A New K i nd of Opera

Charlotte

The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis redefines modern opera through its new program, The New Works Collective. The forward-thinking opera company gathered a panel of diverse St. Louis community members who went through hundreds of brand-new opera pitches, choosing works to develop into 20-minute operettas. The panel’s selections are innovative, inclusive and ultimately challenge what opera looks like today.

In the words of OTSL Marketing Director Anh Le, this process helps produce work that matters to St. Louisans, showing them that their stories matter. “At a recent workshop preview last December, we invited members of our community to come see excerpts from each opera, ” Le says. “People whooped, laughed, cried and danced … the energy of these new operas is so visceral!”

A major part of the OTSL mission is to tell stories that might have missed the spotlight in traditional operas. “Cook Shack,” for example, follows the story of a young Black girl named Dayo who faces bullying in a new school On a class field trip to a local wax museum exhibition loosely based on the St. Louis’ Griot Museum of Black History, Dayo meets three historic Black female inventors who teach her to accept and love her identity : Annie Malone, the first Black female millionaire who was credited for starting the Black hair industry ; Dr Patricia Bath, who revolutionized cataract surgery ; and Marie Van Brittan Brown, who invented the modern home security system

“To be able to create a work that empowers and celebrates Black women was so important to me, ” composer Del’Shawn Taylor says. “And to do it in a way that was not [glorifying] trauma, as we see a lot today with Black stories. Celebrating their contributions is empowering to the next generation of young Black women. ”

Taylor came up with the idea before he knew about OTSL’s New Works Collective. When he pitched it, he asked to work with a Black female librettist who could write the text for “Cook Shack.” “I didn’t feel, as a Black man, that I could speak for the Black female experience.”

The community panel suggested that Taylor work with Samiya Bashir, an applicant for the New Works Collective who was looking for a composing partner “Del’Shawn talked about this as his love letter to Black women – for me, it’s a love letter to ourselves, and to that inner child space that probably needs a little care, ” Bashir says. “I realized, as I heard the piece sung [for the first time], ‘I am Dayo. I know this girl.’”

Another New Works opera, “Slanted: An American Rock Opera,” gave co-creator Simon Tam a chance to create a work that he identified with, too. “Slanted” tells the true story of Tam’s band, The Slants, and their journey to the Supreme Court in an attempt to trademark their band name.

“In this case, the government said that the name of The Slants was disparaging to persons of Asian descent, even though we happen to be an all-Asian band,” Tam says. “One of my longtime frustrations is that even though I was in the nation’s highest court fighting for freedom of speech, I wasn’t actually allowed to say anything in that room I always had these fantasy sequences [where I wondered:] What if I could say what I wanted to say? What if I could advocate for myself ?”

“Slanted” challenges the modern interpretation of opera music by being performed almost entirely in rock music style. “Cook Shack” also defies the stereotypical opera, featuring music styles such as hip-hop and ragtime.

The final and arguably most important component of accessibility is actually reaching your intended audience, according to Bashir She cites the Annie Malone Children & Family Services, a foster house in St. Louis, as an example. “I hope they’re coming,” Bashir says. “These girls should be there because the story is about them, and it’s for them. It’s for all of us. ”

The New Works Collective operas will be presented March 16 to March 18 at the Catherine B. Berges Theatre at COCA. Tickets range from $35 to $55. Visit opera-stl.org/whats-on/nwc to reserve your tickets now.