Sexton’s candid poetry holds nothing back.
Abortion, masturbation, incest — University Opera’s production of Transformations, even though it’s derived from fairytales, is definitely not for children.
With a score by composer Conrad Susa, the opera is based on the poems of Anne Sexton, where she retells 10 fairytales, including “Snow White,” Rumpelstiltskin” and “Rapunzel.”
The show, which opens on March 11 at Music Hall, explores the stories’ psychological implications, often using a confessional, even confrontational approach.
Sexton (1928-1974) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning Massachusetts writer who suffered from mental illness most of her life. The former model and mother of two wrote about her difficulties in her work, winning wide acclaim as a “confessional poet.”
The opera is based on her 1971 book of the same name, which retells Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It’s also an autobiographical work in which Sexton deals with her struggles with depression, reports sexual abuse at the hands of her father and claims an erotic relationship with her great-aunt.
“She treats adult subjects pretty candidly,” says David Ronis, UW-Madison’s interim director of opera. “She was institutionalized a few times in her life and eventually committed suicide. There are allusions to all of these things in the poetry in the show.”
The subjects, sadly, are timeless, but Ronis has chosen to stage Transformations as a period piece: He’s setting it in 1973 in a group therapy situation, in which Anne Sexton is the facilitator.
“Essentially, there is no real setting specified in the score,” says Ronis. “Different productions have employed different concepts — I saw a review of one production that had set it in a Studio 54-style disco. The original 1973 Minnesota Opera production was set in an abstracted psychiatric ward.” Ronis says he chose a group therapy meeting to emphasize Sexton’s role as facilitator.
In addition to painful topics, Transformations also contains a lot of wicked humor, with references to pop culture going back to the 1940s, including Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. Susa’s score directs the actor portraying Rumpelstiltskin to have “a voice like Truman Capote.”
The Minnesota Opera premiere was in 1973, a year and a half before Sexton’s suicide at the age of 45. In 1976, University Opera staged the Madison premiere of Transformations. The current production will be conducted by Kyle Knox, who also led Madison Opera’s recent production of Little Women.
Transformations features sopranos Erin Bryan, Nicole Heinen and Cayla Rosché; mezzo-soprano Rebecca Buechel; tenors Dennis Gotkowski, Michael Hoke and William Ottow; baritone Brian Schneider and guest bass-baritone Benjamin Schultz.
University Opera will host a free pre-performance panel discussion Friday, March 11, at 6 p.m. at UW’s Music Hall. Panelists will include Ronis and Karlos Moser, emeritus director of University Opera.
Transformations will be performed on Friday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 13, at 3 p.m., and Tuesday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. For tickets or more information visit music.wisc.edu/event.
