In ‘As One,’ music, visuals and words combine for a very personal journey
The simple and moving opera has struck a chord with companies; Opera America magazine says it’s the mostproduced contemporary opera in North America of the past four years.
The preteen boy we meet at the start of “As One” has a paper route, like so many of his peers. He finds satisfaction in hearing the thump of the newspapers as he tosses them onto the driveways. He finds even more satisfaction in wearing a woman’s blouse, carefully hidden under his jacket as he cycles on his early-morning route.
Presented this weekend by Opera Orlando, “As One” is a transgender coming-of-age story. The chamber opera’s setup is unique: Two singers, one male and one female, play the different gendered aspects of Hannah’s psyche. Hannah is the name the young newspaper carrier gives herself later when she finds her authentic life.
The simple and moving opera has struck a chord with companies; Opera America magazine says it’s the most-produced contemporary opera in North America of the past four years.
Opera Orlando’s production, in the intimate space of Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre, features video montages that help set the mood among a handsome and effective limbo-like set of light and shadow, whites, grays and mirrors. Alison Reid’s lovely, flowing costumes add to the storytelling: As Hannah’s femininity is built up with a scarf, her masculine side sheds layers.
But it’s composer Laura Kaminsky’s music, played by an Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra string quartet, that grabs you right from the start. Directed with precision and feeling by maestra Alexandra Enyart, the music is restless, it’s uneasy, it doesn’t always seem at peace with itself. In other words, it’s an aural version of what it must feel like to grapple with the basic questions of identity, questions that linger under your own skin.
Vivid details give the story its relatability: the memory of being shamed for flowery handwriting; a junior-high reading assignment that triggers an outburst; an awkward Christmas letter to parents. Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed’s libretto captures the feelings with an economy of words and occasionally with a nifty turn of phrase such as “stealth librarian.”
The libretto carefully avoids being too graphic; bodily changes are dealt with obliquely and the word “transsexual” doesn’t even appear — though it’s alluded to humorously in the library scene. The one failing of the libretto comes as Hannah comes closer to achieving her dream; the words don’t quite convey that peculiar fear that comes with the realization you are about to get what you’ve always wanted.
Though the English libretto is projected, the singers’ diction is understandable without reading. Michael Kelly as “Hannah (Before)” captures the fear and wonder of the character’s younger self, while Elise Quagliata, as “Hannah (After),” has a more mature sensibility. Both find the moments of pain — and the moments of radiance.
Stage director Jessica Hanna keeps her characters in motion, just like the whirlwind of thoughts flooding through Hannah’s mind. And her staging reinforces the idea that although these two facets of Hannah’s character are in a way at odds, they also support each other — that’s how a person feels “As One.”
‘As One’
Length: 80 minutes, no intermission, followed by a talkback with cast and creatives
COVID-19 precautions: mandatory masks for audience (singers are unmasked), distanced seating
Where: Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre, 600 N Lake Formosa Dr., Orlando When: 2 p.m. May 23
Cost: $60.77
Info: operaorlando.org