‘I want my HGO TV’?
Houston Grand Opera uses music videos to spark interest
Music video has been a prominent, dynamic storytelling medium since at least the ’80s. Can digital opera really be so different?
HGOco, the education and community-engagement arm of Houston Grand Opera, has been navigating these rather uncharted waters for the past 18 months. “Star-Cross’d,” its so-called “serial web opera,” gives the venerable art form a state-of-the-art makeover.
“A Rose,” the third of the series that can be viewed at houston grandopera.org/starcrossd, will be released today.
According to HGOco director Carleen Graham, finding the right story is key — and harder than it seems.
“Sometimes you read a story and you’re moved by it, and you think it’s perfect,” she says, “but sometimes you go, ‘I wonder if we set this to music; how could music enhance the story?’ ”
“Star-Cross’d” began when Israeli-born composer Avner Dorman approached HGO artistic and music director Patrick Summers, as well as Graham and HGOco senior producing manager Emily Wells, with an idea: a series of mini-operas, each installment based around the theme of “love in the face of conflict.”
The three liked the idea and began discussing how to develop it, which led to “hours and hours of listening to stories on (publicradio program) ‘The Moth’ and other storytelling partners here in the city,” Graham recalls.
They also put out a call for submissions, inviting members of the community to share their own experiences.
“If we all have this need and desire to love and be loved in return,” Wells says, “why (do) societies, religions, politics, borders — why do all of these things come into play and put barriers up between these love relationships?”
Dorman and German playwright Stephanie Fleischmann collaborated on the series’ first episode, “Boundless,” which premiered in April 2018. Houstonbased mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte stars as a mature woman who begins a relationship with an artist several years her junior, and who makes a life-changing decision after a child appears to her lover in a dream.
The parameters of “StarCross’d” narrowed after Wells reached out to “The Moth” to get in touch with Aryana Rose, the author on whose work the episode is based. Someone from the show told her, “You know, she happens to live in Houston.”
“Since then, the subsequent two episodes have been stories that have been shared with us by Houstonians,” Wells says.
Extending company’s mission
Episode 2, “NOW,” is the interlocking story of two couples, each with one partner who is undergoing a gender transition. Dorman again wrote the music; Houstonian John Grimmett wrote the text and directed the film.
Graham calls the series a “natural extension” of HGOco’s mission, which is to dispel certain longstanding myths surrounding opera — that it’s meant only for rich people is a big one — by engaging with the community through as many avenues as possible. These days, no avenue is bigger than the internet.
Graham says, “Most everyone utilizes some sort of an electronic device to get information, to entertain themselves, to share information. It’s a part of our lives, so my question is why wouldn’t we do it? To me it makes perfect sense.”
Another myth HGOco hopes to bust with “Star-Cross’d” is that a deluxe production featuring a 50-member orchestra and a huge chorus is the only type of opera there is.
“Opera can also be intimate and share incredibly personal stories because in the end that’s all opera is doing is telling a story in a unique way through a unique medium, through the medium of music,” Wells says.
Telling a story on mobile
Wells estimates each episode takes 15 months to complete; “the hardest part is always finding the story,” she admits. The producers are still experimenting with the best methods of storytelling for a mobile audience that could just as easily tune in for 30 seconds as for the full 15 minutes, or might watch in multiple installments.
“As we’ve evolved the model, the episodes are getting a little bit shorter, just in terms of audience accessibility,” Wells says, “making them a little bit more of a jewel of an opera instead of something that takes a long time to watch online. Especially because these are online-consumption items, we want them to feel accessible.”
Cultivating an audience for the series has been a “slow burn,” Wells says. Besides HGO’s YouTube channel, “Star-Cross’d” episodes have screened at festivals such as Houston’s first Nuit Blanche in April; and this summer’s QFest, where “NOW” was shown before “Paris Is Burning” on opening night. Once “A Rose” is released, Wells would like to set up a “crawl” for later in the year, where each installment would be shown at a different location.
Word is slowly getting around. Last spring “Boundless” won bronze in the general-cultural (nonbroadcast) category at the Telly Awards, which recognize excellent content “across all screens” — marketing, animation, virtual reality, tourism and so forth.
“We take a long view on these episodes; we’re not expecting to be a viral sensation overnight,” Wells says.
Cultural inclusion
“A Rose” relays the story of a man and a woman from different regions of India, now living in Houston, who face a series of caste- and family-related obstacles to their happily ever after. Although the principals are from elsewhere, local Hindustani singers Pandit Suman Ghosh and Shashikala Ghosh appear on the score.
The film also gave HGOco another chance to work with Kamala Sankaram, the New York-based composer from whom they commissioned the children’s opera “Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers” a few years back. Sankaram co-wrote the libretto with Houston-based artist and filmmaker Misha Penton, who also directed the film.
In all, Graham says, HGOco has commissioned 13 original works scheduled to open between now and 2023. More episodes of “StarCross’d” could be on the way — provided funding comes through.
“If someone’s exposure and enjoyment of opera is watching one of these stories for 13 minutes, that’s OK,” she says.
“If it gets them to come in the door to see a live show, great,” Graham adds. “If it doesn’t, that’s OK.”