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During the Covid time period while Metopera.org broadcasts opera for 24 hours a day -- that is, a new opera every night, I have planned to watch their offerings.
Time constraints can make that seem impossible, but not if my goal is to watch even just 15 minutes -- sometimes just an overture will do.
Last night Bonnie and I sat down to watch something, anything, while we ate supper which was largely made of left overs. I can't say that we were expecting a really interesting evening.
"You are going to be surprised when you see what we can watch tonight," Bonnie called from the living room. She had been setting up a chromecast to a larger TV so that we don't have to swatch off of our laptop screens.
"Porgy and Bess."
"What!"
She was right. And it is broadcast again tonight, so we may watch it again. We had to come off the chromecast. The closed captions were fuzzy. Still we watched until the intermission. I made brownies while she cleaned up after our dinner and in 20 minutes we were watching again -- just about the same amount of time that there would have been for an intermission at the theatre.
After the credits rolled by, four interviews are taped. One is with the choreographer, Camille Brown and after watching that, Bonnie and I used youtube to find out more about her dance studio. She specializes in the social dance of black peoples. An incredible interview with her!
The singers who play Crown and Sportin' Life explained how character coaches had helped them to understand the villainous characters they play and how to express the human complexity of such people.
Porgy (Eric Owens) and Bess (Angel Blue) are interviewed as well.
If you have time and even 15 minutes, tune in to this production tonight.
By the way, here are the answers to some questions I had:
1. Where is this opera set? Answer: Charleston, South Carolina
2. Gullah traditions are show in the opera. What are Gullah traditions? Answer: Gullah traditions are the customs, beliefs and ways of life that have been passed down among Sea Island families. Making sweetgrass baskets, quilting, and knitting fishing nets are a few of the crafts that parents and grandparents teach children. Folklore, stories and songs have also been handed down over the years. (See Wiki)
3. What are Gullah religions? Answer: The Gullah people were primarily under the auspices of Baptist or Methodist churches. Since the 1700s, slaves in the lowcountry were attracted to “Evangelical Protestantism.” Evangelical Protestantism includes Calvinist Methodist, Arminian Methodist or Baptist (which includes Arminians and Calvinists).
4. What are the rules for playing in a dice game as we see acted in Porgy and Bess? Answer: again go to wiki, since box-cars, bones, etc are all explained there.
Arta
From Moiya:
ReplyDeleteI had a wonderful evening watching Porgy and Bess. David hooked it up to our big screen with and HDMI cable and it worked way better than mirroring our laptop to the big screen.
I laughed and cried. I guess we don’t have to look far to see our own communities facing all of the same challenges. I just loved seeing the all black cast portraying the very same challenges we have in our own communities.
The characters playing the protagonists were amazing… their movements … their sliding into people’s lives like a snake … their amazing voices!
…not to mention the dancing
Good vs Evil – all the way through.
I loved seeing the devotion that community had to their “Lawrd”. Especially when Porgy had his next door neighbor come into his home to pray for Bess’s deliverance in 5 days. It was so very touching to me.
So many of us have addictions that are so very hard to overcome.
Thanks Arta and Bonnie for giving me notice of one my favorite Operas.
I might watch it again today.
Love Moiya