Humanity trumps hero worship in new Vonnegut opera

Since Kurt Vonnegut's death in 2007, internet users have rallied around his quote, "There's only one rule that I know of, babies: G-- damn it, you've got to be kind."

That statement could serve as an alternate title for "Happy Birthday, Wanda June," the new operatic adaptation of what began as a play by Vonnegut in 1970 and flopped as a film one year later.

Kind humans are scarce among characters in "Wanda June," which made its world premiere Friday at Butler University's Schrott Center for the Arts.

Instead, the audience finds Harold Ryan (Jake Gardner) storming back into the life of his wife, Penelope, and 12-year-old son, Paul. A World War II hero presumed to have died years earlier on a trip to the Amazon, alpha male Harold returns spouting sexist and racist remarks. The big-game hunter struggles to adjust to a 1970 society that respects astronauts more than killers. In need of a foe to prop up his manhood, he's frustrated by options he finds on his return: a woman, a child and a violin.

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While Harold was away, Penelope collected two male suitors: Dr. Norbert Woodly, a caricature of peace signs, beads and sandals; and Herb Shuttle, a vacuum-cleaner salesman who idolizes Harold.

Woodly (John Cudia) had been on course to win Penelope's heart, but now he's caught in a difficult situation with Harold's return. Some of Harold's criticisms of the hippie doctor ring true. He's a do-nothing who relies on others to bail him out.

Shuttle (Brett Sprague) brings comedy and a conversational singing style to the production. Before Harold's return, Shuttle suggests he and Penelope celebrate her husband's birthday by dining on venison and looking at Harold’s scrapbooks. If the audience recoils from Harold's he-man persona, they don't exactly embrace Shuttle as a he-man wanna-be.

For moral compass, this story's best bet is Penelope (Hanna Brammer). Penelope has bettered herself in Harold's absence and shows backbone when he returns. Brammer clearly communicates in strong voice her disgust when claiming the last name "Ryan" in the opera's opening lines. Later, her approach was earnest and beautiful when explaining her character's personal growth: She doesn't need another hero, or a reunion with her old one.

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The journey of "Happy Birthday, Wanda June" to the Schrott began more than a decade ago, when Vonnegut convinced composer Richard Auldon Clark to turn the story into an opera. Clark, now a Butler University professor, finished the orchestration earlier this year. The Indianapolis Opera company signed on to make "Wanda June" an Indiana bicentennial celebration in tribute to Shortridge High School alum Vonnegut.

During Friday's public pre-show discussion, Indianapolis Opera general director Kevin Patterson said more tickets have been sold for  the three "Wanda June" shows than sold for all productions that made up the company's 2013-14 season -- a schedule that included the cancellation of a fourth project due to lack of interest.

"Wanda June's" title character is a 10-year-old girl who has little connection to Harold and Penelope but addresses the audience from heaven. Portrayed by Stephanie Feigenbaum, Wanda June sparked big laughs during an aria about her recent death and what she sees as her current good fortune. An even "happier" delivery could have thoroughly mined Vonnegut's satire of people's views about heaven.

For pure entertainment, Harold's sidekick Looseleaf Harper (portrayed by gifted bass singer Branch Fields) showed Vonnegut can elicit fresh howls when riffing on what people really think about Eagle Scouts. Also of note is Galen Bower, who fulfilled expectations of old-school opera when singing about the killing machine exploits of his character, Major Von Koenigswald.

Clark said he and Vonnegut cut 35 to 40 percent of the play's original text to make "Wanda June" work as an opera. The performance's first half crackles with energy as multiple vignettes set the table for Harold and Woodly's inevitable post-intermission showdown.

The music of "Wanda June" serves the dialogue without being overly showy. When killing is discussed, however, the music makes a statement by unraveling into chaos.

Comical accents accompany the introduction of Woodly and Shuttle, and the orchestration even employs a cartoon sound effect when Shuttle's vacuum-cleaner gig is used as a punch line.

Visually, the stage design of Cameron Anderson is an unqualified triumph. A tiger pelt and 58 sets of antlers rise above the shag-carpet rug of Harold and Penelope's 12th-story apartment. A flat-surface circle surrounds their living quarters, providing a roller-skating path for heaven dwellers such as Wanda June and departed Nazi Von Koenigswald.

The circle also supplies "Wanda June's" best visual effect, a flash of bright white light when Looseleaf Harper talks about his role in the bombing of Nagasaki.

For costume design, Candida Nichols give Von Koenigswald -- also known as the Beast of Yugoslavia -- sequins on his armband and hat, Third Reich roller-derby socks and a shuffleboard stick.

The Beast's appearance underscores a major question posed by this production directed by Eric Einhorn: Would you rather be happy in a great unknown, or make things better here and now?

"Happy Birthday, Wanda June"

>> WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 18.

>> WHERE: Schrott Center for the Arts, Butler University, 610 W 46th St.

>> TICKETS: $10 to $75.

>> INFO: Visit IndyOpera.org or call (317) 283-3531.

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.