Passion and power are the HOT buttons
| • | The curtain rises |
Stories by Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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| The Dutchman (Gary Simpson, above) is doomed to roam the high seas for eternity in "The Flying Dutchman," the production that tonight opens the Hawaii Opera Theatre season. It also features Lori Phillips (below) as Senta. The Richard Wagner opera is the first of three to be staged in HOT's winter season.
Photos by Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser |
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| Senta's father, Daland (Kurt Link), center, is present as Senta, right, decides to marry the cursed Dutchman, left. |
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| Karen Tiller, the Hawaii Opera Theatre executive director, and Henry G. Akina, HOT general and artistic director, will direct the organization's offerings this season. Akina starts things off with Richard Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman," below, which will feature Gary Simpson in the title role. The production will be Simpson's sixth in Hawai'i. |
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HAWAII OPERA THEATRE Curtain times: 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. Sundays, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays; lone Thursday production of "Turandot" at 7:30 p.m. March 3 Blaisdell Concert Hall Season tickets: $81-$288 Individual tickets: $29, $42, $58, $75, $85, $100 Reservations: 596-7858 |
It's all about collaboration.
With "Passion, Purity and Power" as the theme for its 2005 season, the Hawaii Opera Theatre explores romantic intrigue, eternal hope and unsteady faith in its three-pronged winter season, launching tonight with Richard Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman," at Blaisdell Concert Hall.
It takes a director with experience and vision to help fill in the hues and textures, and a cast of sterling singers to voice the works of master composers. Of course, the Honolulu Symphony is aboard, to provide the music.
And this year, a revved-up effort is under way to lure younger opera fans — the future audience for this tradition-bound art form.
Heres a glimpse at opera in action — with a veteran director, a newbie and a leading man.
THE VETERAN
Henry G. Akina, HOT general and artistic director
Henry G. Akina is keeping the Hawaii Opera Theatre home-grown this season. All three productions are being directed by residents, not visiting directors.
"I'm doing two (the opening production, Richard Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman,' and the closing attraction, Giacomo Puccini's 'Turandot'), but I don't think I'll make this a huge practice," Akina said. "This is not the way to go. But there are several reasons this year."
For one thing, it costs less. It's prudent to use talent available, and HOT last year hired a new executive director, Karen Tiller, who has directing credentials and will helm the second production, Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah."
"We have two qualified in-house directors, and we need to make use of them," Akina said.
HOT also is trying to maintain a four-opera season, including one show during the summer.
"With a limited budget, we had to make certain adjustments in cost, to stage 'Pirates of Penzance' this summer," Akina said. The Gilbert and Sullivan classic follows a path set by 2004's first summer staging, "The Mikado."
Akina has never directed "Dutchman," but he assisted in a German production.
"Turandot," which he has mounted before, taps resources from his past; the sets will be from an Atlantic Opera production, the costumes from a German show he worked on.
And "Turandot" emerges as an HOT 'ohana homecoming, with home-bred troupers including Quinn Kelsey (Ping), Lea Woods Friedman (Liu), and local fave Warren Mok (Calaf) among the cast. "These are people who are engaged in careers in much bigger, prestigious houses," said Akina.
Wagner's "Dutchman" is being staged here for the first time in two decades, but Akina said it should not be intimidating.
"There are metaphysical issues, but the central issue is what happens when your dreams come true? Indeed, all operas this season look at the idea of dreams, visions and passions not understood by individuals," he said.
With a $3.2 million budget, including the summer show, HOT is trying to stabilize its growth, step by step.
"The overall goal is to be a true professional company in the middle of the Pacific," said Akina. "But ours is a small community, one that supports us, but our earned revenues don't allow for more than our current four-opera matrix."
In the summer of 2006, HOT plans to stage "The King and I," which Akina said "would enable opera singers to show their Broadway side."
A challenge, said Akina, is to remove the fear, particularly among younger people, that opera is not accessible. "We need to get rid of the fears," he said. "It's compelling ... nothing ventured, nothing gained."
THE NEWBIE
Karen Tiller, HOT executive director
Karen Tiller sees opportunity and growth for the Hawaii Opera Theatre in teens, twentysomethings and thirtysomethings.
"We've been working on partnerships, reaching to a younger and diverse audience," said Tiller, a thirtysomething herself, who will direct the opera company's second offering, "Susannah," starting Feb. 11. Rehearsals are already underway.
She's been dividing her time between administrative work, directorial chores and finding ways to interest young folks in coming to enjoy grand opera. And she loves it all.
"Those who haven't been, don't know opera," she said. "They think of excruciating high-pitched voices, but opera's a lot more these days. We have great ensemble casts, and supertitles, offering translations above the stage. And great sets and costumes.
"We have Opera for Everyone, a program exclusively for high school kids, who will see our Wednesday night dress rehearsals prior to each of our three shows. That's 1,800 kids per show, ranging in age from as young as 12 but mostly in high school," Tiller boasted.
"They get a full performance for a $6 ticket, and some kids return the next day for a backstage tour. We've been building fabulous relationships with participating schools. Hands down, this is the best education program I've seen."
Tiller said adding lighter summer productions is the best way to ease into grand opera.
" 'The Mikado' did huge business for us," Tiller said of last summer's show. "It helped generate a new audience this year."
To further the effort, Tiller said a partnership with the Honolulu Academy of Arts' ARTafterDARK — special packages for members/participants — will be in place for "Susannah." That's one of several bridges she's working on with community groups.
With about 15 years of experience in opera, Tiller said it's all she knows. "It's a breathing art form, though not often thought about in that way. Young people, once they discover opera, are blown away by the various art forms coming together. And often, the kids will know a song they've heard and liked, but not realized it originated in an opera."
THE SINGER
Gary Simpson, baritone, "The Flying Dutchman"
At 45, Gary Simpson finally is tackling the title role in Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman." Better late than never, he said.
"People have mentioned this part for me for years; I had a quasi-offer a couple of years ago to do it, but I didn't take it seriously," he said. It was a period when he mostly adhered to Italian music — the Verdi and the Puccini repertoire.
"I personally didn't know German music, I didn't listen much to it, much less sing it," he said.
This time around, he felt that the time was ripe.
"Somehow, my aesthetic and my personal life are at the right place now, and I really like this stuff."
He is enthusiastic about the challenge.
"It's not so much catching up; but when you see other people and their confidence in it, you have to give it a try," he said. "I've discovered through the rehearsal process that this is really good stuff. Not as high as Verdi, where I did everything I could to sing the high notes, where my cachet was. But opera is not only about singing high notes."
This show unites Simpson with some old partners.
"Henry (Akina) and I go back a good number of years; this is my sixth production here," he said. "Mark (Flint) was conductor of the first show I did here 10 years ago, 'Il Trovatore'; he and my wife go back even longer, developing a friendship outside of the music, and he's conducting 'Dutchman.' "
"Dutchman" also pairs him with Kurt Link, who has done the Daland role with various other baritones. "I have great respect for him and he's a real treasure for me." And with Beebe Freitas, the rehearsal pianist, involved, "I'm insulated with good friends," Simpson said.
He views the experience as "an awesome undertaking; I've worked hard at trying to understand what's at play, sitting in my car and going through the words over and over again. It's like when somebody asks how the centipede walks — it's all there on tape, in the music, so it's a matter of just delivering what's there."
And this opera, he said, "has got some real tunes in it. Really. I do a lot of work in Seattle, doing 'The Ring' (which rotates the Wagner repertoire) but I was just 'involved.' But with 'Dutchman,' it's music drama that's evolved."
He appeared here last year as the evil Iago in "Otello."
Opera work takes Simpson all over the country, even the world.
"Opera is not a movie that makes a lot of money; it's not a sports thing, where there's a whole lotta income," said Simpson. "At its simplest, it's ultimately just a story — about relationships, no matter how big or small."
He recalled a scene from the film "Notting Hill," where the Julia Roberts character turns to the Hugh Grant character and mentions a normal relationship, and says it's much like "Dutchman": "It's just a girl talking to a boy; similarly, while you're on stage, you're just telling a story, and all the preparation you put inside yourself helps you tell that story."
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.
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"The Flying Dutchman"
Today, Sunday, Tuesday
About a cursed sea captain, condemned to roam the high seas for eternity, who captivates the heart of a young maiden; she vows to break the curse with her devotion. Sacrificial love yields the promise of freedom.
- Cast: Gary Simpson as the Dutchman, Lori Phillips as Senta, Kurt Link as Daland, Randolph Locke as Erik, Les Ceballos as the Steersman.
- Director: Henry G. Akina.
- Conductor: Mark Flint.
- Scenic/lighting director: Peter Dean Beck.
"Susannah"
Feb. 11, 13, 15
About a charismatic and itinerant preacher, driven by lust and ambition, who seduces the young and vulnerable Susannah. He sacrifices her redemption to the unforgiving social justice of a Tennessee mountain town.
- Cast: Kelly Cae Hogan as Susannah, Mark McCrory as Blitch, Jon Garrison as Sam, Thomas Trotter as Lil Bat, Patrick McNichols as Elder McLean, Dorothy Byrne as Mrs. McLean, Erik Haines as Elder Gleason, Mary Chesnut Hicks as Mrs. Gleason, John Mount as Elder Ott, Louise South as Mrs. Ott, Willy Falk as Elder Hayes.
- Director: Karen Tiller.
- Conductor: Fred Scott.
- Scenic/lighting director: Peter Dean Beck.
"Turandot"
Feb. 25, 27, March 1, 3
About Princess Turandot, a cruel, cold beauty who rules the ancient city of Peking. Death is the sentence for suitors who fail to solve the three riddles to win her hand. A mysterious stranger, who has his own secret, is bound to melt her icy heart and marry her.
- Cast: Karen Huffstodt as Turandot, Warren Mok as Calaf, Lea Woods Friedman as Liu, Sun Yu as Timur, Quinn Kelsey as Ping/Mandarin, Jim Price as Pang, Jeremy Blossey as Pong, Larry Paxton as the Emperor Altum.
- Director: Henry G. Akina.
- Conductor: Tyrone Paterson.
- Lighting/scenic director: Peter Dean Beck.
