Donning drag to fight injustice in Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’
by Scott C. Morgan
In Ludwig van Beethoven’s 1805 opera “Fidelio,” a woman named Leonore dons male attire to infiltrate a prison to find and rescue her political prisoner husband, Florestan. In her male guise as “Fidelio,” Leonore is so convincing (and more importantly competent) as a prison worker that the warden grants his grown daughter’s own request for a marriage engagement to him.
Women taking on outwardly male personas is a well-worn dramatic and theatrical device, especially in Shakespearean comedies and in operas by composers such as Mozart, Gounod, and Richard Strauss. But nowadays, with Republicans across the U.S. relentlessly out to legislate drag bans, could Utah Opera be in the cultural cross-hairs by staging a new production of “Fidelio”?
Texas-based director Tara Faircloth doesn’t think so. Faircloth, a veteran director of several Utah Opera productions like “Pagliacci,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” and “The Little Prince,” has a quick retort for anyone who would attack “Fidelio” solely for its cross-dressing.
“It would be very ironic if the drag element kept people from coming because [‘Fidelio’] is the ultimate celebration of heterosexual married love,” Faircloth said. “The entire last five minutes are of the chorus singing what a joy it is to have an incredible wife.”
But what could make Utah Opera’s new “Fidelio” controversial is Faircloth’s new conceptual interpretation of Beethoven’s only opera. Faircloth’s approach grew from a Houston Symphony concert version of “Fidelio” that she staged in 2017.
“If you’ve seen it multiple times, you’ve noticed that there’s quite a bit of German dialogue,” said Faircloth, adding that some American opera companies switch between spoken English and sung German when they stage “Fidelio,” or that the spoken German dialogue gets drastically cut.
“I’ve cut all of the German dialogue and replaced it with a character that we’re calling ‘The Oracle,’ who is stringing the scenes along,” Faircloth said.
The Oracle also shares quotes by revolutionaries, poets, and thinkers throughout time. For instance, there are 20th-century quotes by the likes of gay African-American poet Langston Hughes and Indian Independence Movement leader Mahatma Gandhi that are used to tie into and reflect on the action and ideas within “Fidelio.”
Faircloth was able to get Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad to narrate her 2017 “Fidelio” concert. But for The Oracle for Utah Opera, Faircloth wanted to have a strong local connection with broadcaster and former Miss America 1985 Sharlene Wells.
“I wanted someone who carried a certain sense of gravitas, but also elegance,” Faircloth said. “Sharlene Wells will tell you immediately that she’s not an actress, but she is an excellent public speaker and she brings a lot of heart to our work.”
Visually, Faircloth and her production team are aiming for a “Fidelio” to look both timeless and even in the “not-too-distant” future. It’s a change from more recent “Fidelio” productions like late director Jürgen Flimm’s 2000 staging for The Metropolitan Opera that looked like a 20th-century South American military junta, or director Matthew Owaza’s high-tech 2021 San Francisco Opera staging that brought to mind corporately owned prisons and migrant detention centers.
“It’s not a ‘Star Wars’ opera by any means,” said Faircloth, though she admits that the George Lucas TV series “Andor” was an inspiration for costume designer Fan Zhang and projection designer Sarah Tundermann.
“‘Andor’ has similar themes, actually, about dealing with a fascist regime and a rebellion underground,” Faircloth said. “And so the costumes have a slightly futuristic feel, although in the way of ‘Andor,’ they also reference the past quite a bit. So, it’s a world where things have been reused and recycled — a semi-post-apocalyptic feeling.”
Faircloth hopes audiences can find relevant parallels between “Fidelio” and recent U.S. history and our current political moment.
“‘Fidelio’ is a piece that is unfortunately incredibly relevant today, 200 years ago, and probably in another 100 years,” Faircloth said. “Just because of its ultimate message of mankind’s desire for freedom from tyranny and the lengths that people who are in love will go to protect and save one another.”
Utah Opera’s new production of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” plays five performances at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 S., Salt Lake City. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Friday, Jan. 17 and 23, 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, Jan. 19 and 21, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25. Sung in German with projected English translations and spoken English. Tickets are $26-$117 with discounts available for students with ID and audiences under the age of 30. Call (801) 533-6683 or visit usuo.org.
