Last night I returned to the theatre for the first time since the pandemic started I think. That is not to say I haven't seen performances - I have been to the Dakota, and have seen my share of Burlesque shows around town. I have also rehearsed, performed, and filmed during this pandemic. However, this was the first proper theatre experience.
What better way to start my entry back into the world then an evening of short musical pieces presented by the always fascinating, and fun Journey North Opera Company. They are presenting three different, yet thematically dark, works at Mounds Theatre in St. Paul. Three works by three different composers, all with a sense of mystery, and darkness.
When I write darkness, don't think depressing, or scary (necessarily). The first work was a song cycle entitled Nattsanger (Nightsongs) composed by local composer Abbie Betinis, with poems by Rolf Jacobsen, and directed by Amanda Weis. The songs were sung in Norwegian, with English captions projected above the stage. This work was gorgeous. The songs were sung by soprano Tracey Engleman, accompanied by Jared Miller (resident piano artist), clarinetest Jennifer Gerth, and aerialist Jolie Meshbesher. The lyrics were projected, along with some beautiful backgrounds, through some of this work. Engleman started off-stage, walking through the audience to a settee set center stage. Her voice was warm and welcoming, and lyrics evocative of those evening thoughts we all have. She was joined by Meshbesher, first on the silks, and moving to a lyra. At this time Engleman went and stood near the piano and a music stand, and the projections dropped out for a bit. While I did not catch all the poetic lyrics, I still got a good sense of them from the mood of the music, the vocal line, and the aerial visuals. Parts of the music reminded me of Britten - for some reason the Sea Interlude from Peter Grimes is the image that came to mind. Modern melodic music in the art song style is my point of reference. I'm sure you will have your own, and we will both agree it was beautiful.
After a brief pause to change scenery, we were shown three scenes from Missy Mazzoli's opera Proving Up, with lyrics by Royce Vavrek. This has been on the docket for Journey North since 2020, and is finally having it's MN premiere in November at the Southern Theatre. Each scene was an aria from the opera which gave a good sense and feel of the work. I'm super excited to see this as it felt and sounded mysterious, dark, and hopeful. The first aria "Queer Little Trees" was sung by baritone Joel Mathias as Pa Zegner, the second "Strange Dreams" by soprano Amy Wolf as Ma Zegner, and the third "Miles and Nore" by tenor David Walton as Miles Zegner. They were accompanied by Jared Miller, violinist Rômulo Sprung, and violist Niloofar Sohi. I wont' say much about each aria beyond that they were perfectly cast and directed by Amanda Carlson. The music was modern and melodic, tense, and filled with drama. Looking at my notes here are the words I wrote down - sod house, glass window - maybe the first for these people, difficulty of farming, alcoholism, death. Come November I will see how this all fits together. Though lyrically the first two arias tended to be dark, the last was full of hope. Yet even there, Walton sang about a rain storm, and ended by standing by his horse, and looking like he saw something. So hopeful with a hint of dark?
The last work of the evening was Daughters of the Bloody Duke by Jake Runestad, lyrics by David Johnston, also directed by Weis. Accompanied by the hard working Jared Miller on piano, lyric soprano Annie Tillotson played Margo Craven, David Walton sang Kent De Quincey, Claudia Craven was sung by soprano Colleen Meier, mezzo-soprano Sahar Hassan sang the Countess Eleanor Craven, while off-stage voices were provided by Tracey Engleman, and Joel Mathias. A funny and dark work about the 40 daughters of the Bloody Duke Craven marrying the 40 sons of De Quincey, with Duke Craven's request that the husbands all are killed on the wedding night. Unlike the first two works, there were no projected captions for this piece, and, like the Mazzoli work, there was no need. The words were clearly sung, and the music was melodic in what I think of as more musical theatre melodic - my theatre background appears - think Sondheim, Guettel, LaChiusa instead of Herman. A very funny and sweet work that provided a nice end to a truly lovely evening. Like the first work gives a feel of a night of thought ending with the morning light, the evening felt similar.
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