“Doubt” is quite the atypical opera. There are no clear heroes or villains, no romance or obvious betrayal, and no one dies.
But John Patrick Shanley’s 2005 play and 2008 film have plenty of conflict and emotional intensity, the characters dueling over essential ideas like truth, justice and religious ideals. And Douglas Cuomo’s music serves to expand the emotional palette of Shanley’s words, layering levels of meaning onto exchanges and adding extra shadings to an already complex tale.
The operatic adaptation of “Doubt” received its world premiere in a Minnesota Opera production at St. Paul’s Ordway Center on Saturday night, Jan. 26, and it’s a production worth experiencing. It’s impressively sung and staged, its story’s ambiguity enhanced by Cuomo’s conflicted music. Yet the angular, often discomfiting character of that music might make it a tough listen for some.
Set in 1964, Shanley’s story chronicles the conflict between a Catholic priest in an urban parish and the nun who runs its grade school. She suspects that he may be molesting one of her students but has little substantial evidence. The audience is left to piece together clues to determine whether the principal’s dogged determination to drive out the priest is warranted.
Bringing the characters to vivid life is an exceptional collection of singers, led by soprano Christine Brewer as Sister Aloysius, the prickly principal embittered by patriarchy and a past encounter with what she sees as a similar situation. Brewer’s rich reputation as a Wagner soprano comes through when she unleashes her inner Valkyrie when venting her fury in a climactic confrontation with the priest.
But Matthew Worth matches her with a note-perfect performance as Father Flynn. A baritone asked to traverse a tremendous expanse in this role, both musically and in characterization, Worth makes him complex and fascinating, charismatic and conflicted.
Also outstanding is Adriana Zabala, who brings youthful effervescence and enthusiasm to the young nun, Sister James, and engages with Worth in the closest thing that this opera holds to a love duet (although about a different kind of love). And fellow mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves proves a commanding presence in both voice and stage presence as Mrs. Miller, the mother of the student with whom the priest allegedly is involved.
The expert singing is matched by first-rate production values, most notably Robert Brill’s remarkably versatile set, in which a few elements spin and slide about to become eight different settings, the transitions evoking between-classes chaos in a school hallway.
Director Kevin Newbury deserves kudos for making it all flow smoothly and for shaping such layered performances.
Conductor Christopher Franklin and the Minnesota Opera Orchestra do an outstanding job with Cuomo’s complex music, but it may prove challenging for some audience members. His melodies take many an unpredictable turn, single syllables sail in on a plethora of notes, and seemingly inconsequential phrases are repeated for evident emphasis, while others of relative importance are sung simultaneously and swept away in swells of sound.
Chalk some of that up to operatic inexperience, for this is Cuomo’s debut with the form. But he’s fortunate to have his music brought to life by a cast this talented.
Rob Hubbard can be reached at rhubbard@pioneerpress.com.
IF YOU GO
What: Minnesota Opera’s production of “Doubt” by Douglas Cuomo and John Patrick Shanley
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, Jan. 29 and 31; 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2; 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3
Where: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
Tickets: $200-$20, available at 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org
Capsule: An outstanding cast brings a complex and unusual opera to life.
