Review: (Toronto / Opera) #UncleJohn

(photo by Darryl Block)

Mozart a Little, Mozart a Lot
by Beat Rice, Editor

#UncleJohn is the title character of Against The Grain Theatre’s modern  translation/adaptation of Mozart’s Don Juan. The well-known story of the womanizer who causes trouble and eventually pays for it in the end, has had its libretto re-written in English by Joel Ivany. Ivany, who is also the stage director, has envisioned the opera to take place in the here and now-literally, in the Black Box theatre, on Queen West in Toronto, the day before a winter wedding. Mozart’s complex score, with new musical arrangement by Stephen Hargreaves, generally remains the same, with a few hilarious pop culture interludes in the second act. The characters and the story also do not veer far from the original, sharing the same Italian names and relationships. Uncle John (Cameron McPhail) arrives to crash the wedding of young couple Zerlina (Sharleen Joynt) and Masetto (Aaron Durand) with his wingman Leporello (Neil Craighead), and runs into two ex-lovers, Elvira (Miriam Khalil)  and Anna (Betty Waynnne Allison). Sexual tension, miscommunication, and chaos ensue. 

Joel Ivany, Artistic Director of Against The Grain Theatre, on #UncleJohn

Uncle John is on his way to TO. 
by Joel Ivany, Artistic Director, Against the Grain Theatre

He wreaked utter havoc in the picturesque landscape of the Rocky Mountains, and now he's taking his game to the big city.  

It's been quite an experience taking this libretto, arrangement and production of #UncleJohn from a workshop setting at The Banff Centre to AtG's home setting for its première in Toronto. In Banff, we were able to play, practice and hone our technique with some of North America's best voice, acting and music instructors. Exploration and dramaturgy made our unique product even better, and being supported by The Banff Centre and the Canadian Opera Company ensured a high quality production. I believe wholeheartedly that had we not been able to workshop this piece in Banff, we wouldn't be able to achieve what we will do in Toronto.

Essay: Sable Chan on What Indie Opera is Doing Right - a case study

Survival of the Fittest

What Indie Opera is Doing Right

by Sable Chan (photos by Sable Chan)

@MissSable

Sable Chan is a Speech Therapist-Chorister-Choir Girl Blogger. Sable blogs about her Edmonton Opera Chorus adventures on The Choir Girl Blog. She's often found pondering about vowel formants on acoustic software, reading scientific journals on voice therapy, and monitoring her Twitter feed. [This article first appeared on Ms Chan's website - she has graciously allowed The Charlebois Post to reprint it.]

This past summer was the opening of #UncleJohn and it was exactly the kind of production I have hoped would come to Alberta. It was musically immersive and culturally relevant - all wrapped up in a sleek, modern, indie opera company. I will reiterate what I was hearing throughout the week: "This is the future of opera."

Review: (Toronto) Pelléas et Mélisande

(photo by Darryl Block)

Debussy’s Singing Painting
by Ramya Jegatheesan
@ramyajimages

Pelléas et Mélisande is the story of two brothers who love a mysterious woman found in the forest. It is a love triangle, a tragedy, and Debussy’s only completed opera.

For this production, Against the Grain takes us outside into the lovely garden enclave of the Canadian Opera Company’s Front Street East office and rehearsal space. This beautiful courtyard with its iron gates secrets the audience and cast away from the noise and bustle of the city though occasionally we can still hear the whirring of a helicopter overhead.

There is something magical, unusual, and perfect about watching this opera outside where you can hear birdsong, where nightfall embraces both the stage and audience, and there is no need to simulate the sun, trees, or wind. I cannot imagine seeing it indoors now, or even with an orchestra.

First-Person: Director Joel Ivany takes us inside Against The Grain's Pélleas et Mélisande

The Human Machine of Inside/Outside Opera
by Joel Ivany
@joelivany

To do this piece the way we are doing it, well… it couldn’t be done with just any cast.
We are fortunate to have an incredibly strong cast, comprising some of Canada’s leading singers.
Our cast members have worked with The Canadian Opera Company, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, De Nederlandse Opera and the Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg (among others).

Why are they working with our little group? What’s the catch?

I’ve wanted to work with Étienne Dupuis ever since I heard about him. He was singing with Miriam Khalil in La Bohème at Edmonton Opera. I then had the chance to see him on stage and hear him when he sang Escamillo at Pacific Opera Victoria. He’s an incredibly generous, fun and kind person. He also has a high baritone voice, which is required for the role of Pelléas. We asked Étienne if he was interested in the role, and he replied honestly that he didn’t know the role, but was looking for the opportunity to learn it. We are so fortunate that he said yes. Rehearsals have shown that he’s fluid and has a booming sound to match with the most stunning high notes. The role of Pelléas is written in the treble clef (a clef traditionally attributed to tenors, not baritones and basses, who sing in the bass clef).

First-Person: Baritone Étienne Dupuis inside Against the Grain's Pélleas et Mélisande

On the Joys of a Broken Foot
by Étienne Dupuis
@EtienneLovesYa

I met Miriam Khalil a few years back, when we were singing together in a production of La Bohème as Marcello and Musetta.  She told me about her husband Joel Ivany and Against the Grain Theatre, and that they were doing a production of La Bohème…in a bar!  I loved the idea!  Still do!  I love even more the idea of going 'against the grain' with opera. Opera nowadays is bound by traditions so tightly that it's getting harder and harder to remove the dust and the rust clinging to it. The only problem is,  AtG was doing this Bohème in English, using Joel's own translation. I sing the role of Marcello in Italian all the time, and learning it in English would have been too risky...so I turned the role down.

In a Word... Soprano Miriam Khalil

The Baby, The Family and The Voice
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

Praised for her alluring stage presence and distinctive vocal tone, Lebanese-Canadian soprano Miriam Khalil is described as being “a lush lyric with spinto overtones” (Opera Canada) and “on the road to future greatness” (Classical 96.3 FM). Credits include Almirena in Handel’s Rinaldo and Cleopatra inGiulio Cesare, both with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, UK; Mimi in La Bohème with Opera Hamilton and Against the Grain Theatre (AtG); Musetta in La Bohème with Edmonton Opera; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Lyra Ottawa and AtG; Frasquita inCarmen with Pacific Opera Victoria; the Governess in The Turn of the Screw with AtG; and an Opera Gala with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. She was heard recently with the Thunder Bay Symphony in Raminsh’s Requiem, made her debut with Opéra de Montréal in their annual Gala and sang Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Symphony Nova Scotia. An alumna of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, she also holds degrees from The Glenn Gould School and the University of Ottawa. In 2007 she won first place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, Great Lakes Region, and is a previous member of both The Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, UK. As a founding member of AtG, she is excited to help shape Canada’s most exciting young opera company.

CHARPO: Thanks much for taking the time - I feel like I've made the tour of the entire Against the Grain (AtG) operation only to discover I haven't found the melody yet! Before we dive in, tell us about your relationship with this unique company.

KHALIL: My relationship with AtG started in the early days when my husband Joel Ivany dreamed of having an opera company that was wholly accessible; one that would allow us to choose the works that spoke to us most and to be able to work together on the same projects and be in the same city doing what mattered to us both. I am now a founding member. I work with Joel on his librettos, I act as a sounding board to his ideas and I sing in the productions that are most suited to my temperament and voice. All the works that I’ve sung with AtG have been directed by Joel and it’s interesting to discover how we work together as a team but also as a singer and director. I have very strong ideas, and so does he. It can be tricky if our particular interpretations don’t coincide. Staying open to the other person’s ideas while keeping in touch with our own artistic impulse is what we try to keep in mind when working together.

Review: (Toronto) The Messiah

(photo by Darryl Black)

Messing With Messiah
by Ramya Jegatheesan

Against the Grain’s Messiah begins as any other Messiah might. Singers decked out in their Sunday best: the men in black suits and bow ties; the women in gowns. They are seated, music in hand. Except we are not in a concert hall, but in the grungy Opera House and the drinks are flowing. 

Then the tenor starts to undress. First the cuff links go. Then the bow tie. The sleeves are rolled up. The shirt is unbuttoned. The shoes come off, and the score is tossed away. Now you know: this is not your grandmother’s Messiah. 

Against the Grain’s Messiah is cheeky, yet reverent and grounded. This centuries-old beloved Christmas tradition has been given an inventive spin, and it is glorious to see. Handel’s beloved oratorio has been brought down from the heavens and given an operatic spin. The singers perform a juggling act, balancing their vocal acrobatics with a visual story borne through movement. They have no crutch – the notes they sing have been committed to memory, and they dance, with beautiful fluid strokes. 

Sunday Feature: Choreographer Jennifer Nichols on The Messiah

Tradition. Nostalgia. Sacred.
A choreographer explains the presence of dance in Against The Grain's production of The Messiah
by Jennifer Nichols

Jennifer Nichols, choreographer and dancer, was classically trained at L’École Supérieure de Danse du Québec and the Quinte Ballet School. Currently a company member of Atelier Ballet, the ballet ensemble of Opera Atelier, she has also danced professionally with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Banff Festival Dance and choreographers such as Robert Desrosiers and Newton Moraes. Jennifer is owner and director of Toronto’s Extension Room, home of the acclaimed ballet fitness program she founded in 2003, The Extension Method^TM. She is also Co-Artistic Director of Hit and Run Dance Productions. Jennifer Nichols’s performance and choreography can be seen in several film and television productions, including the upcoming CBC primetime television drama Reign (principal choreographer), feature film Barney’s Version, BRAVO’s docu-drama Nureyev, and the National Film Board’s Dance of Death.

Tradition. Nostalgia. Sacred. 

All words associated with Handel’s Messiah, a ritual holiday experience that draws loved ones to churches and theatres, uplifting the spirit and celebrating another cyclical passage of seasons. 

This annual classic is typically presented in a similar manner. Think formal dress (black tie, gowns), elegant choral books, music stands and a classic formation of voices projecting ‘en face’ to the house. 

Now picture bodies in motion, top buttons open, fervent faces moving in several directions and blood pumping harder. 

News: (Toronto) Against the Grain Theatre announces 2013-14 season (Press release)

Review: (Toronto) Figaro's Wedding

Stephen Hegedus (photo by Darryl Block) 

Going to the Chapel
by Shannon Christy

Marriage is considered by a growing number of people as an unnecessary evil.  It is a huge expense on people strapped for cash, it is stressful, and more often than not it is not even that memorable.  Le Nozze di Figaro takes these points and puts them to music. Figaro's Wedding, an adaptation of Mozart’s most famous piece, takes the additional step of intermingling it with devices and events of our time. That they do this while providing beautiful performances is even better.  The story of Le Nozze di Figaro is about a couple of different love triangles with implied betrayal, confusion, and celebration tied in. It is comedy in its truest sense and if Against the Grain Theatre betrayed the original text by altering the words to fit our times, they certainly remained true to the comedic spirit of Lorenzo Da Ponte’s original creations.

That being said, the use of modern technology and the local references, especially the one that refers to how City Hall is cracking down, are great but it is the location and the performances that really set this show apart.

In a Word... Nancy Hitzig on the ad strategy for Figaro's Wedding at Against the Grain

A Drink in Hand, A Wedding to Organize
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

Against the Grain Theatre, a small opera company in Toronto, has become famous for presenting the best opera in a small setting in the country. With the arrival of Nancy Hitzig as their general manager, they have begun to work hard to get the word out about their gem-like productions. We asked Ms Hitzig, who is the former manager of education and marketing at Opera Atelier, to discuss the company's strategy for Figaro's Wedding. (The production opens tonight and runs to June 2)

CHARPO: Tell us about the first sit-down where your advertising strategy for Figaro was hashed out. Who was there? Who proposed the ideas? What ideas stuck and which not?

HITZIG: Our collective meetings are always around a kitchen table! Joel [Ivany, artistic director], Caitlin [Coull, communications director], Toph [Mokrzewski, music director], Cecily [Carver, community engagement advisor], Miriam [Khalil, founding member] and I gather around the table with a drink in hand to figure things out! 

We wanted to approach Figaro’s Wedding as though it were a real wedding. We discussed a real engagement announcement in the Globe and Mail, having Christopher Plummer (or some other awesome Canadian actor) walk Susanna down the aisle, pop-up performances at local wedding shows, and other zany ideas. In the end, we decided on strategies that gave us great reach online and really helped tell the story to pique people’s interest.

We confirmed that all our promotion materials would be like a save-the-date - things that would make the audience members feel “invited.” We often find that the audience wants to feel like they are a part of something greater, an essential part of the art. That was where the proposal video and “meet the wedding party” video came from. [see both below] We wanted to get our audience revved up and excited to attend the wedding of the year!

Review: (Toronto) Kafka / Janáček / Kurtág

(photo credit: Darryl Block)

ECLECTIC SHOW FOR AN ECLECTIC CROWD

joel fishbane

A surreal and eclectic event, Against the Grain Theatre’s presentation of two little known operas is one of the more unusual theatrical experiences in recent memory. Even opera buffs might frown at the mention of György Kurtág’s Kafka-Fragments op. 24 and Leoš Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared – and for good reason. They’re frown-worthy works, full of challenges, experiments and discomfort. Yet in the end they remain rewarding pieces that are given an elegant, minimalist production by a Toronto company that prides itself on being a “band of rogue arts makers”.

“You’re officially the most eclectic audience in Toronto,” said Artistic Director Joel Ivany in his opening remarks and if that was true, then we were rewarded with an equally eclectic work. Kurtág’s Kafka-Fragments takes its text from the various diaries and letters of famed German misanthrope Franz Kafka. A duet for soprano and violin (in this case, Jacqueline Woodley and Kerry DuWors, respectively), there’s no plot or story. Instead, snatches of Kafka’s musings are set to music, all of it underscored by the dissonant and sometimes playful violin.

Kafka’s philosophies, poems and micro-fictions are always food for the brain and not without their humour. (“Once I broke my leg: it was the most wonderful experience of my life.”) The lack of story makes this piece a challenge for both the audience and the performers, though Woodley and DuWors manage to create something of a rapport with one another. The violin soon becomes an essential part of Ivany’s simple staging. Woodley ducks behind DuWors at times and even makes her a character in one of her micro-narratives, a Chekhovian tale about some violinists on a train.

Sunday Feature: Inside Kafka/Janáček/Kurtág

The Against the Grain team: L-R Joel Ivany, Nancy Hitzig, Cecily Carver, Christopher Mokrzewski and Caitlin Coull

Voices from Kafka and The Disappeared

[PUBLISHER: We gave Against the Grain a tall order as they prepared for their upcoming production Kafka/Janáček/Kurtág. Instead of pestering them for the usual first-person piece going inside their process, we said: How about several people taking us inside - artists from different aspects of the production, administrators, you name it? Once again the company, and their fearless leader Joel Ivany, proved why they deserved the 2012 CharPR Prize for best indie company PR. What you have today is truly a most fascinating piece. GLC]

Colin Ainsworth, tenor in Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared
Twitter: @ColinAinsworth web: www.colinainsworth.ca

Approaching Janáček is no easy feat. There’s the obvious language barrier, since Czech isn’t my first language or even one of my peripheral languages, but also there’s the sheer volume of songs. For me, it’s like singing Schubert’s cycle Die Schöne Müllerin except in completely unknown territory. Once that is done, then it’s time to figure out what each word means, what each song is about, and how it fits into the bigger picture of the entire cycle. Then, there is Janáček’s unique musical language, which takes time to learn.

Thankfully, I have had the opportunity to do this piece once before and have been thinking about it for a while. That being said, one shot at this mammoth cycle is just skimming the surface. It’s like a mini-opera; a journey for the protagonist. So once you’ve begun to grasp the language and what you are saying, it’s all about telling the story of this young man. It’s as close to real life as it gets as Janáček had his own encounter with forbidden love. He wrote all his raw emotion and meaning into his music - sometimes so simply but quite effectively.

The great thing about Janáček is he is equally brilliant at storytelling with both words and notes. He gives you everything that you need to know in the story through the music: narrative, character, emotion—it is all seamlessly folded in. As a performer, all you need to do is be attuned to Janáček’s guidance and the story sings itself.

Review: (Toronto) Turn of the Screw

(photo credit: Darryl Block)

Suffer the Children
Against the Grain scores again with Britten
by Axel Van Chee


Against the Grain Theatre has done it again. The company has set a very high bar for their future endeavors this time around with a stunning production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, opening at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse. It is musically satisfying, theatrically absorbing, and they really should consider keeping this in their repertoire. It is perhaps the best production of the Screw that I have seen. 

The Sunday Read: Joel Ivany on Turn of The Screw

Killing Curiousity

Staging Britten's brilliantly dark piece

by Joel Ivany

It is a curious story.

Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera, The Turn of the Screw, opened in 1954 at Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

Against the Grain Theatre will be producing the eerie tale from May 24-27 at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, on U of T campus.

It’s quite an exciting theatrical piece to be preparing.  Described primarily as a ghost story, it can also be interpreted, though rarely is, as a love story.

Sunday Read: First-Person - Joel Ivany on The 7 Deadly Sins

Holier Than Thou

Going beyond Weill

by Joel Ivany, Artistic Director and Founder - Against the Grain Theatre

On Friday March 16 and Saturday March 17, Against the Grain Theatre will be presenting a concert entitled The Seven Deadly Sins (And Holier Fare). As the title suggests, the program features Kurt Weill’s ballet chanté Die Sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins), but it also includes Benjamin Britten’s Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac and two contemporary two-piano pieces. 

To give you a taste of what we’ve been delving into to prepare for this production, allow me to introduce you to “the sins,” AtG style:

Review: (Toronto) La Bohème

La Bohème, the Canadian way 

The sound of preconceptions falling...

by Axel Van Chee

I have a confession to make: Puccini’s La Bohème occupies the crowning spot on my “Top Ten Most Hated Opera List”, and I have seen more than 20 productions of it in different opera houses to continue to justify my belief. Why I still keep seeing it is a subject for another debate, but it was with trepidation that I went to the production put on by Against the Grain Theater billed as “A modern love tale told in English”. After all, not only is it my most hated opera, it is stripped to the bare bones, updated by a few decades, with a brand new libretto in English, and all crammed into a bar while a blue grass concert is playing right next door through very thin walls. Two hours later, I must admit that I had, possibly, one of the most entertaining evenings I’ve ever had at an opera.

First Person: Joel Ivany on Against The Grain Theatre's La Bohème

Lindsay Sutherland Boal and Justin Welsh

(Photo: Gene Wu)

Dreams Greater than One

A collective observes all the rules of opera by breaking them

by Joel Ivany

Against the Grain Theatre is a collective of renegade artists looking to present raw, bare-bones art in the city of Toronto. Last season we presented a production of La Bohème, and it took the scene by storm as a surprise hit. The opera is a timeless work of art; not only does it have incredibly moving music, but the story of young artists struggling through their art and love will move any heart.