Harvey Milk opera the only one of its kind that centres on LGBTI protagonist
Image: Harvey Milk was one of America's foremost LGBTI activists and political pioneers. (PHOTO: Dan Nicoletta)
ATTRACTING audiences to an opera about an iconic LGBTI rights activist is tough.
Tougher than I had (naively) expected when I set out to produce Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie鈥檚 opera Harvey Milk back in 2010. Why go to a contemporary opera about an American politician who died 30-something years ago when you can watch a movie, a musical or the one millionth production of The Magic Flute? And if you鈥檙e an opera company or the media, why give it a platform?
[showads聽ad=MREC]I might be a little biased, but I can think of two pretty good reasons.
When it premiered exactly 20聽years ago, Harvey Milk was the first opera commissioned by a major company, perhaps the first ever, to feature an openly gay protagonist. It is still, as far as I know, the only major opera to celebrate LGBTI activism.聽That鈥檚 a big deal for an art form that鈥檚 been around since the late 16th century. For regular opera goers, LGBTI audiences and the many LGBTI people聽who have devoted themselves to the creation of an art form that has never before acknowledged their existence, the significance of this is less about watching two male lovers sing a duet, and more about the importance of such an established art-form finally telling a queer story.
I鈥檓 always hearing that opera is a dying art form. Companies around the world struggle to draw an audience and so rely on the La Bohemes and Carmens to stay afloat. It makes sense. The classics sell tickets. So, how then does opera stay current?
The relevance of Harvey鈥檚 story is the second reason this piece should be seen. I was speaking to a journalist recently who suggested the difficulty in promoting Harvey Milk may be that it鈥檚 seen as an American story. Well, when it comes to equality for the LGBTI community, Australia and the US聽have had a lot in common for a long time. With the plebiscite looming, Australia is on the precipice, but is apathy stalling the inevitable?
Harvey was anything but complacent. He encouraged LGBTI people to let their friends, colleagues and family know who they were and what they wanted. When it comes to politics, I鈥檝e often reminded聽my parents that they need to vote with their son in mind. That鈥檚 what Harvey was all about, and it鈥檚 a timely message.
These two reasons have kept my co-producer Michele Bauer and I thinking about how to present Harvey Milk for five聽years. Last year, we finally approached the Melbourne Gay & Lesbian Chorus and together, presented excerpts in a semi-staged concert for this year鈥檚 Midsumma Festival. The response from many was: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 normally like opera, but I loved this鈥�.
Wallace and Korie鈥檚 score isn鈥檛 conventional opera. It鈥檚 an eclectic combination of Puccini, music theatre, jazz and modern opera, and the mix of voices reflects that. We have principals from Opera Australia, Victorian Opera and a number of major musicals, and thanks to their talents and the support of the City of Sydney, we鈥檙e now teaming with the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir to bring Harvey Milk 鈥� The Opera in Concert to Sydney Town Hall.
Perhaps one day there will be another full production of this great work, complete with sets and orchestra. But for now, audiences can experience our stripped-back telling of Harvey鈥檚 incredible story, produced and performed by a group of people to whom his legacy means something. For whom life is easier because of men and women like him. A lot of passion has led to this performance. Harvey Milk deserves nothing less.
‘Harvey Milk 鈥� The Opera in Concert’聽is on November 15 at Sydney Town Hall. Details:
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