Seance On A Wet Afternoon Stephen Schwartz's First Opera
Seance on a Wet Afternoon opera, by Stephen Schwartz, world premiere production will be September 26th 2009. Additional performances:
Friday October 2, 2009 and
Sunday October 4, 2009. Commissioned by Opera Santa Barbara, the premiere will be staged at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, California.
Stephen Schwartz's Séance on a Wet Afternoon
On this page:
- About the opera
- Schedule of Events for Opera Premiere, and tickets
- Special Tour (Seance Opera Premiere and Santa Barbara)
- Seance Opera Cast; Production and Creative Team
- Seance Opera News
- Comments by Stephen Schwartz
- The 1964 Film Seance on a Wet Afternoon
About Seance On A Wet Afternoon - The Opera
Based on the novel by Mark McShane [Seance on a Wet Afternoon
Because Myra has never received the recognition she feels her gifts merit, they hatch a Plan: They will kidnap the daughter of a local wealthy industrialist, and keep her safe while the media frenzy over her abduction builds. When Myra has a "vision" that leads to the successful recovery of the girl and the ransom, her fame will be assured.
As The Plan is put into action, the girl’s presence in the house leads to complex psychological responses from Myra, Bill, and Arthur. The delicate balance of Myra and Bill’s relationship and Myra’s sanity itself begins to fray, as long-buried secrets are revealed. The Plan goes badly awry, and in Myra’s final séance, the drama comes to a devastating conclusion.
Lawrence Edelson, Producing Artistic Director of the American Lyric Theater, comments, "Séance On A Wet Afternoon is a contemporary piece of theater as much as it is an opera. The term 'opera' for many evokes images of something foreign and archaic, but nothing could be further from what Stephen has written. While Séance is most definitely an opera - written for classically trained singers, and with the orchestra taking on a more complex role than is usually seen in musicals - it is also a riveting mystery and a brilliant piece of contemporary theater. I think that Séance is an ideal piece to introduce people to opera. Stephen embraces the traditions from the opera house, but uses them in a vivid, theatrical way that is both relevant to contemporary audiences, and distinctly Schwartz."
Schedule of Events for Seance Opera Premiere and Tickets
Tickets for the opera will be available to the general public as of July 15, 2009 at Opera Santa Barbara's website.
Special Events
All of the following events are open to the public with the exception of the gala black-tie dinner.
- WEEK ONE – September 26
- OSB will hold a block of premium orchestra seats until August 1 at market price ($150)
- Friday (9/25) 7:30 p.m. – Film screening of the 1964 classic, "Séance on a Wet Afternoon," followed by panel discussion. Invited guests on the panel include Stephen and Scott Schwartz, Roger Durling of the SB Film Festival. Critics from LA Times may also participate. ($10) Wine/cheese and chance to meet panel after for tour group only.
- Saturday (9/26) – 11:30 a.m. Backstage tour of The Granada. (No charge). Brunch at Tupelo Junction next door to the theatre (on your own)
- Pre-opera lecture – 45 minutes prior to curtain. No charge.
- OPTION ONE: Black Tie Dinner at 1128 State Street. Elegant gourmet dinner catered by the Four Seasons Biltmore. Reservation includes Afterglow reception immediately following the opera, at 1128 State Street. ($500)
- OPTION TWO: Cocktail Party prior to Red Carpet arrival at theatre (possibly on terrace of OSB Offices in Arts and Culture Building two blocks from theatre. ($20) Reception following the opera at 1128 State Street. ($75)
- 1128 State Street has a lovely private courtyard with fountain and former restaurant that will be the venue for both our Black Tie dinner and post-opera party conveniently located just a block from the theatre.
- WEEK TWO – October 2 and 4
- Open tickets – no holds on premium seating. Range of tickets from $20-150.
- OPTION ONE:
- Friday (10/2) – Optional Dinner in the Founder’s Room at The Granada catered by Via Maestra 43. ($75) Includes wines and dessert. 5:30 p.m.
- Optional pre-opera lecture – no charge. 45 minutes prior to curtain
- Saturday (10/3) – 11:30 a.m. Private backstage tour of The Granada. No charge.
- Possible wine country tour.
- Saturday Night at the Movies – Screening of the original film, "Séance on a Wet Afternoon" at Hahn Hall. Cocktail party for group can be arranged if desired. ($10 without cocktail party, $20 with party.)
- OPTION TWO:
- Saturday (10-3) 11:30 a.m. Backstage tour of The Granada
- Possible wine country tour
- Saturday Night at the Movies
- Sunday (10/4) – 1:00 - Pre-opera Luncheon in The Founders Room at The Granada, catered by Via Maestra 43, includes wine and dessert. ($45)
- Pre-opera lecture – 45-minutes prior to curtain
- "Séance on a Wet Afternoon" – 2:30
For inquiries and information about reservations, please call Marylove Thralls at Opera Santa Barbara, 805.898.3890.
Special Pro Musica Seance Opera Tour
Pro Musica Tours celebrates its 20th Anniversary with a special package for the eagerly anticipated World Premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s first opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon. Includes reserve tickets to the opera, accommodations, Santa Barbara area winery tour, wine lunch, sunset cruise and dinner. For information see our opera tour page.
Opera Cast; Production and Creative Team
Cast as announced to date- Lauren Flanigan, Soprano - Myra
- Kim Josephson, Baritone – Bill
- Hila Plitman, Soprano – Mrs. Clayton
- John Kimberling, Tenor – Mr. Clayton
- Craig Hart, Bass – Inspector Watts
- Production and Creative Team
- Scott Schwartz, Director
- Valery Ryvkyn, Conductor
- Heidi Ettinger, Scenic Designer
- David Lander, Lighting Designer
- Alejo Vietti, Costume Designer
- Matt Williams, Choreographer
- Michael Jackowitz, Executive Producer
- Steven Sharpe, General Director, Opera Santa Barbara
- Stephen Schwartz, Composer
About Stephen Schwartz: The award-winning songwriter of such Broadway hits as Pippin and Wicked, and three-time Academy Award winner (Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt). Read all about Stephen Schwartz and the full length creative biography Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked
Seance Opera News
UPDATE May 18, 2009 - Partial Casting Announced: Lauren Flanigan, who has performed the role of medium Myra Foster since the early workshops of Séance, will star in a cast that will also feature Kim Josephson (Bill), Hila Plitman (Mrs. Clayton), John Kimberling (Mr. Clayton) and Craig Hart (Inspector Watts).
UPDATE May 1, 2009 - New York City Opera's VOX 2009 (also known as "Showcasing American Opera") presented the first 20 minutes of Séance with full orchestration.
Photo: Stephen Schwartz (far left) takes a bow after the performance of a portion of Seance on a Wet Afternoon at New York City Opera's VOX Showcase
Comments by audience member Terence de Giere, co-webmaster of MusicalSchwartz.com
Unlike many of the works performed at VOX, Seance is written in a more classical, romantic vein, with a lush orchestra having a foundation of standard string instruments. While a fully modern work, classic orchestration makes this work more accessible to the average listener than works orchestrated with complex modern timbres and rythmic techniques. This will also make the opera more feasible for various orchestras as unusual distributions of instruments or extreme playing techniques are not required. Schwartz's goal with his first opera is to support the story by the music, telling the story in a theatrically compelling way rather than, as he says, "using the music as a clothesline upon which to hang the story."
His focus is on the singing voice, as well as the drama and psychology of the tale being told. In this he is drawing heavily on his experience in musical theater, where clarity of story and character is essential for having a successful show.
One listener commented to Stephen Schwartz after the performance, "It's so romantic!"
Photo: STephen Schwartz is seated between composers Jonathan Dawe and Yoav Gal
During the VOX presentation there was a roundtable discussion by the various composers discussing American opera. One point Schwartz made about composing for this medium is, unlike musical theatre, everything is sung, and everything is acoustic, there are no microphones to adjust and clarify musical lines, to shape or equalize a voice. All the effects must be written into the music so it is clear without any additional manipulation. In particular it is necessary sometimes to take a specific singer's vocal characteristics into consideration when writing a sequence to have the desired emotional effect to come off as intended. Composer Jonathan Dawe told Stephen that with his first opera he was "tapping into a continuum of 400 years." (Dawe's reference is to the beginning of opera in Italy at about the beginning of the 17th century.)
As of May 2009, Schwartz has now orchestrated the first act of the piece, and is now completeing the rest. This is a self-imposed challenge is a new one for Schwartz who has normally handed off this task to a collaborator when composing for musical theatre or film.
Stephen Schwartz's comments about the Seance project
"I have always loved, listened to, and attended opera," says Schwartz. "When I discovered this riveting story, I knew it demanded the kind of atmospheric moodiness that my music can provide. The two main characters are psychologically complex and compelling, with passionate needs and emotions. I am stretching the thematic and motific composition of my more recent musical theatre writing to create this dynamic new opera." -- Stephen Schwartz
Opera is the fastest-growing performance art in the country, enjoying a 35% increase in its audience in the past decade, according to the New York Times. Stephen Schwartz has long been a fan of the genre. Hear our Blog/Podcast interview with Stephen Schwartz about his opera interests. The Schwartz Scene 1st podcast: Schwartz on Opera and Wicked
From The Schwartz Scene newsletter 24 - Summer 2006
Stephen Schwartz: "Some of you may know I have taken on an exciting and terrifying new project; I have accepted a commission from Opera Santa Barbara to write an opera for them for their 2009 season, which sounds like a long way away but is actually the day after tomorrow. I've found a project, a book and movie from the 1960s called Seance On A Wet Afternoon. I've always been an opera aficionado, but the opera world is completely foreign to me, so needless to say I am finding the whole project a scary proposition. But I am eager to get started, get writing, and enter this terra incognita...."
From The Schwartz Scene newsletter 25 - Fall 2006
Stephen Schwartz: "I'm looking forward to meeting while out here with the folks from Opera Santa Barbara to cement the schedule for the opera I am writing for them, SÉANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON...."
From The Schwartz Scene newsletter 26 - Winter 2007
Stephen Schwartz: "...Work continues on the opera I am writing, SÉANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON. Its premiere is scheduled for October 2009 at the newly renovated Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, California (assuming the renovation of the Grenada is actually completed by then.)"
From The Schwartz Scene newsletter 28 - Summer 2007
I am sitting in a beautiful apartment upstairs in the Adirondack house of Patrice Munsel, the former opera star famous as The Merry Widow. There is a huge picture window overlooking Schroon Lake, and the sun is just rising over the eastern hills. These are the surprisingly luxurious accommodations they have given me as I work just up the road at the Seagle Music Colony, or as I am calling it, "opera camp", where I am doing a workshop of the first act of my opera-in-progress Seance on a Wet Afternoon.
The Seagle Colony was founded just after the first world war, and for the past several years under the direction of Darren Woods, it has been a place for promising opera students to hone their skills and take classes in acting, movement, audition technique, etc. between their graduation from college and the beginning of their professional careers. Darren has very generously made available this talented group of young people, who are giving me a chance to hear what I've written and improve it. I've only been here a couple of days, but I have already learned so much about the piece. I know by the time the workshop is over two weeks from now, it will have provided me with a major step forward.
Watch clip from fall 2008 workshop. Click on movie image on this site: OperaProjects.org
About Seance on a Wet Afternoon film
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964 movie)
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (B&W)
In an Oscar nominated Best Actress performance, Kim Stanley plays Myra, a deluded woman who sways her weak-willed husband, played by Richard Attenborough. The dark film drama won a slew of awards.
Plot: Myra, a self-styled psychic in London, concocts a scheme to gain celebrity. She convinces Billy, her weak-willed husband, to kidnap the young daughter of wealthy parents. She and Billy will demand money, and then she will go to the parents with extra-sensory messages that will help the police find the child and the ransom. The plan unfolds beautifully, except that after her first visit to the parents, the police want to check her out. He's scared. As her delusions worsen, Bill realizes Myra may not want the child found alive. Behind it all is also the death at birth, years before, of their only child, whom they've named Arthur and who is Myra's contact with the beyond.
Opera for Novices
Catch up with Opera.
Bravo!: A Guide to Opera for the Perplexed
From a Library Journal review: "if those who are baffled will pull Scherer's book off the shelf, they soon will see the form clearly through the eyes of an ardent fan. The book is chock full of opera facts, history, and lore. Scherer's discussions of the various styles of opera (Italian, German, French, Russian, English, and American) are concise yet well connected to the overall picture."
Opera is growing--in the size of its audience, in the number of companies, in general interest--and is attracting a lot of attention among younger, more visually oriented people. But opera can be intimidating to the uninitiated: it's sung in foreign languages and has odd little customs (such as women singing the parts of young boys, and hefty middle-aged singers portraying teenaged lovers) that may be disconcerting at first. But opera needn't be at all intimidating, thanks to the miracle of supertitles (like subtitles, but projected above the stage), the advent of generations of singers who work at staying in shape, and the appearance of reference works like Opera for Dummies that are designed to remove the snobbery and mystery from opera.
Schwartz's Choral Song
"Keramos"
One Is the All
Question: I know the work was commissioned by the Choral Project. Did you choose the text? If so, how did you come upon it? How did you decide which verses to include, omit, and the ordering of verses?
Answer from Stephen Schwartz: The text was originally suggested to me by Daniel Hughes, the director of the Choral Project. I liked it very much when he sent it to me, and it immediately suggested music to me, particularly the constant, circular motion you mention. I went through the poem and made decisions about what verses to include and in what order, based on my own responses to the content and emotion of the poem. I tried to arrive at a structure that had its own natural build and "story".
Question: How do you define "Keramos"? I have found several translations, and since the utterances of the word sound like various layers of the movement of the wheel, I wondered how you see, or hear the translation of the word.
Answer from Stephen Schwartz: I was been told by friends who speak Greek, when I asked, that "keramos" can mean both the "ceramic" and the "ceramicist" (or "potter".) I tended to think of it more as the former, as the clay that is being formed and reformed by the invisible Potter, be it nature or the universe or God.
PHOTO: Here Stephen Schwartz (on the right) poses for a photo with cellist Peter Sachon, for whom Schwartz wrote a classical piece. Photo by Mark Rupp.
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