Tamica Nicole
Leave it to the Grand Ole Opry’s hometown to reinvent grand opera for the age of coronavirus.
That’s essentially what Nashville Opera is doing for the start of its 2020-21 season this weekend. Instead of opening with yet another incarnation of Aida or Madama Butterfly at TPAC, Nashville Opera will stream the world premiere of a short operatic film titled One Vote Won. John Hoomes, Nashville Opera’s artistic director, says the company’s new film is a true innovation.
“We didn’t film one of our live operatic productions for later releases on video, which is what the Met does,” Hoomes tells the Scene. “We actually made an original operatic movie, which we filmed at various locations one scene at time. As far as I know, this isn’t something that’s been done before. The pandemic forced us to create a new art form.”
Given the virus’s disruptive nature, it’s perhaps not surprising that Nashville Opera’s innovation followed a circuitous path. The project originated with citywide plans to mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women a federally protected right to vote. Passage of the amendment required ratification by three-quarters of the states then in existence (36 out of 48), and on Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to approve the amendment. Tennessee’s pivotal role in ratifying the amendment prompted the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp to encourage the city’s arts organizations to create commemorative performances and exhibitions.
“I thought a celebration of women’s suffrage was a great idea,” says Hoomes. “We originally thought that Nashville Opera’s contribution to a citywide event would be to perform a song cycle on a Sunday afternoon in August at the Tennessee State Museum. But then the pandemic happened.”
The pandemic didn’t dampen Nashville Opera’s enthusiasm for the project, but it did force the company to shift gears. Hoomes considered creating a digital version of his original song-cycle idea. But he also thought about expanding the initial concept beyond suffrage to include the civil rights movement as well. In the end, he settled on something new — a short operatic movie.
For the score, Hoomes brought in the Nashville-based composer Dave Ragland, who is steeped in modern classical music and African American art song. Together, they conceived of a 30-minute work about a young African American woman questioning the value of voting.
Tamica Nicole on location
Both Hoomes and Ragland envisioned a contemporary story that was nonetheless rooted in Nashville’s history. For this, Ragland collaborated with Mary McCallum, a librettist skilled in writing about historical subjects. In short order, she created a script that combined realism with elements of fantasy. The story is set in contemporary Nashville on Election Day. A young African American woman named Gloria is sitting at home alone, fixating on the cynical notion that voting is a waste of time. “They pass the laws they want, and they elect who they want,” she sings. “None of them care about me.”
Suddenly, Gloria hears the off-screen voices of two prominent voting rights activists from Nashville’s past — the suffragist Frankie Pierce and civil rights icon Diane Nash. They have a simple message: “Go vote.” Their unexpected appearance represents a kind of magical intrusion into reality worthy of a Gabriel García Márquez story.
With the libretto complete, Ragland set about creating a score that would work for both stage and film. “Events happen more quickly on film than on the stage, and so we created a work that moves at a brisk pace,” says Ragland. “We were also mindful that this work will likely be shown in local schools, which is why we focused on making it be as accessible as possible.”
Hoomes hired Nashville film director Anthony Popolo to make the movie, which was filmed at both the Noah Liff Opera Center and at a private residence. Popolo has made a beautiful film, one full of contrasts between darkness and light. He also made good use of the sort of closeups seen in films like Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Vocalist Tamica Nicole will be making her Nashville Opera debut as Gloria. Singers Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva (Frankie Pierce) and Brooke Leigh Davis (Diane Nash) both appeared in the company’s 2012 production of The Difficulty of Crossing a Field and 2019 staging of The Cradle Will Rock.
Hoomes admits to having some concern about streaming a film about voting in the middle of a contentious election season. No doubt, some viewers may interpret the opera’s focus on voting in the African American community as promoting a left-leaning agenda. But Hoomes insists this film is not taking sides.
“I don’t want people to hang too much meaning on this film, because it’s not supposed to be partisan,” says Hoomes. “It’s a celebration of Nashville’s honored place in the history of voting.”
