NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Jeanine Tesori watched the world premiere run of her 鈥淕rounded鈥� with director Michael Mayer and noticed audience fidgeting.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 need a transplant of a liver, but what it needed was maybe just a different approach,鈥� Mayer recalled.
鈥淪ome rhinoplasty,鈥� Tesori interjected. 鈥淎 tracheotomy at one point.鈥�
Tesori becomes the first woman composer to open a season in the Metropolitan Opera鈥檚 141-year history when a revised 鈥淕rounded鈥� starring mezzo-soprano Emily D鈥橝ngelo is given a gala premiere on Monday night. Thirty-five minutes have been cut since the six Kennedy Center performances, the first act trimmed from 82 to 60 and the second from 62 to 49. A Trainer character was eliminated.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know until you know. And then you know,鈥� Tesori said.
This is the fourth opera by Tesori after 鈥淎 Blizzard on Marblehead Neck鈥� (2011), 鈥淭he Lion, the Unicorn, and Me鈥� (2013) and 鈥淏lue鈥� (2019). She won Tony Awards for the scores of 鈥淔un Home鈥� and 鈥淜imberly Akimbo,鈥� and Mayer won for directing 鈥淪pring Awakening.鈥�
They have to adjust far less stage rehearsal time for opera than theater.
鈥淭he work doesn鈥檛 really start until you鈥檙e in previews when we鈥檙e doing musicals, whether it鈥檚 out of town or Broadway,鈥� Mayer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like triage. You deal with the bleeders right away, but then you have the time to look at what the next major things are.鈥�
Based on George Brant鈥檚 one-woman play, 鈥淕rounded鈥� tells the story of Jess, a fighter pilot grounded due to her pregnancy who becomes a Las Vegas-based drone pilot and crashes her Reaper rather than kill a young girl as collateral damage to a Middle Eastern target.
Brant wrote the play in 2011 after reading about the drone program in a 鈥淪tars and Stripes鈥� online report. It opened in 2013 and gained attention with a 2015 New York Public Theater production starring Anne Hathaway. Brant also wrote the libretto and expanded the cast to include a husband Eric (tenor Ben Bliss), Commander (bass-baritone Greer Grimsley), Sensor (baritone Kyle Miller), an alter ego character Also Jess (soprano Ellie Dehn) and a chorus.
D鈥橝ngelo spoke with fighter pilots in her preparation.
鈥淪o much care was taken in really honoring and being true to what they do,鈥� D鈥橝ngelo said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no caricature at work here. It鈥檚 all taken very seriously.鈥�
On the day of the final Washington National Opera performance last Nov. 13, Tesori met in an upstairs rehearsal room with Mayer, dramaturg Paul Cremo, choreographer David Neumann and Mayer assistant Marcus Shields. The meeting started at 12:30 p.m. and stretched for 9 1/2 hours, resulting in a book filled with bullet points detailing needed changes. Tesori composed in a rented house on Long Island鈥檚 North Fork, taking a break for a January workshop and completing the revised score by April 1.
Met music director Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin was surprised Tesori made more cuts when rehearsals started in August. About 45 minutes of music was jettisoned from the world premiere version of last Oct. 28 and 10 minutes of new composition added.
鈥淚 was kind of defending the composer as we would do today if Verdi was alive or Donizetti: 鈥楾he music is perfect as it is. Let鈥檚 not cut,鈥欌�� N茅zet-S茅guin said. 鈥淚t was fascinating to see that the composer herself was more like: `No, this needs to be cut because it鈥檚 detracting from what I want in the story line.'鈥�
Ethel M. Smyth鈥檚 鈥淒er Wald (The Forest)鈥� was the first opera by a woman composer at the Met in 1903 and (Love from Afar)鈥� the second in 2016. After 鈥淕rounded,鈥� the Met has three works by women scheduled in 2026: (opening April 6), Gabriela Lena Frank鈥檚 鈥淓l 脷ltimo Sue帽o de Frida y Diego鈥� (May 14) and Missy Mazzoli鈥檚 鈥淟incoln in the Bardo鈥� (Oct. 23).
鈥淚f we are claiming that opera needs to appeal to everyone and needs to be related and connected to the life experiences of everyone in the audience, we do have to present on the stage the vision of everyone,鈥� N茅zet-S茅guin said. 鈥淚鈥檓 convinced it鈥檚 a very different perspective, and even the music sounds different because it鈥檚 a woman composing it.鈥�
Mimi Lien鈥檚 set is dominated by 224 LED tiles, 140 panels and 28 half panels manufactured by ROE and rented from 4Wall Entertainment in a video design by Jason Thompson and Kaitlyn Pietras.
鈥淚 was interested in the kind of combination between image and space or between actual physical, tangible structure and virtual imagery and how to combine those,鈥� Lien said, 鈥渃olored with the overall context of drone warfare and surveillance and the kind of preponderance of imagery into our daily lives.鈥�
There will be eight Met performances through Oct. 19, with the last televised to movie theaters worldwide.
Met opening night puts a spotlight on performers, productions and composers for an audience attending the start of New York鈥檚 social season, whom N茅zet-S茅guin termed "people who come to the opera just rarely or civic leaders or socialites and people from different industries.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to show them what our values are and who we are as an institution," he said.
Met general manager Pete Gelb has put a post-pandemic emphasis on contemporary composers.
鈥淚鈥檓 living right now,鈥� Tesori said playfully during a Sept. 9 creative team and cast discussion at the Guggenheim Museum. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see how next week goes.鈥�
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This update removes reference to Emily D鈥橝ngelo as being the only holdover.
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
