Opera is, by its very nature and definition, over the top.
Everything about the opera is too big, too loud and too dramatic. In fact, the dictionary defines operatics as “exaggerated behavior” and “excessively dramatic or emotional.”
The Seattle Opera’s new venture, then, is that much more significant as it is an entirely new kind of opera source material — a story not taken from myth, fiction or even today’s headlines, but from the very real shared experience of the company’s own community and region.
The show’s realism is its innovation.
Inspired by the opera company’s “Belonging(s) Project” — in which they asked participants to respond to the question: “If you had to leave your home today and couldn’t return, what would you want to take with you?” — and true stories from our island’s own history, “An American Dream” explores the lives of two Puget Sound women and their experiences during World War II.
Dozens of responses were filmed and posted to a digital quilt — which can be explored at www.seattleopera.org/belongings. Seattle Opera then commissioned librettist Jessica Murphy Moo and director Jack Perla to weave threads from this digital quilt into a new opera.
The actual experiences of two Seattle women inspired the fictional tale. Moo then returned for additional interviews with the two women and immersed herself in the period to complete the storyline.
Set between March 1942 and September 1945 on “a farmhouse on a Puget Sound island,” the opera follows a Japanese American family who are forced to burn precious belongings from Japan in an attempt to avoid arrest during World War II.
Young Setsuko manages to hide her beloved doll before her family is finally forced out of their home.
Then, a new couple moves in: Jim, a U.S. veteran, and Eva, a Jewish immigrant preoccupied by her own family’s situation back in Germany.
When Eva finds the doll, she eventually learns the truth — both about Setsuko’s family and her own.
A full act-by-act story synopsis is available at www.seattleopera.org/on-stage/american-dream.
The struggles of both women to maintain a sense of place in the region are given added resonance through moderated audience discussions bookending the opera.
The opera will run for two performances only; at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23 at McCaw Hall. Visit www.seattleopera.org to purchase tickets, which range in price from $50 to $125.
There will be a special free Bainbridge Island community preview at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13 at Bainbridge Performing Arts. Donations will be accepted.
The story is based on historical events particularly poignant for Bainbridge islanders, several of whom will feature prominently in the special events surrounding the production.
“Three Bainbridge Island residents are going to be uniquely involved in both presentations of ‘An American Dream,’” explained Seattle Opera spokeswoman Gabrielle Nomura Gainor, including Lilly Kitamoto Kodama, who was herself incarcerated, Kay Sakai Nakao, whose parents met in an internment camp, and Felix Narte, whose own family looked after a Japanese American family’s farm during the forced relocation.
The cast includes several rising stars making their Seattle Opera debut, Gainor added, including D’Ana Lombard (Eva), Hae Ji Chang (Setsuko), Nina Yoshida Nelsen and Adam Lau.
Accompanying the show will be a more complete experience than most operas, officials said.
Audiences attending the show should expect a unique experience that differs considerably from typical productions at McCaw Hall. In addition to the performance of the opera, all audience members are invited to participate in a host of interactive pre- and post-performance activities, including live interviews with Nakao, Kodama and Narte, historic excerpts of controversial editorial pieces, radio broadcasts and dramatic news alerts of the time, as well as a variety of short documentary films.
“Witness how journalism helps safeguard human rights during times of crisis,” according to the exhibition description. “Discover the unlikely connection between Filipino pioneers and Bainbridge Island’s strawberry farms and take inspiration from the solidarity between religious leaders and those who were forcibly relocated.”
The activities will be situated throughout the lobby areas at McCaw Hall.
The show is appropriate for those 10 and older.
Visit www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org to learn more about the show and free preview event.
Opera preview
What: A community preview of Seattle Opera’s “An American Dream.”
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13.
Where: Bainbridge Performing Arts (200 Madison Ave. North).
Admission: By donation.
