In Seattle Opera’s reimagining of An American Dream, they have found the perfect marriage of material and venue.
This opera is staged in historic Washington Hall, which has not only served as a home for Seattle’s multi-cultural arts scene, but was also where Japanese citizens were forced to register 75 years ago. This point is hammered home by videos of testimonials played before the performance. Though the interviews about the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor are poignant and heartfelt, in the end, they are superfluous. The ghosts of our past sins permeate the theater from the opening luscious strains of Jack Perla’s gorgeous overture.
This story begins in the winter of 1942 and in the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese American family, the Kobayashis, are attempting to wipe away any proof of their heritage for fear of rumored FBI raids. The anxiety of Mama and Papa Kobayashi is juxtaposed with the hope and optimism of Jim Crowley, an American veteran and Eva Crowley, his wife and a German Jew. The newlyweds are full of excitement at the prospect of starting their new life. While the Kobayashis sit in constant terror of persecution, Eva Crowley is extolling the joy of finding a place where she feels safe. “Jews can live here, work here, without fear.” When Mama, Papa, and their daughter Setsuko are finally pushed from their home by the FBI, the Crowleys move in and begin to make themselves a home.
The challenge of such an emotionally complex piece is making clear distinctions between all of the characters while also finding something within each person to which we can relate. This cast has far surpassed that challenge. Ryan Bede and D’Ana Lombard as Jim and Eva Crowley respectively, burst forth with the bright buoyancy of the American Dream fulfilled. Their voices are all sweetness and joy. Conversely, Ao Li as Papa/Makoto Kobayashi and Nina Yoshida Nelsen, reprising her role as Mama/Hiroko Kobayashi, bring both the warmth of parents and a deep sadness to their roles. Li, in particular, conveys both strength and desperation with his rich bass-baritone voice. Yeonji Lee rounds out this magnificent cast as the young girl at the heart of this story, Setsuko Kobayashi. In the opening of the opera, she is not able to inhabit fully the innocence and youth of Setsuko. As the child is forced to grow and mature, however, Lee is able to find incredible nuance and complexity within the character. All of these amazing performances are enriched by the supremely talented orchestra under the baton of Judith Yan.
Peter Kazaras’s staging of An American Dream, though very effective, does not come without challenges. The opera is presented almost in the round instead of the more traditional proscenium staging. The audience surrounds the performers with no separation between the stage and the seats. We are a part of the action. This is not a story of kings and queens or gods and goddesses. This is our history and we are intimately connected to each character. This does mean, however, that there are times when the singers are facing away from a section of the audience, which makes Jessica Murphy Moo’s beautiful libretto very hard to understand. Supertitles would have gone a long way to make sure we as the audience stayed engaged and were able to understand each intricate emotional beat.
On the one hand, An American Dream is a small, intimate story about home and how things from our past make us what we are. On a larger scale, it is about coming to terms with our nation’s history as a whole. Each side of this story has victims in search of a villain and in experiencing WWII through the eyes of Eva and Setsuko, we are forced to come to terms with the fact that the concentration camps in Germany existed alongside the Japanese internment camps. This is a part of our history too often overlooked but Perla and Moo have brought it to light through this beautiful and heartbreaking work.
An American Dream music by Jack Perla and libretto by Jessica Murphy Moo. Washington Hall 153 14th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122. Playing through September 17. Evening performances at 8:00 PM, matinees at 2:00 PM. For information on tickets, visit www.seattleopera.org/on-stage/2017-american-dream