Caitlin C. Vincent ’07, a History and Literature concentrator, is the
stage director of the Dunster House Opera (DHO) production of “The
Marriage of Figaro.” Trained in classical voice, Vincent jumped into
the campus opera scene from the start of her time at Harvard.
I started taking classical
voice lessons when I was 14, and I had always planned to continue
singing at college. Harvard was the only non-conservatory school that I
applied to, and I ended up choosing it because of the performing
opportunities (Harvard has far more opportunities for undergraduate
singers than most other places). Once I was here, I just started
auditioning.
Since her freshman year, Vincent has been deeply
involved in campus opera productions. As a senior, Vincent now returns
with “The Marriage of Figaro” to the place she began four years ago.
I have always had a sort of
soft spot for DHO because one of the first productions I did at Harvard
was DHO’s “Cosi Fan Tutte.” I was only in the chorus, but I had a
wonderful time. My junior year, I had a more substantial role in DHO’s
“Dialogues of the Carmelites.” So I guess I never really left DHO.
Unlike Lowell House Opera (LHO), which primarily casts
semi-professional singers from local conservatories, DHO is staged
entirely by Harvard undergraduates.
LHO always presents excellent
productions, and when I performed in “Don Giovanni” and “L’enfant et
les Sortilèges” with LHO, I was very impressed with the
professionalism. But, at the same time, I’ve always felt a bit
uncomfortable with the lack of Harvard students in the productions. DHO
actually makes use of the tremendous talent we have among our
undergraduate community, and, in my opinion, the productions are
equally high-quality.
Under Vincent’s direction, “The Marriage of Figaro” gets a modern update with a presidential spin.
I wanted to give the
production some historical depth without making it a period piece, so I
set the opera in the late 1950s/early 1960s. It made sense to present
the Count and Countess as operatic versions of John F. Kennedy and
Jackie Onassis, considering the Count’s frequent infidelities but
overwhelming charm, and the Countess’s penchant for forgiveness.
Elaborating on her artistic vision, Vincent argues that opera isn’t as high brow as it may seem.
I think that theatrical
productions often get bogged down with artistic snobbery. Opera, in
particular, has a reputation for being all snootiness: only the most
intellectual people can truly appreciate the beauty of opera, etc. I
couldn’t disagree more. In the end, all theater is about emotion. The
most important thing is to express these emotions to the audience. If a
director tries to cater to some pretentious expectation, the emotions
don’t always get through.
To that end, opera-goers should leave their English-Italian dictionaries at home.
This production of “The
Marriage of Figaro” is accessible to everyone. First of all, the opera
is sung entirely in English. I’ve also tried to express my own humor
and sense of fun in the staging of the opera. The result has been some
unorthodox, but all the more entertaining, characters.
In the end, it’s all about the music. Tapping into the
campus’ operatic talents with some help from veterans of the
Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Vincent is confident that “The
Marriage of Figaro” will be one of the best opera productions that
Harvard has recently seen.
Audiences should see Marriage
of Figaro for the singers. This production has some of the best opera
singers on campus, and they are all surprisingly good actors and
comedians as well. It’s really a chance to see a dozen fantastic
singers (most of whom don’t get the exposure they deserve) performing
in one of the best operas ever.
Dunster House
Opera’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro” runs from Feb. 9-11 and
from Feb. 16-17 at 8:30 p.m. in the Dunster House Dining Hall.
—Emily G. W. Chau
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