Note from the Librettist

Mark Campbell Librettist

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” —Laurie

Colwin

While many food historians credit Thomas Jefferson as the "inventor" of mac 'n' cheese, one of the conjunctiontruncated, artery-clogging food our country deifies, it was indeed James Hemings, one of Jefferson's slaves, who brought the dish over from Paris and introduced it to our divided shores. This culinary moment may not nearly rival Selma or the Little Rock Nine in cultural significance, but it certainly gains validity at a time when politicians are banning books to actively negate African American history and appease their less enlightened constituents.

But this is a comic opera. And it is hoped that the serious message couched cozily inside the story of The Cook-Off and the knowledge that it is set it in Charlottesville two years before the white supremacist "Unite the Right" rally—are concealed by a sparkly veneer of humor and satire. From the purposefully cliche-ridden theme song that starts and ends the opera to the obvious product placements to the celebrity judge's "gourmet-speak" to the whole ridiculous format of competitive cooking shows, this opera lampoons our country and food culture as much as it examines a serious issue. It also acknowledges that food is not just sustenance, as Ms. Colwin astutely observed in the quote above.

I am grateful to Chicago Opera Theater and their stellar Vanguard program for giving me the opportunity to tell this story but also introducing me to composer Shawn Okpebholo. Shawn is an expert musical dramatist and his future in opera is already assured.

Mark Campbell, April 2023