A(nother) Night at the Opera

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been writing up a storm here in Corralitos and thought we might take the day off from our usual Q&A format. I just got a batch of photos from the workshop for the Lincoln in the Bardo opera and am going to share some of them below…such an inspiring weekend that very much woke up in me a sense of 1) art is real and alive and essential and 2) it can be done. There’s the outer life (what’s happening in the world) and the inner life (the baseline state from which we make sense of the outer life) and this little Cincinnati immersion was beneficial to both lives, it felt like. If nothing else, to see powerful people interacting in a positive and hopeful way was a beautiful antidote to so much of what is going on in the public/political sphere.

Me, cracking a joke, apparently, at the opera. Well, why not? And getting a laugh from no less than….

…the wonderful Missy Mazzoli: genius composer, all-around good egg, fearless leader.

And this is Royce Vavrek, who wrote such a beautiful libretto that, when I first finished reading it, I thought: “How’d he do that? He didn’t leave anything out from the book.” Which, of course, he did, he had to, as that is his job.

The first public performance, Cincinnati, Ohio.

We had two Willie Lincolns for the workshop: Stefano Adams (actual kid) and Rachel Kobernick (actual adult). Both were wonderful.

Our generous (and discerning) Cincinnati audience.

The entire cast, with Missy at one end and Royce Vavrek, librettist, on the right. The workshop featured a combination of established artists and student-artists at the beginning of their careers. One of the thrills of the weekend was watching the mutual support and affection between the two groups. Inspiring!

This is the great Christina Goerke, who will be playing the Reverend Everly Thomas (whom I “played” in the audiobook). "Christine Goerke is the Brünnhilde of dreams, progessing from girlish enthusiasm to defiance to tragic acceptance, her soprano thrilling from top to bottom." (Dallas Morning News)

On the left, Paul Cremo, dramaturg at The Met. On the right, our conductor, Steven Osgood.

Steven, me, Missy.

Same crew with, at far right, Evans Mirageas, Harry T. Wilks artistic director of the Cincinnati Opera and our host for the workshop.

Terrence Chin-Loy, who played Thomas Havens, and Candace Williams, who played Mrs. Francis Hodge.

Justin Hopkins, who played Hans Vollman.

John Moore, as our Lincoln.

Tristan Tournaud, as Roger Bevins III

Christine, in the process of bringing down the house.

Steven Osgood, John Moore.

A happy crowd. Thank you, Cincinnati.