BWW Reviews: PENNY Finds Voice at Washington National Opera Premiere

The idea of finding your voice is a two way street in the world premiere one-hour opera PENNY.

Composer Douglas Pew and librettist Dara Weinberg have created a succinct, lyrical piece in which their title character discovers her talent for music and is able to communicate and take charge of her life in spite of incredible odds.

At the same time, Pew and Weinberg's new work is part of Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative, a commissioning program that works to expand the American operatic repertory. Young artists from WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program are able to collaborate on new works with living composers and librettists through the American Opera Initiative.

PENNY works beautifully on both accounts, as a fruitful new collaboration and as engaging music theater. I cannot speculate on PENNY's life after the short run in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, but I can say this 60-minute opera deserves to be heard. Pew's score gives distinct voices to the characters while painting tonal pictures that illustrate the Arizona setting of the story. Weinberg's libretto is straightforward. That is to say, I believe it would stand alone as a one-act play, but Pew's music elevates the power of the story and makes Penny's plight even more poignant.

Katherine - soprano Kerriann Otaño - and Gary Tate - baritone Trevor Scheunemann - prepare to welcome Katherine's sister Penny into their home. Penny is autistic and had been cared for by a beloved uncle until his death. Arriving with a counselor (bass Wei Wu), Penny tentatively enters her new environment.

The power of opera to add a whole other layer onto a dramatic story is not new, certainly, but here the point is proven once again. As personified by mezzo soprano Deborah Nansteel, Penny at first does not use words,

only a lyrical wail, which serve as a leitmotif for her isolation. Katherine and Gary are at odds with how to handle Penny's special needs. Not so with family friend Martin - tenor Patrick O'Halloran. When Martin meets Penny, he has a way of connecting to her and through him, Penny is able to verbalize once again.

When Penny is alone with her own thoughts, she is able to offer full voice to her memories can keeps alive a dialogue with her late uncle, sung by baritone James Shaffren. The scenes between Penny and Uncle Raymond are touching and show the delicate connection an individual living on the autism spectrum can have with a caregiver. Martin helps Penny find that voice again, with humor and pathos that rings true, thanks to the blending of the score, libretto and heartfelt performances of Nansteel and O'Halloran.

As staged by Shakespeare Theatre Company associate director Alan Paul, PENNY moves economically through the one hour running time. Aided by the evocative set and lighting design Daniel Conway and A, J. Guban, respectively, times passes effortlessly in the sunny Arizona setting. Conductor Anne Manson, music director of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, handled the small orchestra with finesse, bringing out the many colors of Pew's score and striking a perfect balance between the instrumentalists and the singers.

The scene that lingers with me days after the premiere is the final scene of PENNY. As Penny gathers her courage to face the world alone for the first time, she relives the words off Uncle Raymond. She leaves through a scrapbook and recalls his answer to her when she asked why people have to die. His reply, "Why is the sun so bright? Why does the cactus have flowers?" opens new ideas in her awakening soul. Penny decides to open the blinds so that the sun will pour in on her in the morning so she knows it is time to leave. When she awakens, the sun creeps in and envelopes Penny in a golden glow that draws her up and out into the world.

As with all entries in the American Opera Initiative, PENNY played a limited run, January 23 - January 24, 2015.

Washington National Opera's 2014-2015 season also includes an English-language production of Poulenc's 20th-century drama DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES, a revival of Wagner's epic THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, and an acclaimed new-to-Washington staging of Rossini's CINDERELLA. WNO's 2015- 2016 season, which will include three complete cycles of Wagner's RING, will be announced in the coming months. For more information, contact the Kennedy Center Box Office, and by calling (202) 467- 4600 or (800) 444-1324.

Photo Credit: Scott Suchman/WNO