holiday playlist, it’s going to be Opera Memphis. They know how to do Christmas carols, trust me. When asked for her favorite carol, Kerriann Otaño, Opera Memphis’ marketing and public relations manager, answers, “I would say ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ has really taken on a special meaning in the past couple of years.” Meanwhile, Bethania Baray, director of education and civic programs, claims “Mi Burrito Sabanero” as her favorite holiday tune, a Latin American song about traveling on a donkey to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus. Both songs have a common thread — that of searching for a place of belonging.
Following that theme, Opera Memphis and Cazateatro Bilingual Theater Group are hosting a Christmas Fiesta at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens. The event holds a dual purpose: to educate and to welcome. “The goal is for the Spanish-speaking community to see their community represented and feel at home,” Baray says. “It’ll be a full celebration of all Latin American Christmas traditions.”
Opera Memphis will sing carols in both English and Spanish, and in a special performance, Carlos Romero will sing traditional Mexican carols while other performers will sing Venezuelan, Brazilian, and Puerto Rican tunes. “There’s going to be a lot of Latin music,” Baray says. “And a lot of Latin food. Cazateatro has been in charge of all of the vendors. There’s going to be a plethora of things. Lots of artisans, crafts.
“We also have a scavenger hunt around the garden for kids to be a part of,” Baray continues. Plus, she adds, Cazateatro has arranged for the Three Magi Kings to join in the festivities and to hand out a surprise present to each child in attendance.
The two groups have also put together a panel discussion for guests to learn more about the traditions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Otaño says, “It’s just a fun opportunity for these two organizations that are so community-minded to get involved and reach new audiences and share in such an exciting time of year.” In Otaño and Baray’s point of view, every tradition is worth sharing in, from piñatas and poinsettias to parrandas and posadas.
Christmas Fiesta, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park, Saturday, December 18, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., free.
The MEMernet overflowed with live music last week. Gonerfest celebrated its 18th year at Railgarten. The Memphis Symphony Orchestra performed at the Botanic Garden. Opera Memphis sang at Latin Fest. Ensemble X performed at Collage Dance Collective. Scheidt at the Shell brought the University of Memphis Wind Ensemble to Overton Park’s Levitt Shell.
Memphis Don’ts
Posted to YouTube by Wolters World
Travel blogger Wolters World gave more than 16 minutes worth of “the Don’ts of Visiting Memphis” in a YouTube video published this week. Here’s a sample:
Don’t worry about walking with your beer on Beale Street. Don’t complain about the heat and humidity. Don’t expect the ribs to be “sauced up.” Don’t feed the Peabody ducks.
Mem-bership
Memphian astronaut Hayley Arceneaux punched her Memphis membership card last week.
“One week ago I came back to Earth and celebrated with the best cold fried chicken of my life,” she tweeted.
When a 12-year-old student from the Stax Music Academy gets a booking at The Metropolitan Opera, it’s time to listen up.
“2020 was a challenging year for the arts and education in America, but it also saw exciting innovation and fresh collaboration,” reads the explanatory blurb below the YouTube video on the Opera Memphis channel, posted just over a month ago. “Catch up with the members of the first-ever opera class at Stax Music Academy, led by Opera Memphis McCleave Directing Fellow Bethania Baray after their first year together.”
What follows are some simple, charming observations from a few of the voice students involved in the collaborative effort. Those students include one Caleb Thompson, who notes his eclectic interests right from the start. “My favorite thing about Stax is, I get to learn all types of genres, not just soul,” he says in the video. “I get to learn about pop, jazz, blues and other different genres.”
He also reveals just how new he was to opera as it began, remembering that he exclaimed to himself, “They don’t got mics? What?” As he discovered, “They’re here, people are back there, and they have to sing that loud so that they can hear. That’s loud. I didn’t know that they had to project that loud!”
As he further explains in the interview, what drew him to the operatic tradition was its emphasis on the dramatic arts. “I thought opera would help me as an actor. I like to act, and most operas have to do with acting … they’re kind of the same thing.”
It all seems somewhat prophetic now. The Stax Music Academy (SMA) has just announced that, only one year after enrolling in the opera class, the youngster will join the roster of the most prestigious opera house in the country, The Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
The Met will begin its 2021-22 season withFire Shut Up in my Bones by award-winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard, running from September 27th to October 23rd. This piece marks the Met’s first performance of an opera by a Black composer in its nearly 140-year history. Blanchard’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s poignant memoir features a libretto by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons and will star baritone Will Liverman as Charles (2020 Marian Anderson Vocal Award winner; 2019 Sphinx Medal of Excellence) and sopranos Angel Blue as Destiny (Grammy award winner, Bess in Porgy and Bess) and Latonia Moore as Billie (Grammy award winner, Serena in Porgy and Bess).
Caleb Thompson at the Metropolitan Opera (Credit: Tichanda Thompson)
Thompson will understudy the role of Char’es-Baby, the production’s only singing role for a child. After a search that included hundreds of young applicants, he persevered through numerous auditions and callbacks to secure his place in this historic production.
“What a privilege to help expand this relationship with Stax Music Academy and offer an opera ensemble class.” Baray says, “I knew these students would be one-of-a-kind, but students like Caleb have completely surpassed my expectations. Two semesters later, I find myself meeting with Caleb via Zoom to coach his audition for a role at the largest opera house in the world. He is incredibly hard working and talented, and I could not be more elated for him.”
The relationship with Opera Memphis and Stax stretches back to 2011, when SMA students were part of a performance of Tosca at The Orpheum. Since then students have performed as a part of numerous Opera Memphis events, but the class Caleb participated in, the first focused specifically on opera, marked a new level in the relationship between the two institutions.
Working with Stax lead vocal instructor Keia Johnson, Baray developed a new curriculum. Four talented students participated in the year-long class, which took place largely through remote learning due to COVID protocols. Students learned the history of opera, exploring languages and musical styles that were previously unknown to them. The year concluded with a performance of “The Evening Prayer” from Hansel and Gretel, sung by the four students in both English and German.
“Caleb is the kind of student every teacher wants,” says Johnson. “He’s joyful, hardworking, funny, and so talented. But it’s how his family supports him that warms my heart. When Caleb wins, they all rejoice and I consider myself lucky to be a part of his village. I am so proud to teach voice to him but mainly to be someone in his life that gets to see him win. Go Caleb, go!”
Opera Memphis plans to turn Pretty Little Room into a full-length opera. (Photo: Natalie Eddings)
Pandemic or no pandemic, Opera Memphis is on the move. As we recently reported, the 65-year-old institution has received a $500,000 grant from The Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc. and a matching gift from Miriam and Charles Handorf, endowing the Handorf Company Artist Program. This is prompting the group to move from Clark Opera Memphis Center to a smaller space closer to the city’s center, but it will have aesthetic consequences as well.
According to General Director Ned Canty, “With this move, we’re freeing up some money so when we do a big show, we’re able to put that money not into HVAC for a building that is larger than we need, but into hiring a larger chorus.” As Canty describes it, the new headquarters will allow Opera Memphis to focus both on the shows themselves, and how Opera Memphis relates to its hometown.
“The pandemic forced us to take an innovative approach that we never would have had the courage to do otherwise,” says Canty. “It caused the board to say, ‘Let’s think about the role of our location in what we do.’ Where we do performances will not change with the move from our building. That building is just our office space, rehearsal space, and costume shop. So the pandemic opened up this new point of conversation.”
At the heart of that conversation is how Opera Memphis, and opera as an art form, can engage with the community. “We’re really trying to become a company where the ‘Memphis’ part of our name is at the center of what we do, rather than the ‘Opera’ part of our name,” explains Canty. “How can we engage with the city in a way that’s more thoughtful and intentional? We started actively experimenting eight years ago when we launched 30 Days of Opera [recurring months of free shows throughout the city]. Now, that work has grown a lot, and no longer takes place just during 30 Days of Opera.”
Ironically, one way to engage with the local community has been with out-of-town artists that the Handorf Company Artist Program helps to recruit. “A lot of artists are coming here from singing at Carnegie Hall or the San Francisco Opera or Chicago. These are folks who do not need to sing with us to pay their rent, but sing with us because they love art, and they know they’re going to be treated like long-lost relatives and friends. For a company that’s pretty far removed from places where a lot of opera singers live, it’s important that we create an experience that people want to come back to.”
A work now in progress epitomizes these strengths. “In 2018, we did a 20-minute version of Pretty Little Room, with music by Robert Patterson, a Memphis-based composer and musician. It’s based on the story of Alice and Freda, two young women in the 1890s who went to school together and fell in love. It was a time before the word ‘lesbian’ even existed. Alice was judged insane for believing that two women could live together as spouses, and was sent to the Bolivar asylum. Now, the two of them are buried near each other in Elmwood Cemetery. It’s a story that actually happened, that still resonates today.” Immediately after the short version premiered, they received funding to expand it.
Bringing it all back home, Opera Memphis is exploring connections with the Edge District as it develops Pretty Little Room. “In September of this year, we’re doing an orchestra workshop of this full-length opera. That will be in the Edge, no matter where the building we end up inhabiting will be. One thing that appeals to me about the Edge is the fact that so much new music was created there. It is the cradle of so much American music. The idea of working on this new opera, that will be exported to other cities and go out into the world, near where Elvis and others created this world-altering music, is incredible. So that is something we’re considering as we look at spaces in the Edge and in other neighborhoods. Either it will be a way of starting to build community in our new neighborhood, or it will be a way of building community there in addition to wherever our new neighborhood is going to be.”
30 Days of Opera on Beale St. (Credit: Opera Memphis)
Opera Memphis will soon offer more public performances throughout the year, expanding beyond its traditional schedule of three to four operas per year plus 30 Days of Opera, its month-long series of free shows throughout the city. The expansion is a result of a $500,000 grant from The Assisi Foundation of Memphis, Inc., and a dollar-for-dollar matching gift from Miriam and Charles Handorf.
The money will be used to endow the Handorf Company Artist Program, which brings emerging artists from across the country to Memphis to perform throughout the city. The opera company will continue to present its masterworks at venues like the Germantown Performing Arts Center, Playhouse on the Square, and the upcoming Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center, but Opera Memphis can now present more performances annually and in additional locations as part of its effort to bring opera to every ZIP code in Memphis.
“At Opera Memphis, we pride ourselves on making opera that belongs to everyone,” said Ned Canty, Opera Memphis’ general director. “We know everyone can’t come to us, so we’ve committed to bringing opera to them – to every ZIP code in Memphis, and that requires singers with talent, charisma, and drive. The Assisi Foundation and the Handorfs are ensuring that we can always have access to singers who are true citizen-artists.”
Expanded opera performances will range from large-scale staged productions, to intimate chamber recitals, to free pop-up events in public spaces across the city. These community-focused activities fuel Opera Memphis’ goal, removing as many of the barriers to experiencing opera as possible, a process that began with the launch of its nationally recognized 30 Days of Opera series in 2012.
“Opera Memphis is an essential resource, not only in presenting professional operatic performances, but also in enriching people’s lives through music,” said Jan Young, executive director of the Assisi Foundation. “We’ve been amazed by how they’ve increased accessibility to the arts, especially during the past year, and we look forward to all the new creative and inspiring performances Opera Memphis will bring in the months to come.”
In addition to more performances, part of Opera Memphis’ expansion plans includes the company moving from its current headquarters, the Clark Opera Memphis Center at 6745 Wolf River Parkway, to a new, more centralized location in Memphis that is solely dedicated to rehearsal space and small performances.
The Assisi Foundation grant matches the first half of a $1 million matching pledge made by the Handorf family in 2019. The remaining pledge is yet to be matched, and opportunities for naming rights to various aspects of the program are still available.
The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center Photos by Michael Donahue
It’s nice to see people picnicking on blankets on the grass again.
That was the scene on my first visit to The Grove, the outdoor venue at Germantown Performing Arts Center. I stopped by to take a photo and try some food at the Pok Cha food truck, which provided eats for the guests. I loved the food, but I also loved The Grove.
The Memphis Symphony Orchestra, directed by Robert Moody, was performing. I got to hear part of the Elgar cello concerto performed by Gabriel Martins. The weather was great. About 300 people were there. The facility is wonderful.
Gabriel Martins and Robert Moody at The Grove. (Photo by Michael Donahue)
And they’ve already had 105 events there since May 2020, says GPAC executive director Paul Chandler. “We started with events with 25 people. Incredible. We’re exhausted.”
The Opera Memphis production of Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg will be featured at 7 p.m. on June 12th. “It’s inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg-Antonin Scalia.”
They hit the ground running after The Grove was completed. “The construction was completed in May of 2020,” Chandler says. It was added as “an audience builder for the overall complex. A 1,200 capacity outdoor venue. Patrons gather on the TrueGreen outdoor lawn. There’s a VIP seating area, tables. Paid patrons bring their own folding chairs and blankets.”
Jorge Maldonado and Caroline King take in The Grove at GPAC. (Photo by Michael Donahue)
The Grove’s “big video wall” is something Chandler is particularly proud of. “That thing is really cool. It moves downstage and upstage. You can broadcast the performance that’s inside GPAC live outside. It also allows us to present films and movies. We’ve been doing films and movies with performing art-related movies since June 4th, of 2020.
“We have a new summer movie series.The next one is Friday, June 18th [at 7 p.m.]. Funny Girl. Made possible by Bellano Dental Health.”
The film series will run through August.
We Saw You
GPAC’s free event in The Grove is the Bluebird Happy Hour, which takes place between 5 and 8:30 p.m. every Thursday during June. “Live local performers for free. Cash bar and food trucks.”
And on June 26th, GPAC will present “Summer Soiree in the Grove,” Chandler says. “We hope to make it an annual event. It’s table seating for the first time inThe Grove.”
The Memphis Hepcats will perform. “We’re celebrating the great American songbook.”
For information on tickets and events, call the GPAC box office at 901-751-7500.
Leo Tolstoy, the 19th century Russian author who wrote War and Peace, said, “All art has this characteristic — it unites people.”
And so it does.
U. S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia were polar opposites politically. They might never have shared an opinion but they did share a love for the art of opera. Music united them in a very special way. Composer-librettist Derrick Wang has captured their friendship in an operatic comedy that will be performed this Saturday by Opera Memphis in The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center.
The piece was written in 2015, and Ginsburg and Scalia saw the performance together. Upon seeing the piece for the first time, Ginsburg remarked, “Scalia/Ginsburg is for me a dream come true.”
Handorf Company Artists Dane Suarez and Stephanie Doche perform the roles of Scalia and Ginsburg. They are joined for this production by Opera Memphis favorite Darren K. Stokes as the Commentator. Opera Memphis director of musical activities Cris Frisco will conduct the performance accompanied by a musical score performed by members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.
The piece has a central message of unity, highlighting the friendship between the title characters. A message to all of us that unlikely friendships can be formed with our adversaries. If that common denominator is an art form, so be it. More likely we’ll unite over food and cocktails. Grazing boxes from Feast & Graze, food truck fare, and cocktails will be available for purchase. You can also bring a picnic, beverages, chairs, and blankets to share with an adversary — or not. You be the judge.
Scalia/Ginsburg, presented by Opera Memphis in The Grove at Germantown Performing Arts Center, 1801 Exeter, Germantown, TN, Saturday, June 12, 7 p.m., $35.
