Cynthia Stokes strolled through the lush atrium of the University of Arizona’s three-year-old ENR2 building one sun-soaked day in early October and tried to paint a picture of what will take place this weekend when that courtyard becomes the stage for UA Opera’s production of “La Hija de Rappaccini.”
“One of the things I thought about a setting like this is how cool would it be to see it from different perspectives,” she said, pointing out where the bulk of the audience — as many as 350 people — will sit on the patio for free performances on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 10 and 11.
She looked up to the second floor, then the third and suggested that perhaps, if needed, some people could watch from the balconies. But that might get a bit tricky when it comes time for the rose character — several singers portray plants in the opera — to unfurl her 30-foot arms from the second story balcony to the courtyard below.
“This piece is wonderful and weird,” Stokes said. “It’s going to be an extraordinary theatrical experience.”
For the first time in the history of the University of Arizona’s opera program, a production will be held outside of the Fred Fox School of Music’s Crowder Hall. ENR2 houses the Institute of the Environment, School of Natural Resources, Office of Sustainability and three other programs.
That fulfills a goal of Stokes, who has headed up the Opera Theater program for two years, to present opera in unusual spaces.
“I don’t know if you have to do it every time you do an opera, but on the other side of the argument is making sure that we are staying fresh and that we are not doing the same thing decade after decade,” said Fred Fox School Director Edward Reid. “I applaud Cynthia for thinking this way. Cynthia is sort of known for taking things out of the traditional hall and broadcasting them elsewhere so it wasn’t a surprise when she suggested ENR2.”
Stokes said the courtyard of ENR2 spoke to her the minute she walked through the breezeway onto the path that winds through a lush green landscape of desert plants and bushes. The setting fit the storyline of Mexican composer Daniel Catán’s Spanish language opera. Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1844 short story titled “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” it takes place in a poisonous garden where the daughter of the garden’s caretaker becomes just as poisonous as the plants she tends.
What more perfect setting for a story about a garden than to perform it in an actual garden.
“It feels right for this space,” Stokes said. “Mother Nature is at the center of this building and this opera. When I stopped and thought about it, it just made sense.”
About a year ago, she pitched the idea to Reid. Then she pitched it to the folks at ENR2.
The powers that be signed on with twin emotions: excitement and a sense of “Whoa, how are you going to do this?” said ENR2 building manager Maggie Heard. In addition to the requisite lighting and moving a pair of pianos from Crowder Hall across campus to ENR2, the production includes a scene where characters “fly” overhead. Which means they had to bring in riggers to set up the cables between ENR2’s two four-story buildings to make that happen.
But Heard said bringing opera to ENR2 will only enhance the building’s reputation on campus and in the community.
“This building has become this entity on campus so it’s nice to have things like the opera to highlight,” said Heard, who said that other performances have taken place in the courtyard since it opened in 2015, but mostly just small choral groups or a singer with a guitar.
Heard said she will be in the audience Saturday. Reid also plans to attend. Admission both nights is free and there will pre-performance discussions with environmentalists and artists each night. There also will be food trucks, Stokes said. Reid confessed he’s not a huge opera fan, “but I’m excited about this one in particular because it’s innovative and obviously very different from what opera goers are used to seeing in Tucson,” he said. “It’s going to be a very unique weekend.”
