Flight @ The Dallas Opera
—Wayne Lee Gay
Nine characters stranded overnight in a storm-wracked airport terminal make for an often funny, sometimes gripping evening of opera in British composer Jonathan Dove’s Flight, which opened a four-performance run Friday night as the second production of The Dallas Opera’s 2022 season at Winspear Opera House.
For the most part, the characters could have stepped out of a Neil Simon social comedy from the 1970s. There’s a troubled middle-aged couple seeking to revive their moribund marriage via travel and self-help guides; an “older” (53-year-old) divorcée hoping against hope that her twenty-something crush will actually show up; a pair of horny flight attendants, one male, one female; and a younger couple—expecting the arrival of their baby at any minute—moving to Minsk on a diplomatic mission for the husband. (Minsk as a normal diplomatic destination unfortunately became anachronistic just last month, but, oh well.)
A Refugee stranded indefinitely in the airport without proper documents (yes, Flight shares the same true-ish story that became Tom Hanks’ movie The Terminal) adds a late-twentieth/early-twenty-first-century touch as well as a dark edge to the setting. A female “Controller” reigns over this closed world of strangers thrown together, and an immigration officer appears briefly and menacingly.
We’ve all known (or been) people like these in real life, but the story-line, created by librettist Angel de Angelis (also British), whimsically and frequently slips over into the realm of parable and ritual. There’s no nudity, but there’s a dose of simulated and implied copulation onstage, as well as a quick, clean childbirth—a birth being pretty well inevitable once you put a pregnant woman into the plot. There are even magic stones, which may or may not be magic; and in a totally ridiculous contortion in the manner of old-time soap operas, a case of amnesia ties up one twisted plot line.
Even if one finds these little departures from reasonable reality a bit undermining, Dove’s consistently ear-catching and beautifully crafted score pulls the viewer forward relentlessly. The composer clearly understands the ins and outs of traditional harmony as well as the emotional implications of every musical gesture. Lavish and imaginative orchestration evokes Wagner, Stravinsky, and grand sci-fi movie scores; the vocal writing draws on the best operatic traditions from Rossini up to Glass. The external musical scenery—a storm, a plane taking off, nightfall and daybreak—sweeps across the stage in a sonic feast, while the internal emotions of the characters flow with equal abundance.
This is a cast clearly and uniformly up to the wide range this grand ensemble piece demands. Tenor Andrew Stenson as the bumbling husband finds his inner adventurer in an unexpected direction, with soprano Elena Villalón as his petulant and frustrated wife (who, incidentally, beautifully carries off one of the two Lucia-like “mad” arias in the show). Baritone Will Liverman and mezzo-soprano Kristen Choi as the lascivious flight attendants exude robotic cheerfulness and efficiency between bouts of debauchery; and mezzo-soprano Deanne Meek projects the sadness and eagerness of a woman not quite ready to give up on love. Bass-baritone Seth Carico as the otherwise unnamed Minsk-bound diplomat husband (“Minskman” in the cast list) provides a convincing portrayal of a domineering husband torn between career and family; bass Zachary James is appropriately ominous as the Immigration Officer.
But the meatiest roles and the loudest applause belong to a set of three outstanding singing actors. Mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin as the pregnant wife (“Minskwoman”) brought the show to a halt Friday night, as the audience broke into cheers after her deeply passionate rendition of the aria “It’s Mine.” Here, Martin impressively explores the mixed emotions at that eternal centerpoint of human existence: the young woman about to become a mother for the first time. Martin ranges from anticipation to fear to sacrifice and, finally, to acceptance with a rich timbre and perfect timing; in her rendition, this piece seems a good possibility as a stand-alone aria and showpiece for mezzo-sopranos.
Soprano Abigail Rethwisch played up the obsessive-compulsive aspects of the role of the Controller, applying a miraculously flexible and brilliant tone quality, nailing the bel canto flourishes and high notes from the earliest scene, and raging through her own Lucia-like mad scene.
Countertenor John Holiday takes on the central role of the Refugee, creating the unfailingly smooth vocal quality demanded of a male alto while navigating a dramatic terrain extending from con artist and beggar to victim, saint, and philosopher. Composer Dove clearly intended to create a sound world for the Refugee that would set him apart from the whiteness (and assimilatedness) of the rest of the cast; in Holiday’s performance, the countertenor voice becomes exotic, alluring, and marginalized.
Dallas Opera music director Emmanuel Villaume conducts, expertly guiding the cast and orchestra through a complex score rife with instrumental and vocal glories as well as potential pitfalls. Director Kristine McIntyre opts for an appropriately busy and energetic staging encompassing fights, chases, hidden bodies, birth, and hanky-panky of all sorts. R. Keith Brumley designed the sets for Des Moines Metro Opera in 2018, capturing the clean, sanitized blandness of the modern airport with a spiral staircase added for a touch of drama. Jonathan Knipscher’s costumes, likewise designed for Des Moines, colorfully and sometimes humorously evoke each character—particularly Bill and Tina, who, comically clad in beach wear, travel with an inflatable duck.
Flight premiered in Sussex in 1998 with Glyndebourne Opera’s touring company. It has since become that rare beast, a contemporary opera that has found a place in the international repertoire. (And after three centuries, a countertenor can once again get a standing ovation at an opera.) While one might puzzle over a few plot points, the opera itself proclaims the triumphs and dilemmas of technological society. A final grand ensemble celebrates humanity’s ability to fly—after which a reflective denouement reminds us that we’re all, ultimately, trapped in the terminal.
WHEN: Through March 12
WHERE: Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center
WEB: For tickets, visit https://dallasopera.org/tickets/ or call 214-443-1000
