A conversation with Linda Brovsky, director Marriage of Figaro
Opera North is delighted to welcome Linda Brovsky to work with our Resident Artists for the first time. She will be directing Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and said, when she talked to Evans Haile after learning of our invitation from her agent, “I like working with younger singers! It’s been ten years since I did Figaro and – oh, wow! – under a tent and in the round!?! I’m interested!”
As Opera America notes, “Linda Brovsky’s innovative productions are found on operatic stages throughout the United States and internationally, including at Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, LA Opera, San Diego Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Florentine Opera, and The Atlanta Opera, with repertoire ranging from standard classics to world premieres.”
Linda will be adding Opera North to that distinguished collection of opera companies and while she has a passion for new works, she brings deep experience with the classic repertoire, such as Figaro. Each time she does, she likes to “go back and see what the composers were dealing with.” Which is why she will take our production, a blend of “Downton Abbey” and “Upstairs Downstairs,” into the sensibilities of the 1920s, and is encouraging the set designer to look at Maxfield Parrish who was painting in Cornish, working with Saint Gaudens here, in the Twenties. This context follows the First World War, when manners were shifting as they were in Mozart’s 18th century.
“Those 18th century costumes would be stifling in this setting! This interpretation gives us a chance to rethink the silhouette to act and move more naturally. When you strip out the costumes you’re suddenly having to deal with the people. [In the classic staging] you might be able to kiss someone’s hand, but a kiss? Good luck! Hugging is not an option.”
“I like to do at least one ‘young artist thing’ a year because it can be so transformative,” she continued. “They can sing, and they know how to audition. They have the potential to be actors and just don’t have the tools. We need to help them be rounded artists. Young artists are agile and have fewer preconceived notions. Their skills vary depending on where they’ve been trained, but I coach privately, and they often don’t know the basics of acting and stagecraft.”
Linda is especially enthusiastic about the opportunity Summerfest gives young artists to experience a modern work, a traditional one and a musical, all in one summer. “For someone who only sees themselves in an operatic role, they are forced into a whole different thought. They have to dance, be a donkey, find a whole new dimension. Three quarters of them may have only done opera and now they do a musical and say, ‘wow! That was fun!’”
In fact, given the very limited time Linda has to shape the ten Resident Artist cast members into the Figaro production, she is planning an ‘ice breaker’ to start shaping that learning experience. “I generally do an improv class with the group to get them comfortable with each other, laughing and rolling on the floor.” For Figaro she plans to start with Act Four and the dance at the wedding. “Singers hate to dance but directors always leave this scene ‘til the last minute and it often just doesn’t work. This way everyone starts off equally and they can practice on their own and then review together.”
Marriage of Figaro was the second opera Linda took on the road as director for Eastern Opera Theater out of Pace University in New York and she presented it as a comedy. Now she sees the work in a different light. “I think Mozart is commenting on love,” she said. “He’d had marriages and affairs and is commenting on what he was seeing and feeling. Mozart is talking about the stages of love: the teenagers Barbarina and Cherubino who get sucked into things. Susannah and Figaro the young lovers who stand with each other, the Count and the Countess who appreciate the surprise of romance and then even Marcellina and Bartolo (who I refer to as ‘the Bickersons’) who have gotten a little too comfortable with each other but there’s still love and renewal there.”
Linda had the opportunity to sit in on some of the auditions Louis Burkot did in New York and talked about the way he mixes voices to get to the sound he has in mind. “You have an incredible talent pool because Opera North has done a wonderful job of putting together very exciting seasons, but Louis shows the level at which he works by his flexibility. One potential Countess might not work with a heavy baritone, or he might want another voice for a particular role and keep looking for the complementary voice that will blend.”
Most of all, Linda is already appreciating the summer camp/“let’s do a show!” atmosphere at Opera North. “It’s creating magic,” she said. “You’re not worried about selling a balcony seat in an audience of 3,000. It’s a fun and enriching experience for everyone, working together and getting to see all sides of the production. When it’s ‘let’s just create!’ you make stronger performers. I am certain that will happen with this group.”
As she said to Opera America’s Marc Scorca in this oral history interview with a comment that applies to everyone planning to attend Marriage of Figaro as well as those making the production happen, “Put down your phone and nurture your imagination.”
