Opera Composer's Showcase at The Clarice

Cast

Marcel Sawyer as Paul Laurence Dunbar

Jouelle Roberson as Alice Ruth Moore

Anitra McKinney as Patricia Moore

Danielle Muse as Victoria Matthews

Symone Harcum as Mary Leila Wright

https://theclarice.umd.edu/events/2018/opera-composers-showcase

Segment Synopsis

Dayton, Ohio, 1895. Paul Laurence Dunbar, American poet on the cusp of fame, returns home from his job as an elevator boy to find Major James Pond, his manager, excited with the news that a book of Dunbar’s poems has been favorably reviewed in the prestigious Harper’s Weekly Magazine. Though the review would bring the poet national success, his joy is subdued when he realizes the reviewer has overlooked his serious poems and praised only the works written in dialect, referring to them as “darky poems.” His mood changes when Paul sees a review of a book by Alice Ruth Moore and is entranced by her photo. Despite his mother's protests, he decides to write her a letter and quickly finds himself uncontrollably in love. Alice is flattered and enticed by the fairy-tale romance but has her apprehensions.

On the day Alice is to receive an award for her poetry, Victoria, a woman well connected in African-American elite circles, comes to visit Alice in her home where she lives with her mother, Patricia, and sister, Lelia. This afternoon’s excerpt begins with the scene Victoria, Darling, as the sisters are giddy with excitement over Victoria’s sophistication and her stories of world travel and friends of great fame. She offers Alice a position in her school and with it the chance for a life as a socialite. Patricia, perhaps wanting to be protective or perhaps with other motivations, calls it a pipe dream and sends Victoria on her way.

In three arias and a duet, Yours Very Truly, A Lyric, I Am Sincerely Yours, A Poem for Alice, Alice and Dunbar blend letters and poems into an epistolary scena. At the conclusion of this romantic fantasy, Lelia asks Alice if she really loves Dunbar. Her unexpected response, I Could Learn to Love Him, is interrupted when Alice is confronted by Patricia, resulting in a brutal battle of wills between mother and daughter that concludes Act 1 with a cliff-hanger.

Instrumentalists

Joshua Benitez - Flute

Lydia Consilvio - Oboe / English Horn

Shawn Buck - Clarinet in A / Bb

Benjamin McKnight - Horn

Anthony Daniel - Trumpet

Kim Sator - Harp

Vincent Henningfield - Piano

Kimberly Johnson - Bass