Volume 24 Issue 3 - November 2018

oute we were charged by the fuel of the political nature of what was
going on in the world. We looked back at who Handel was and how
he gave a performance of his Messiah at the Foundling Hospital in
London in 1750 where all the proceeds went to keeping the hospital
going. We saw he had an intention behind his genius to do good as
well.” Indeed, a BBC documentary states that the 1750 performance of
Messiah was “the first ever secular charity benefit concert in which art
and philanthropy came together to raise money from the haves for the
have-nots.”
Ivany continues: “We saw that Handel was a composer who had
social responsibility in his heart that obviously comes across through
his music, whether it was his Messiah, or Jephtha or Alcina. He wrote
these very complex characters of people who were being persecuted
and what they would sing about their plight. And so Handel seems in
some ways a very fitting composer for our subject. Last year we sat the
singers just around a table and asked what arias speak to you and why
and what contemporary stories do you find that speak to you. And
then we married those two together and tested it in version 1 and saw
what worked.”
Ivany has lots of experience in past AtG shows of writing a new
libretto to pre-existing music as AtG’s version of Puccini’s La Bohème
(2011) and Mozart’s Figaro’s Wedding (2013),Uncle John (2014) and A
Little Too Cosy (2015). Ivany explains how this process works when
now he has to add substantially different content to an aria as well
as translating it: “With BOUND v. 2 and working with the previous
version and with Kevin as well, a lot of the music has come first.
He’s found this beautiful melody and we can tweak it as we find the
text, but it’s not the traditional way that this is done and so he’s been
inspired by themes. For example, he told me, ‘Here is a portion where
Miriam [Khalil]’s character sympathizes with the refugee crisis and
I don’t know how you can make that work.’ But I’m able to find the
arc in what he’s written and match that story with it. I think this only
makes the music much more powerful. Obviously in opera traditionally
the text comes first, but in opera it’s the music more than the text
which moves you.”
Of the production in general, Ivany says: “I’m really curious to
know how this opera will resonate with people knowing that it was
primarily driven by the music. In the third version I intend not to act
as stage director, which will be a big leap of faith for me because I’m
used to uber-controlling everything. It’s a big step for our company.
It was a test and it’s becoming more of a turning point. I think that’s
healthy for the company and for these types of unique shows that are
a mashup of old and new, old stories and new stories, old music and
new text.”
The third and final version of BOUND will be AtG’s feature production
in 2020 and the world premiere of this opera, Ivany explains. “We
have intentionally been taking a step-by-step process to culminate in
what we anticipate as an immersive experience for both the audience
and performers. It’s hard to push repeat on certain things and it turns
our hair grey in terms of each time we do a new thing, but it keeps us
creative.”
As one might guess from AtG’s past projects, Ivany is keen to
demolish the notion that opera is an elitist genre: “I don’t consider
myself elite. In fact I consider myself very un-elite. So I think
that opera is for everyone who is willing to be open to it and not
just a specific group of people. We hope that we can show that in
our works.”
BOUND v. 2 is performed as a workshop concert and runs
November 19, 20 and 21 at the Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. W. The
singers are soprano Miriam Khalil, countertenor David Trudgen,
tenor Andrew Haji and baritone Justin Welsh as the cast of detainees
with actor Martha Burns as the voice of the State. The music includes
stylings by modular electronic artist Acote. AtG founding member
and music director, Topher Mokrzewksi, conducts.
Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera and
theatre. He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com.
Beat by Beat | Music Theatre
A Musical Theatre
Cookbook
JENNIFER PARR
Before getting down to sampling November's wares, a couple of
highlights from October are still reverberating in my thoughts.
Djanet Sear’s searing and award-winning play Harlem Duet,
while not really music theatre, is yet described by the playwright as a
“rhapsodic blues tragedy.” As seen in the powerful production recently
at Tarragon Theatre directed by the playwright, and with subtle live
instrumental music accompanying and underscoring the action, it
uses the form and structure of the blues to give shape and resonance
to a reworking of Shakespeare’s Othello from the point of view of his
first love, Billie, exploring the emotional and social politics of race and
gender over three time periods.
Unequivocally grounded in the music theatre scene, the Canadian
Musical Theatre Project’s Festival of New Musicals at Toronto’s CAA
Theatre (as well as at Sheridan College where it is based) gave audiences
the fun and excitement of being witness to the first public steps
being taken by four new musicals currently in progress, promising
great things to come both in terms of top-notch new musical shows
and a whole new generation of excellent musical theatre performers.
November runs the gamut of riches of what we refer to as “Music
Theatre,” offering an interesting chance to compare the recipes of
its various subgenres. Music is always the essential ingredient in
the recipe however much it may vary in style, tone, period or character.
Story is also essential but after that the proportion of the other
ingredients can vary extremely. Beyond the words of a libretto or book
of a musical, how much will spoken dialogue, soliloquy, bridging-text
or song lyrics be used in each creation? How much movement will a
director decide on, or a project dictate, from simple or stylized staging
to complex detailed choreography?
Poppins: Starting with established recipes this coming month,
Young People’s Theatre is presenting the Broadway hit Mary Poppins
(November 5 to January 6) which uses the traditional Broadway
musical recipe of spoken dialogue, melodic show tunes and theatrical
choreography to tell a beloved children’s story in a version shortened
to appeal to families and younger children. An annual tradition,
and always well received, the show this year will be directed by Thom
Allison and choreographed by Kerry Gage.
Ain’t Too Proud: Over at the Princess of Wales Theatre until
November 17, Des McAnuff’s new “jukebox musical” Ain’t Too Proud
has taken up residence for a while on the long out-of-town road to
Broadway. A thrilling recreation of the life story of “Motown’s greatest
group” the Temptations – with superb singing and dancing – the book
and structure are still undergoing changes. This gives us a fascinating
glimpse into the development of what may become another monster
hit for the director following his other award-winning jukebox smash,
Jersey Boys. This musical format has an obvious appeal for fans
but also unique obstacles to overcome: how do you package all the
biographical information in a way that is interesting for an audience
without it becoming just a linear storyline peppered with songs? How
can you best interweave the songs into the story so that they are more
than just stepping stones along the way? The secret seems to be identifying
an underlying theme that can dictate an arc for the show that
can include all the top hits and at the same time provide a satisfying
journey for the audience to share. From the performance I saw, Ain’t
Too Proud is close, with an unstoppable cast and a thrilling first act.
If the second act can be given a tighter, bolder shape and the hintedat
themes strengthened, this could turn into not just a fun show but a
powerful one, as well.
30 | November 2018 thewholenote.com