Painted Sky Opera performs Three Decembers

Those who think all opera plots are unrealistic and shallow haven’t been exposed to Heggie’s Three Decembers, which opens in Oklahoma City in May.

The opera, written in 2008, is based on Some Christmas Letters, an unpublished play by Terrence McNally, and follows the relationship of a famous Broadway actress with her two adult children over 30 years during the AIDS crisis.

The production is an Oklahoma premiere with Painted Sky’s Artistic Director, Rob Glaubitz, directing the show and music direction by Jan McDaniel.

The subject of this opera is Madeleine Mitchell, a Tony-award winning actress who built her career at the expense of her relationship with her children and their father who died when the children were young.

As adults, her two children try to reconcile their mother’s neglect and disapproval with their love for her. Her son, Charlie, deals with her mother’s rejection of his sexual orientation and of his partner, who is ill with AIDS. Her daughter, Beatrice, remains in an unhappy marriage to keep her own family going. The opera checks in with the family’s status during the Decembers of 1986, 1996 and 2006.

“The plot of Three Decembers is different from most opera plots in that it deals with modern issues in a modern way,” said Glaubitz. “The characters are strong, well-developed and nuanced. The combination creates an opera that plays more like an indie movie than anything else – poignant, funny and enchanting.”

Three Decembers features the music of Jake Heggie, who is one of the leading lights of new American opera today,” added Glaubitz. “His opera “Dead Man Walking” (2000) is one of the most-performed American operas around the world.

“His life has a striking similarity to his character, Charlie, in Three Decembers in that the two are the same age and have similar backgrounds of losing their father when young and with their family accepting their sexual orientation. Even their partners have similarities: while Charlie’s is named Burt, Heggie’s real-life partner is named Curt.”

Glaubitz added it is Heggie’s music which makes Three Decembers one of the most popular American operas since it premiered. “Like many of Heggie’s operas, Three Decembers sounds like a hybrid of opera and musical theatre, with tuneful and expressive melodies combined with rich harmonies and strong rhythms.

“Heggie’s music; so rewarding for the audience. Operatic music is supposed to communicate the desires and emotions of its characters in a way that the words alone never could. In Three Decembers, Heggie always hits that mark.”

Three Decembers will be performed with the orchestra in English and is the last production in Painted Sky Opera’s second season as a professional opera company in central Oklahoma. Performances are at 8 p.m., May 11 and 2 p.m., May 13 at the Freede Little Theatre at Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City.

Tickets are $35 for adults, with discounts for students, military, and seniors available in-person at the box office. Advance tickets available at www.okcciviccenter.com or by calling the box office at (405) 297-2264.

For more information, visit www.paintedskyopera.org.

The Gayly. April 29, 2018. 1:32 p.m. CST.