Angels in America: Fort Worth, Take a Bow
by Steve-ODoes controversial, challenging art have a place in Fort Worth? Based on Friday’s night’s debut of Angels in America at the Fort Worth Opera Festival, it would seem so.
Some people like it, some people aren’t so sure. But people are talking. And that’s just within opera circles.
At the Scott Theater on Friday, it was almost a sellout. One of my friends with the opera told me that the house was 94 percent sold, and only a few singles remained. Although Lawson Taitte at the D(a)MN noted in his review that he noticed a few people didn’t return for the second act, that wasn’t what I noticed and a few other people I spoke with after the performance didn’t notice that either.
But whether people walked out or not has nothing to do with the quality of the performance. I saw people walk out of The Turn of the Screw in 2003, and that was considered one of the best opera performances in the country that year.
And like Turn of the Screw, Angels won’t appeal to everyone. I am aware that an atonal contemporary opera featuring gay themes, Marxist imagery and a few shots at Reagan isn’t going to be a Red Stater’s idea of a great Friday night, and I’m OK with that. At the other end of the spectrum, some in the audience who were familiar with and loved all six or so hours of Tony Kushner’s original works were a little disappointed that it wasn’t more like the plays on which the opera was based. I can understand that perspective, too.
But what about Angels as a work of art? I personally loved it. I went into it expecting it to be, well, gay and atonal. And how gay was it? Not as gay as a typical episode of HBO’s Six Feet Under. How atonal was it? Not atonal enough for me, but I own a box set of Charles Ives albums.
I was most impressed by the performances of the largely. The female cast was especially superb. Ava Pine was absolutely breathtaking as the Angel, but maybe I’m more taken with her because of technical challenge of singing while suspended by wire. Erin Elizabeth Smith was heartbreakingly good as Harper, and Janice Hall showed quite a range playing a rabbi, an elderly Bolshevik and Joe’s very Mormon mom.
David Adam Moore’s Prior, Craig Verm’s Joe and Scott Scully’s Louis played with enough emotion to fill the space, but their performances were still subtle and nuanced. And Kelly Anderson’s Roy Cohn was one evil bastard.
For me, more than anything else, I was encouraged by the Fort Worth Opera’s willingness to create art that addresses the world we live in. I love Italian Girl in Algiers, but being kidnapped by Barbary pirates is not as much of problem as it used to be. Although some might say that Angels is a gay opera, one of the themes that the opera addresses is the loneliness and existential isolation of contemporary American life. Who will really love us and be there for us in our darkest hours? Like I said, it is a question a little more pressing than pirates for most of us.
I’m a big fan of Darren Woods, and I have to say that I’m proud of him and everyone affiliated with this production for pulling it together. For Darren, it was personal and something of a mission. He wanted to honor and speak for those who can’t speak for themselves. But also Darren believes that opera is a living, breathing art form that needs to continue to grow.
It would be easier for him and everyone else to sit back and play the hits. They could put it on autopilot, drag out the Viking helmets and gondolier outfits and not rock the boat. But that wouldn’t be an opera company that would want to be affiliated with and I dare say that wouldn’t want to be the kind of opera company that opera supporters in Fort Worth would want to see. I know some Fort Worth Opera supporters weren’t there at the debut and probably may not be there at the other performances. But I hope that they’ll be back at other performances this year or next.
If they don’t ,they’ll be missing something special. Quality follows quality, and when world-class talent like Anthony Dean Griffey and Elizabeth Futral take the stage at Bass Hall this year, there is a connection — they know something interesting and unique is going on here. But as hard as the people at the Fort Worth Opera work, art can’t take place without the community behind it. Fort Worth, once again, you deserve the credit for welcoming great art into your community. Take a bow.
You deserve it.
Tags: Darren Woods, Fort Worth Opera
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