It's been 13 years since Danny Chen, an Army private from New York, took his own life after experiencing brutal hazing and racist taunts from fellow soldiers while serving in Afghanistan. An opera based on his story, “An American Soldier,” was performed in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis.
But when the work was released in Missouri in 2018, composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang promised Private Chen's family that they would bring it to the city where he was born and raised. I did. This week, the World Trade Center's Perelman Center for the Performing Arts enjoyed success with its production of “An American Soldier.” Just a mile or so from Chinatown, this is where Private Chen grew up and part of Elizabeth Street was renamed Private Danny. Chen Wei in 2014.
With an outstanding cast and clear direction by Chay Yew, this moving opera made an effortless impact on Saturday evening. Huang and Huang's work is an honest Chinese-American family drama, but it has clear, shameful resonance about the country's treatment of Asians and other minorities and the limits of American ideals of embracing difference and easy assimilation.
The story begins with the court martial of Private Chen's main antagonist, a brutal sergeant. It then alternates between the courtroom and the chronological unfolding of Private Chen's story, from his first looming thoughts of joining the military, his efforts to prove he is a “true American,” to the camaraderie of basic training, to his next position. racism in Esau and his nightmarish treatment when he arrived in Afghanistan. His mother appeared as a loving presence at home with her beloved son, and appeared angry and hurt during the court-martial, which resulted in the sergeant's acquittal of the most serious charges.
The version of “The American Soldier,” which premiered at the Washington National Opera in 2014, was only an hour long. Performed at the St. Louis Opera Theater in 2018, the production added an extra act, doubled its length, and delved deeper into Private Chen's life beyond the story of the sergeant's trial. This work, with minor modifications, was commissioned by the Boston Lyric Opera and performed at the Perelman Center.
Hwang's music, which undulates gently under passionate duets or flutters anxiously when the plot turns dark, tends to simmer away from the spotlight, allowing the storytelling to come to the fore. But the score has some unusual touches, such as cracked trumpets (a kind of suppressed fanfare), almost ceremonial percussion hovering under some passages and an ironic choral ode to the American motto “E pluribus unum” at the end. (“One among many”).
As with many modern operas, the libretto reveals some problems. Hwang Woo-suk's text is such a monotonous prose that it tends to make the vocal lines monotonous. For the most part, it has the feel of a dialogue drama sung violently and somewhat awkwardly.
Daniel Ostling's set, fully lit by Jeanette Yew, was an ominously blank white box, with a back wall equipped with a projection screen for rapid scene transitions, from New York City rooftops to the mountains of Afghanistan. Linda Cho's costumes were simple yet effective.
Tenor Brian Vu easily took over the stage as Danny with his focused and transparent voice that expressed the character's extreme situation. His performance was sympathetic but not sentimental. Vu clearly showcased Danny's teenage swagger along with his abundant charm and quietly growing desperation.
Johanna's lucid soprano soared with him in New York as Josephine, Danny's friend and perhaps more. (Although the focus of the drama is on the mother-son relationship, the more powerful connection at the Perelman Center was this budding, tragically shortened romance.)
Mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen softly sang a lullaby as Mother Chen, stuttering with anger. Baritone Alex DeSocio was explosively loathsome as his racist and sadistic boss. Bass baritone Christian Simmons, who played a military judge and Danny's fellow soldier, stood out with his rich voice in an overall solid six-member supporting ensemble.
In “An American Soldier,” good and bad are portrayed with old-fashioned simplicity. For virtually all its contemporary themes, the opera embraces the art form's traditional conventions, including arias, duets, trios, and even drinking choruses. like <오텔로>Like.
This piece's connection to the standard repertoire made it even sweeter that it was performed. During this period, complete opera productions were rarer than ever in New York. The only venue for material like “The American Soldier” was the annual Prototypes Festival of Contemporary Music Theatre, so it’s encouraging to see the Perelman Center filling that gap even a little.
American soldier
performing at the Perelman Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan; pacnyc.org.