Original by Johanny Navarro, the production is presented on July 28 and 30 at the Center for Fine Arts in Santurce.
(translated from Spanish)
The opera “And the cakes?” It is a transgressive piece in many aspects. Rarely does an opera in Spanish appear on local stages, with a story inspired by Puerto Rican folklore, specifically in the typical Puerto Rican Christmas dish, and also written by a woman.
This is the case with the production “And the cakes? Jíbara Opera in two acts”, composed by the Puerto Rican Johanny Navarro , whose premiere will take place on July 28 and 30 at the René Marqués Drama Hall at the Center for Fine Arts in Santurce. It was originally announced for January 13 and 15, but due to the pandemic it was postponed. The piece is presented by Teatro de la Ópera and Pro Arte Musical.
For the composer, it is important to continue opening the opera to diverse themes and audiences, representative of modern societies, something that she has been working on as artist-in-residence of the American Lyric Theater, a contemporary opera company.
“If you think of the great operas, the great works of art, well, they are all by white, European men; So there's a supremacist thought in that idea of what the opera should sound like, how the opera should be appreciated, who should see the opera, who can afford a ticket to the opera, and all those thoughts right now we're trying to break down , saying, 'I can write opera, I can write opera in Spanish as a woman, anyone who wants to see an opera can do it,'” said Navarro, who received a grant from the Opera Grants for Female Composers program of Opera America for the performance of the opera. part."The idea with this theme (pastels) is to be able to open space so that people who have never seen opera come, or people who have seen opera all their lives, also come and enjoy a very different night."
