In the vein of Hamilton along comes JQA.It is not a musical, though there is occasional contemporary music with a back beat that lightens the pace, but it is an historical piece based on the life of John Quincy Adams. Its playwright and director, Aaron Posner, writes that it is “not to be taken as accurate in any way”, though Adam’s achievements and rise to power, as well as his astonishing career in American politics are well known. Think of it as a fictionalized version of the room(s) where it happened.
(l-R) Eric Hissom and Joshua David Robinson ~ Photo credit C. Stanley Photography.
Naturally, we don’t know what was actually said in conversations between Adams and his mother, Abigail, his wife, Louisa, or George Washington, but Posner imagines his verbal fencing with two racist Southerners, Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay, plus his meeting with Abraham Lincoln and the forthright abolitionist Frederick Douglass – all of whom are characters in this play and with whom we know Adams had interactions. And although we cannot be privy to his thinking on both national and international affairs, we do know his influence on the American political landscape. Posner advises, “This play is not to be trusted as accurate in any way.”
(L-r) Joshua David Robinson, Jacqueline Correa, Phyllis Kay and Eric Hissom ~ Photo credit C. Stanley Photography.
The play opens with a scene between John Adams, his illustrious father and second American President asking the child, “What is government?” When young John cannot answer such a broad question, Adams, Sr. tells him that it’s about self-management. “Individuals require government. Civilizations need laws and codes to keep us safe.” Thus, begins the boy’s political education.
(l-r) Phyllis Kay and Eric Hissom ~ Photo credit C. Stanley Photography.
Through vignettes, we follow Adams’ fraught marriage in 1797 to Louisa, a foreigner, and his early diplomatic career as Minister to the Netherlands and Prussia, followed by his election as Massachusetts State Senator, Minister to Russia and the UK, Secretary of State under Monroe, nine terms as Congressman, up till his single term as the 6th POTUS. Chunks of his life are highlighted in different settings in Massachusetts and Washington, DC, where his philosophies are explored and challenged according to his history in government legislation and his relations with his family and political peers.
The script is written in modern-day vernacular and the parallels to our country’s current polarization are stunning, such as when Clay advises him, “Give the people something to fear. Then you can take away their liberties.” Adams’ answer, “I will provide hope.” We are still fighting this battle of fearmongering as a tactic to control the citizenry as opposed to governing by hope and inspiration. JQA is part of Arena Stage’s “Power Plays” initiative.
(l – R) Joshua David Robinson and Phyllis Kay ~ Photo credit C. Stanley Photography.
The staging is brilliant. Characters weave in and out of Adams’ fascinating life portrayed by two male and two female actors who assume all the roles with each actor taking a turn as JQA. I particularly enjoyed Posner’s clever choice of casting African American actor Joshua David Robinson to portray both Frederick Douglas and Andrew Jackson. Touché!
With Jacqueline Correa as JQA/Louisa Adams/Abraham Lincoln; Eric Hissom as JQA/John Adams/Henry Clay; Phyllis Kay as JQA/George Washington/Abigail Adams/Louisa Adams and Joshua David Robinson as JQA/Andrew Jackson/Frederick Douglass.
Set Design by Meghan Raham; Costume Design by Helen Huang; Lighting Design by Jesse Belsky and Sound Design by Karin Graybash. Jocelyn Clarke, Dramaturg.
Through April 14th at Arena Stage – 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
Under the direction of Garnett Bruce, Faust becomes idyllically condensed. You didn’t really expect the 21-hour, five-act version, did you? This one is three and a half hours with two 20-minute intermissions between acts. Premiering in 1859, Charles Gounod’s opera debuted in the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. It derives from Goethe’s story of the man who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the supernatural powers that would give him love and youth. As for Méphistophèlés, he was all too thrilled to grant him the ultimate wish on the condition he serve him in Hell. Unbeknownst to our soul-seller, Satan is determined to make it a two-fer.
Cursed by her brother, Marguerite (soprano Erin Wall) prays for forgiveness after his death. Photo credit Scott Suchman
First, he lures in Faust, then he takes his beloved Marguerite in the bargain. It was an easy plan as Marguerite’s brother, Valentin, goes off to war, and can no longer protect her virtue.
Faust (tenor Marcelo Puente) makes a deal with the devil for wealth and beauty. Photo credit Scott Suchman
Audiences loved it. It dovetailed neatly into their fondness for Byron and Shakespeare and was the just right fit for the ‘boulevard’ theaters of the 19th century Romantic period. Though these moralistic productions were considered ‘low-brow’ recreation, the excitement of witnessing stage magic, then called, ‘phantasmagoria’, was as addictive as the schadenfreude of seeing a fallen woman get her comeuppance.
Mephistopheles (bass Raymond Aceto) predicts Marthe’s (mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel) future. Photo credit Scott Suchman.
Gounod’s opera blends inspired elements of comedy, tragedy, and passion with a hefty dose of evil incarnate. Comedy first arrives when, as the despondent Faust is about to end his loveless life with a chalice of poison, Satan appears in a fitted doublet and feathered hat looking like Sir Walter Raleigh and says to Faust, “Is my attire not to your taste?”. Doctor Faust, dressed in a manner befitting Copernicus, doubts his powers given his natty attire. Not the sort of challenge one should present to the Devil himself. Ah, well, Faust accepts the terms and the deal is on.
The devil (Raymond Aceto) looks on as Faust (Marcelo Puente) woos Marguerite (Erin Wall). Photo credit Scott Suchman.
There are many exceptional arias – the one between Faust and Marguerite is legendary. It’s the moment when she decides he really, really loves her by plucking the petals off a flower – as in ‘He loves me. He loves me not.’ That’s conveniently after she discovers the casket of lavish jewels he has gifted to her. After Satan’s urging to be more manly in his love-making, ‘Avant de quitter ces lieux’ marks the moment when she accepts his love. Here is where she loses her moral compass. Diamonds can do that to a girl. You could be blindfolded and skip the projected English surtitles, and still hear how Goudnod’s music reflects the disparate emotions throughout the libretto. Gounod was a pioneer in these reminiscence motifs and later composers borrowed his techniques.
Valetin (baritone Joshua Hopkins), a young soldier, prepares for war and hopes God will protect his sister during his absence. Photo credit Scott Suchman
Earl Staley’s gorgeous scenic design and costumes are storybook perfect. From Faust’s study bathed in red to the villagers celebrating harvest time at a fair with a vignette of Adam and Eve, a juggling Pulchinello, giant masks on stakes, and acrobats tumbling across the stage cheer on the soldiers as they go off to war. Later an evocative garden scene beside Marguerite’s Tudor cottage windows becomes golden-lit by the glowing hearth as the season changes and snow falls. In the end when Marguerite faces her Maker to beg for forgiveness for her wanton and murderous ways, the stage becomes a massive church, Chartres-blue and featuring a massive cross. If that wouldn’t put the fear of God in audiences back in the day, what else would?
The townspeople rejoice with wine and dance celebrations. Photo credit Scott Suchman
Utterly magical and highly recommended.
Featuring Marcelo Puente as Faust; Erin Wall as Marguerite; Raymond Aceto as Méphistophèlés; Samson McCrady as Wagner; Joshua Hopkins as Valentin; Allegra De Vita as Siébel and Deborah Nansteel as Dame Marthe. With The Washington National Opera Chorus and Supernumeraries.
Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. The Washington National Opera Orchestra conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson; and Lighting Design by Michael Clark.
Performances are on March 22nd, 24th matinee, 27th and 30th 2019.
FaustRelated Programs and Events
Opera Insights before every performance, Kennedy Center Opera House
WNO presents a free pre-performance education event prior to every performance of Faust. These events begin one hour prior to curtain in the Opera House and last approximately 20–25 minutes. Musicologist Saul Lilienstein’s Opera Insights on Monday, March 18, begins at 5:45 p.m. and lasts approximately 35-40 minutes.
Musical Preview ofFaustandEugene Onegin
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 6 p.m., Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
Enjoy a free preview of musical highlights from two of opera’s grandest works: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Gounod’s Faust, running concurrently this March. This special program features the vocal talents of WNO’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program performing each opera’s most famous works.
Guided Rehearsal: Faust
Friday, March 8, 2019 at 7 p.m., Kennedy Center Opera House
Explore the Arts.Audience members get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a world-class opera production through this unique open rehearsal experience. Using audio headsets, attendees can learn more about the production via expert commentary while watching a rehearsal with piano and the professional cast. Visit the WNO website for ticket information.
Artist Q&As:Faust
Monday, March 18, and Sunday, March 24, post-performance, Kennedy Center Opera House
Following the performances on Monday, March 18 and Sunday, March 24 in the Kennedy Center Opera House, please join WNO artistic staff for a wide-ranging discussion with the artists for an inside scoop on the production. These events are free to patrons presenting a Faust ticket and begin immediately after the performance.
“Touch Cart” and Audience Experience
Friday, March 22, and Wednesday, March 27, pre-performance, Kennedy Center Grand Foyer
WNO’s Touch Cart will be open one hour prior to the performances on Friday, March 22 and Wednesday, March 27 to experience first-hand real props and costume items featured in the opera. WNO’s Education Department invites patrons to come early to touch and explore items from the production.
Plunged into anarchy in an apocalyptic scenario in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, Layla struggles to make sense of what appears to be the end of her life. As a world-famous art conservationist, she had been spending her days in an art museum cataloguing the most important things in the world – statues, relics, books, paintings, music, photos and more – in case of just such a catastrophe.
Holly Twyford in Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity ~ Photo credit C Stanley Photography
Now rubble and ruin lie all around her and she is trapped in this museum-turned-prison in a city under constant barrage. Layla is despondent over the destruction of the precious and intangible heritage of our humanity by an enemy who seeks to build a new world order.
Felicia Curry, Yesenia Iglesias, and Holly Twyford in Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity ~ Photo credit C Stanley Photographer
Crippled with injuries inflicted by her ruthless guard, Mitra, she shares her chamber with a young Muslim woman, Nadia, who silently tends to her wounds. Mitra demands Layla restore a damaged Rembrandt painting. She refuses, pondering what is left of her life without her father and daughter and what in the world is worth saving. Each woman has seen their loved ones slaughtered and each is tethered to one another by the commonality of deep loss. Incongruously, they are united by the brutality of war and its aftermath. Will the women escape the fate imposed on them by the soldiers’ bloodthirsty struggle for power? Will art? And if so, how?
DC playwright Heather McDonald’s world premiere Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity asks of us where the world would be without beauty, without art or music, and without nations who hold culture and civilization in high esteem. How did we get here, and why, are the questions posed by this dystopian drama.
Set to the haunting strains of opera and against the constant volley of bullets and explosives, Zachary G. Borovay’s projections offer a realistic sense of being front and center on the battlefield. Synched to James Bigbee Garver’s sounds of war, and James Kronzer’s scenic design of broken statues and crumbling buildings, it gives us a bird’s eye view of the confusion and misery experienced by those who suffer the consequences.
Holly Twyford and Yesenia Iglesias in Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity ~ Photo credit C Stanley Photographer
Fierce performances by two beloved Helen Hayes Award-winning actors, Holly Twyford as Layla and Felicia Curry as Mitra, and Yesenia Iglesias as Nadia. This is a thinking person’s play – edgy, dark and important – a play I’d expect to see produced by the more politically-minded Mosaic Theater, though I am more than excited to see Artistic Director Eric Schaefer tackle such profound subject matter with the brilliant and internationally-respected director, Nadia Tass.
Costume Design by Kathleen Geldard, Lighting Design by Sherrice Mojgani, Sound Design & Original Music by James Bigbee Garver, and Fight Choreography by Robb Hunter.
Highly recommended.
Through April 7th in the ARK Theatre at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.
Running concurrently with the exhibition First Chefs: Fame and Foodways from Britain to the Americas, is Confection. Commissioned by the Folger Theatre, it is a delightful 17th century romp from the critically-acclaimed Third Rail Projects. This world premiere production is specifically designed to dovetail neatly with playwright Jessica Swale’s Nell Gwynn, which story is also set in the 17th century.
Third Rail Projects were taken by Brittany Diliberto
Third Rail Projects performs around the world in site-specific settings and, from what I was told by a woman who came down from New York just for opening night, the ticket prices in NYC are nearly triple and as scarce as hen’s teeth. Described by the creators as a multi-sensory dance and theater performance and defined as immersive/experiential theater, it is held in the private Paster and Sedgewick-Bond Reading Rooms, areas of the Library that are usually off-limits.
The backdrop is an 17th century banquet in all its opulent and decadent splendor – no you don’t get to dine on swans, peacocks, croquembouche and other referenced delicacies – but you will experience the lusty performances of a troupe garbed in period finery expressing their amours for food (and their dining partners!) through dance and mime. Overeating is expressed with humor as are the jealousies and erotic fantasies of the royal courtiers.
Third Rail Projects were taken by Brittany Diliberto
You will learn that there really were such preparations as four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie and such things as the weight, or more specifically the measure, of a man in pounds of sugar. These luxuries came at a great price to those who had to produce these extravagant fêtes, exposing the great disparity between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. You will experience what it must have been like to watch from afar as the lower classes were had to observe these events from the upper galleries.
Third Rail Projects were taken by Brittany Diliberto
Banquets during this period were so lavish and lengthy that they went on for days with guests passing out or vomiting only to start all over again. The troupe of five also reveal some of the theories and philosophies that were popular in those times – especially the sharing of food and the definition of manliness.
Guests, or should I say participants because you will be led in small groups by costumed guides, will wend their way through velvet curtains to candlelit rooms. There you will see indescribable displays of pastries, watch Baroque period dancing, or hear challenging debates. You may even be encouraged to make decisions as a group. Some of the dances are passionate and fantasy-filled, others are celebratory and playful. In all, it is the ultimate grande bouffe with you as witness.
Third Rail Projects were taken by Brittany Diliberto
Be sure to leave plenty of time beforehand to tour the First Chefs exhibit and put you in the mood for this splendid evening. And remember to eat before you go. The feast is imaginary.
Immensely entertaining.
Performed by Elizabeth Carena, Alberto Denis, Joshua Dutton-Reaver, Justin Lynch and Marissa Nielsen-Pincus. Written, conceived, directed and choreographed by Zach Morris; Co-directed by Tom Pearson; Artistic Director, Jennine Willett; Sound Design by Sean Hagerty; Costume Design by Karen Young; and Scenic Design by Dan Daly.
Through March 24th at the Folger Theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information call 202 544.7077 or visit www.Folger.edu/theatre. www.ThirdRailProjects.com
Anna Nechaeva is wowing audiences in her Washington National Opera debut. Nechaeva, in the role of Tatiana, hails from Moscow as do several of her leading cast members – Alexey Dolgov as Lensky of the dulcet tenor voice, Igor Glovatenko as Onegin, and Elena Zaremba as Madame Larina. So, it was no surprise that the theater was crawling with Russians who were thrilled to pieces at seeing so much extraordinary Russian talent on an American stage. A few Americans completed the leads with mezzo-sopranoVictoria Livengood as Filippyevna, and the marvelous mezzo-soprano Lindsay Ammann in the role of Olga.
Bolshoi opera star Anna Nechaeva makes her US debut ~ Photo credit Scott Suchman
Eugene Onegin, with its beautiful harmonies, dissonance and emotional fervor, hasn’t been produced at the Kennedy Center in 30 years. It was an unusual opera for its time, composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and based on one of the great works of Russian literature by Alexander Pushkin. In 19th C Russia operas predominantly followed the European model, restricting productions to Italian operas. This was in the early days of Romanticism that had derived from Western civilization. Later Realism appeared which championed creativity and the Arts. Tchaikovsky blended the two to create a new dynamic that had never been heard.
Bolshoi Opera star Igor Golovatenko makes his US debut ~ Photo credit Scott Suchman
You can feel the great emotionalism in this opera. These are real people in real life situations. The stories are familiar and as close to a soap opera as you might imagine, yet they are secondary to the universal emotions of the characters, many of whom reflect the lives of both Tchaikovsky and Pushkin who was considered the greatest Russian poet. Pushkin himself died in a duel as does Lensky and the exquisite aria before the duel references Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
The set design is the original minimalistic 1990’s set from the Metropolitan Opera. Changing lighting reflects the time of day, birch trees give a nod to an iconic Russian tree, and autumn leaves show it is harvest season. The dramatic opening in which Onegin appears to be floating above the stage in a pool of white light against a deep blue background, brings to mind the surrealistic paintings of René Magritte or Salvador Dali. The lights soon brighten to a golden hue to reveal a stage covered with falling autumn leaves that show the older ladies singing of their satisfaction in the pleasures of domesticity. “Heaven sends us habit in place of happiness,” they agree.
Filippyevna (Victoria Livengood) and Madame Larina (Elena Zaremba) share memories of their youth ~ Photo Scott Suchman
As the sisters, Olga and Tatiana, vie for Onegin’s love, Tatiana breaks down and writes him a letter pouring out her love for him. This is one of her most glorious arias, as she vacillates between pure love and the torment of a love that cannot be requited. Tchaikovsky’s music so incredibly portrays this duality of emotions. By incorporating Russian folk music against the grand themes of royal cotillions and military-inspired nationalistic music, he captures the emotional emptiness of high society.
Lensky (tenor Alexey Dolgov) confesses his love to Olga (mezzo-soprano Lindsay Ammann) ~ Photo credit Scott Suchman
Three artists from the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program perform. They are Samuel J. Weiser as Captain; Joshua Blue as Monsieur Triquet; and Joshua Conyers as Zaretsky. Eric Halfvarson plays Gremin. With the Washington National Opera Orchestra, WNO Chorus, and WNO dancers.
Peasants delight after harvesting fall crops ~ Photo credit Scott Suchman
Directed by Peter McClintock with Original Production by Robert Carson. Conducted by Robert Trevino in his WNO debut. Trevino will go on to be Principal Conductor of Malmö Symphony Orchestra. Lighting Design by ChristineBinder; Set and Costume Design by Michael Levine; Choreography by Serge Bennathan; and Hair and Makeup by David C. Zimmerman.
Highly recommended.
Performances are March 17th matinee, March 20th, 23rd, 25th and 29th 2019. In the Opera House at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
