Electric instruments. Captivating burlesque dancers. Aerial artistry. These are some of the things that can make an unforgettable performance – but what about an opera?
Orphée et Eurydice is a retelling of the famous Greek myth: the musician Orpheus loses his lover Eurydice, and amid his grief, he receives one last chance to save her from an eternity spent in the underworld. Containing those features listed above and many other exciting surprises, the opera also stays true to its origins. It was so good that it won awards at the 39th annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards hosted in Toronto, Canada in late June.
Five of them, to be exact.
Joel Ivany, founder and artistic director of Against the Grain Theatre and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, says the performance was a creative, collaborative effort. After meeting Opera Columbus’ artistic director, Peggy Kriha Dye, the two quickly formulated ideas for Orphée that would bring the performance to life.
“I had never worked on a show in such a unique, but also efficient way,” Ivany says. “It was both extremely creative and felt very normal at the same time. The entire group in Columbus, Toronto, Banff and NYC worked so well together in achieving a very special product.”
Altogether, Orphée won five DORA awards for its performances in July: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Female Performance, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Choreography.
Dye, a former opera singer herself, says the show’s success was a defining moment for all parties involved with the project.
“We took so many production risks with our fingers crossed and it paid off,” she says. “The jumps we took with technology and casting now become a foundation we are building from. We received a lot of attention for this show and I feel it put us on (the) map.”
Dye says she’s most grateful to be able to work with such as talented young artists like Marcy Richardson, who is now an award-winning actress for her performance as Amour in Orphée.
“I was performing as an opera singing aerialist and burlesque performer in Nutcracker Rouge in New York with Company XIV when I was contacted for the role of Cupid,” Richardson says. “Usually my function as an opera singing aerialist is to bring an operatic element to a non-opera audience, and in Orphée, I got to bring the burlesque and aerial elements to an opera audience.”
Despite the short scenes, Richardson says playing Amour (also known as Cupid) has been an honor.
“Amour’s scene is my favorite part, because I really love to perform and cherish every moment of stage time,” Richardson says. “I love to make the most of it and the collective connection I feel to the audience, conductor and other singers on stage.”
Her work as an aerialist might have prepared her for dangling forty feet in the air, but nothing could prepare her for winning the award in Toronto.
“It was a bit of a shock and totally unexpected,” she says. “I was really honored to be nominated with so many talented heavy-hitters in the opera industry. I am thrilled (my performance) made an impact, and it was an exciting surprise to win. I will always cherish getting to bring this production to life in Columbus and Toronto.”
Ivany says taking risks was part of the show’s overall success. One of those risks was the inclusion of the show’s traditional score, coupled with new electric instruments, as well as a full choir.
“This show was groundbreaking for me in terms of ways that we can use technology in both a genre-breaking way and also in a traditional manner,” he says. “It truly is a landmark show for me, personally, in terms of where this beautiful art form can go.”
Most of the cast and crew have different personal interpretations of Orphée’s message, but they all agree that working on such an unconventional opera was exciting and worthwhile. For Ivany, he hopes the audience got just as much out of it as he and the rest of the cast did.
“I hope the audience realized that opera is not what they thought it was. I hope they learned to break all preconceptions and to open their minds to an art form that can not only speak to them but also to change them,” he says. “Opera and music can be incredibly healing and sometimes we just need to take a chance.”
To learn more about Opera Columbus and upcoming shows, visit www.operacolumbus.org.
Tessa Flattum is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
