American Premiere of Pietà paired with Suor Angelica
Sydney Stephenson
The twisted and captivating tale of Pietà/Suor Angelica took the stage this past weekend as a part of the Wanda Bass School of Music season. Pietà/Suor Angelica are two separate operas that tie into each other through characters and plot lines. Pietà is a new opera co-written by the director of this production, Andrea DelGiudice. Both operas are set in 1945 Venice, Italy and follow the story of two institutions for young women. These two stories focus heavily on themes of mercy, imprisonment, the meaning of motherhood, and hope.
Pietà, told in English is about a part conservatory, part orphanage that takes in young girls and trains them in music. Giorgio (Christian Atherton/James Pendergast) falls for one of the girls from the institution, Genovieffa (Audrey Logan/Isabella Ruano). Ugo (Logan Dooley/Joshua Cominsky) and Editta (Emma Mize/Irma Gonzalez), the grandparents of Giorgio, have a similar story to that of Genovieffa and Giorgio.
Suor Angelica, told in Italian, picks up where Pietà leaves off. It begins in a different institution which is a home for young mothers and babies. Genovieffa is sent there by Ugo and Editta. Through Pietà, we discover that Angelica (Christen Mayer/Amelia Unger) had a baby seventeen years ago who happens to be Giorgio. Editta returns to Angelica at the institution, Casa Santa Maria, to ask her to sign papers to prevent Angelica from receiving Giorgio’s financial inheritance. Angelica realizes Giorgio has died and she becomes delusional and poisons herself to join her son.
Suor Angelica is typically paired with the opera, Gianni Schicchi, which follows the storyline of what happens after Suor Angelica. But Pietà’s complex prequel story paired together beautifully instead.
Even in another language, the cast and design team told a beautiful story. The technical elements of this show were breathtaking. The talent that was on the Kirk Theatre stage was some of Oklahoma City University’s best. Through the dark storytelling, the cast was able to compel the suffering and despair of the music.
Great review and photo. So much talent on one campus.