Innovative Opera

MUSIC

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

An innovation-filled local opera scene — from a production staged in a parking garage to one focused on a 21st century family — came to town in 2020 with the arrival of Yuval Sharon, who spent pre-school years in Israel.

The artistic director of Detroit Opera (a recent name change from Michigan Opera Theatre) is about to present audiences with another imaginative presentation by reversing the order of acts in Puccini’s classic opera La bohème, which expresses the loves, hopes and struggles of four young bohemians.

It will be presented April 2, 6 and 10 at the Detroit Opera House as the first mainstage production since the pandemic.

“Either people will be experiencing this opera for the first time or as if it was their first time because no one has heard it this way before,” said Sharon, who developed and directs the production that ends with some dewy anticipation of tomorrow. “We’re offering a truly democratic experience of opera because everyone is on the same level for this piece.”

Sharon, who divides his time as founding co-artistic director of The Industry, an experimental opera company in Los Angeles, has been thinking about the changes to La bohème for

15 years because of the musical circularity and episodic quality of the four acts, making it a less traditional narrative than other operas.

Previous less traditional approaches to La bohème have been stylistic adaptations of what the opera encompasses, such as jazz pianist Dick Hyman’s version of the single piece “Musetta’s Waltz” and Jonathan Larson’s Broadway musical Rent as based on the entire opera.

Sharon said he has been told that even people experiencing the opera for the first time will comment that they are familiar with some of the music.

“There’s good reason why it’s the world’s most popular opera,” Sharon said. “Puccini captured the absolute essence of youth, what it means to be young and vibrant and full of hope and love. It’s hope despite the truth of what it means to be human, and doing it in reverse order, we’re actually starting with the hardest part of it, the death of Mimi.

“As we’re emerging from this period of death from COVID, this is the moment to be doing this kind of treatment. There’s still not an end to the tragedy because COVID is not fully over, but we’re starting to move into hope. It’s part of what art is there to do, and that’s part of why we turn to art even in the darkest of times.”

To keep the narrative cohesive in this new staging, Sharon adds a new role, The Wanderer, portrayed by George Shirley to give a spoken foundation for each act with text from the original opera source material.

Others appearing in the opera include Aundi Marie Moore (Mimi), Matthew White (Rodolfo), Edward Parks (Marcello) and Brandie Inez Sutton (Musetta). Vimbayi Kaziboni, guest maestro for prestigious orchestras internationally and assistant professor of orchestral studies and contemporary music for the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, is conducting.

Chorus member Fred Buchalter marks his 100th production with the company and his sixth production of La bohème.

“Each of the La bohème productions has been unique but not nearly as much as this one,” said Buchalter, retired from a long on-air and production career in radio but continuing with acting and singing roles, including appearances with the Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET) and the Congregation Shaarey Zedek chorus.

“It’s nice to be doing a wonderful piece like this but looking at it from a different perspective of [going back in time}. I think of my Jewish heritage because our holidays and traditions are based in history.”

Some 40 years of opera experiences enter into the memoir Buchalter wrote and published during pandemic confinement: My Unexpected Life: The Extraordinary Journey of an Ordinary Man.

The company launched some 50 years ago as Detroit Overture to Opera, a branch of the Detroit Grand Opera Association presenting excerpted operas for educational outreach. Under the leadership of the late David DiChiera, the organization matured into a bona fide company in 1971 and became an independent organization as Michigan Opera Theatre in 1973.

“I was interested in changing the name to Detroit Opera [soon after joining the company],” said Sharon, enthusiastic about current building renovations making the hall more fully accessible. “It felt really important as I needed to get more on the ground in Detroit, have more experience with productions here and get to know the people.

“My time in Detroit has been really meaningful, and it continues to remind me that this is a company of its community. That’s why it was so important that its name reflected that. It was for us to signal to our community how much we belong to the cultural fabric of this city, and when we say Detroit, we’re talking Metro Detroit.

“That’s in line with how opera is seen nationally and around the world — as connected with a city. It’s also important to say, on the national stage, that we are going to be connected to Detroit as a civic center.”

Sharon, who has connected personally with the Metro Detroit Jewish community as he attends services at the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, is working with Spoleto Festival USA and Boston Lyric Opera as co-producers of La bohème,

“The co-producers are helping to make this production as fully realized as possible,” Sharon said. “The work happening in Detroit is going to be exported to the larger world.”

La bohème will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 2; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 10, at the Detroit Opera House. Tickets start at $29. Proof of full vaccination or a recent test, with masking, required. (313) 237-7464. Detroitopera.org.

World Social Work Day was March 15, and JARC celebrated the hard work and dedication of the social workers who assist the people JARC serves. This year’s theme was “Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind.” The social work staff at JARC is no exception as they help develop trust, security and confidence in all people JARC serves. JARC salutes the values and principles of social workers who provide respect and enhance lives.