Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 17, 2004|Volume 33, Number 3

Fast-paced opera 'thriller' will
make its American debut at Yale

Reality and fiction -- as well as film and live opera -- blend in "Buwalsky, A Road Opera," a two-act detective "thriller" receiving its American premiere Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 23-26, at the New Theater, 1156 Chapel St.

Presented by the Yale Repertory Theatre in association with Nine Circles Chamber Theatre and Opera Spanga, "Buwalsky, A Road Opera" tells the story of Buwalsky, the most unattractive man in the world, who falls in love with the most beautiful woman on Earth, the star of a TV thriller series.

While ugly, Buwalsky has hands that are an irresistible attraction to women. Repelled by his own power, he spends all of his time watching the soap-opera-like detective thriller "Lada," which is broadcast 24 hours a day. Smitten with its star of the same name, Buwalsky doesn't want to miss a single image of Lada. He identifies with her character, who is violated in episode after episode. As their worlds collide, romance blossoms but turns, eventually, to tragedy.

Mel Marvin composed the music and Yale alumnus Jonathan Levi '77 wrote the libretto for the new opera, which was created for Opera Spanga, a company in the Netherlands that has become known throughout Europe for its innovative work combining open-air settings with unconventional and starkly dramatic stagings. The opera is directed by Corina van Eijk, Opera Spanga's founder.

Marvin and Levi -- along with renowned concert violinist Gil Morgenstern -- founded the Nine Circles Chamber Theatre with the goal of combining the tools of theater with the intimacy of chamber music. Their opera, based on a screenplay by Irma Achten, is written in 10 scenes for five singers and small ensemble, and includes 10 orchestrated filmed interludes.

"Buwalsky, A Road Opera" premiered in the Netherlands earlier this summer. The Dutch publication Leeuwarder Courant wrote of the new work: "The title 'road opera' hits the nail on the head. The opera turns out to be a series of hair-raising pursuits full of witty inventions, taking us to hotels, motels and gas stations. The atmosphere is light and the tempo blinding. A well-thought-out balance between projection of films -- also on smaller screens at the sides of the backdrops -- and acting on stage enables the spectator to follow the action easily in spite of the lightning speed."

The cast of "Buwalsky, A Road Opera" is Peter Michailov, baritone, as Buwalsky; Klara Uleman, mezzo-soprano, as Lada; Charles Alves da Cruz, tenor, as Franco; Wil van der Meer, tenor, as Inspector; and Jasmin Besig, soprano, in various roles as Everywoman.

Director Corina van Eijk serves as the artistic director and manager of Opera Spanga. Since her 1989 Opera Spanga production of "L'Elisir d'Amore" opened in her back garden, the company has produced more than a dozen operas directed by van Eijk. Performances have taken place in cow pastures, townhouses, quarries and tents, as well as in opera houses around the Netherlands.

Levi, who earned critical acclaim for his 1992 novel "A Guide for the Perplexed," has had a career that combines writing, theater and music. He studied violin while a Yale undergraduate, and went on to perform and record with jazz and rock bands in the United States and Europe. While at Cambridge University on a Mellon Fellowship, he founded the literary magazine Granta. His short stories and articles have appeared in numerous major literary and news magazines. In 2000, he initiated a program to rebuild school libraries and reinvigorate the arts in New York City schools, and in 2003 he became the first director of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College.

Levi first joined forces with Morgenstern in a production of Dante's "Inferno" that was based on a translation of the classic poem by Robert Pinsky. Inspired by the collaboration of musicians, actors, authors, composers, directors and others, the two decided to create Nine Circles Chamber Theatre, named after the nine circles of Dante's "Inferno." Its first production, a contemporary chamber opera called "The Scrimshaw Violin," based on a short story by Levi, was presented at KGB, a New York literary salon, and at Lincoln Center's Clark Studio Theatre in 1999.

Nine Circles' productions since then have included "The Art of the Fugitive," about the life of the poet Paul Celan; "The Voice of the Violin," a presentation of musical storytelling; a reconceived version of the Saint-Saëns opera "When Samson Met Delilah" and "Guest From the Future," an opera based on the chance meeting between British philosopher and diplomat Isaiah Berlin and Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, for which Marvin wrote the score.

Marvin has had an extensive career as a composer, director and educator, with credits on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in regional theater and opera. He received a Tony Award nomination as a co-author of "Tintypes" and also wrote the music for the Broadway productions of "Yentl" and "A History of the American Film." He wrote the music for many of Mark Lamos' Shakespeare productions and was an associate artist at the Mark Taper Forum, writing the original music for the theater's "Angels in America." His best-known musicals are "Elmer Gantry" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which is entering its fourth sold-out season at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre.

The tour of Opera Spanga to the United States was funded in part by the Netherlands Cultural Fund.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $30; $10 for students and seniors. A rate of $20 is available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets may be purchased by phone at (203) 432-1234 and in person at the Yale Rep box office at 1120 Chapel St., at the corner of York St.

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