This House
- Shawn Marie Jeffery
- Jul 3, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: May 6
Music by: Ricky Ian Gordon
Libretto by: Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber
Duration: 2 hours
Originally Commissioned and premiered: Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, 2025
We walk in the shadows of ancestors.
A house is more than four walls and a roof — it is a keeper of memories and a witness to legacy. The Walker family has lived in the same Harlem brownstone since the 1920s, and they have fought hard to keep what they have. When Zoe returns home after many years away, she asks her mother Ida and her brother Lindon to let her renovate the dilapidated building. But Ida and Lindon cannot let go of the past. The house is their whole world, and every room is full of ghostly voices and painful memories. As hidden truths about the family’s legacy come to light, Zoe begins to realize that the secrets harbored within these walls are deeper and more profound than she ever dared to imagine.
FORCES
Singers:
Lucy; - Soprano
Milton; Baritone Young Ida; Soprano
Beulah; Mezzo-Soprano
Uncle Percy/Glenn; Tenor
Ida ; Soprano
Lindon; Baritone
Zoe; Mezzo Soprano
Thomas; Bass- Baritone
Glenn; Tenor
Orchestration:
2 Flute (2nd doubles PICC and ALTO FLUTE)
2 Oboe (2nd doubles EH)
3 Clarinet (3rd doubles Bass Clarinet)
2 Bassoon (2nd doubles Contrabassoon)
1 SaxF (soprano sax, alto sax)
2 HORN
2 TPT
2 TROMBONE (one tenor one bass)
PIANO/CELESTA
HARP
3 PERC (2 perc and 1 timp)
STGS
5-4-3-2-2
Project Statement
Working with a mother and daughter, the likes of Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber, deserves an essay on its own. Few would dispute that Lynn is one of the most brilliant and celebrated playwrights in the world. Her expertise at plot construction, character development, and the overall scaffold that keeps a play a taut and compelling creation are unquestionable. But her instinct to bring her brilliant poet daughter into our process, and her trust that it was Ruby's idea we should musicalize, a play she had written at Brown University, where Lynn also went, ended up being gold for me. This unique look at a house that stood in Harlem for a century and its inhabitants, a long line of colorful characters in compelling and moving situations afforded me a way to get out my entire palette, and paint each character in a musical vocabulary that I felt, instinctively, suited them: Jazz, Ragtime, Serialism, American Popular Song, Stride Piano, Hard Rock…you name it, basically, a walk through a century and a quarter. So often, I would be setting text to music, beautiful beautiful text, and I would write to Lynn, and ask “Who wrote this?” And she would always write back, “The magic of Ruby.” What a privilege it has been to create this opera with two such jewels. There is too much to risk in writing about this opera, without revealing one spoiler after another. A young couple, Zoe and Glenn, are expecting a child, and they contemplate raising their family in the house Zoe grew up in. We meet them on the stoop on the brownstone. More, I cannot say. But this; It gives new meaning to the phrase, “If these walls could talk.” Even the house sings! Suffice it to say, I am very excited to bring it to you with our tremendous cast, the wonder of my dear friend, Jim Robinson, directing, our fourth collaboration! The great Daniela Candillari conducting, Allen Moyer designing the set, my fifth opera with him! And… There is my dear friend, almost brother, Bruce Coughlin, who works with me on my big operas when we orchestrate together, whose ears I would not want to be in a world without. And all the new and wondrous people I will meet creating “This House.” That’s how it is. A composer stays in his room for a few years, it can be lonely frustrating and isolating, but at the end, there is a room full of people, and you can be satisfied, knowing you have created this rich and varied community. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to bring this to you.
Director and Composer Statements
This House, a story about a multi-generational family living in a Harlem brownstone, seemed like the perfect tale for a mother-daughter collaboration. Ricky was obviously inspired by this story and he quickly set to work. Over the ensuing months, This House began to emerge as a unique and passionate opera and one that inspired me and my entire creative team, all present or former inhabitants of New York City brownstones. Thoughts of former inhabitants of these buildings occupied my time living in Brooklyn and I often wondered what stories the walls could tell.
This House, with its complex family dynamics, its painfully revealed secrets, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy, past and present is an opera I have been looking forward to directing since the idea for it was hatched. It is befitting that This House, which connects history with the present day, is the world premiere for Opera Theatre’s 50th anniversary season.- Director, James Robinson
From the stoic hymn-like melodies in the brass in the opening, to the light and airy textures in the winds, to the returning motive that symbolizes the house as a character, Ricky’s score and orchestration are filled with details, precision, and complexity. His incredible dedication to the text and word painting are shown through quick tempo changes, which always follow the speed of the language and — in a way — remind me of the shapes of Richard Strauss’ conversation operas. When Lucy says “time has no place,” the orchestra paints the passage of time with ticking even eighth notes, starting in the strings and then gradually building throughout the orchestra, only to ease out into the nostalgic sound of harp and celesta, which then serve as a carpet for the rhythmic textures in the woodwinds. Rich, romantic harmonies and the harmonic shifts always direct our attention to the next dramatic moment, thereby making the orchestra not just the support for the stage, but an active participant in every dramatic beat.
Through all these musical elements — including stylistic shifts that encompass swing, habanera, and rag, among others — and impeccable timing of character and mood changes, I believe This House will be an evening filled with joy, curiosity, heartbreak, hope, and perhaps most importantly, a question of how we create our worlds and what roles are adopted by the spaces in which we reside. I hope you will join me in celebrating and participating in our 44th world premiere!- Conductor, Daniela Candillari
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