"A Note on Little Nemo" by librettist J.D. McClatchy

J.D. McClatchy, the librettist for Sarasota Youth Opera's newest commissioned opera, Little Nemo in Slumberland, is one of America's foremost librettists, authors and, poets.  His five collections of poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted Hazmat, are widely acclaimed for their formal ingenuity, coupled with their fluency of thought and feeling.  His opera librettos have been performed in opera houses around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala and Covent Garden.  Mr. McClatchy has served as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and is currently Professor of English at Yale where he edits The Yale Review.

We asked Mr. McClatchy to write a brief piece explaining how Little Nemo in Slumberland came to be as well as his thoughts on the upcoming performances of his work at Sarasota Opera.    



Librettist J.D. McClatchy
Photo by Geoff Spear

Little Nemo in Slumberland is the fifth commission in the Sarasota Youth Opera’s illustrious quarter-century history. The call for a competition went out in 2006, and when the nod finally went to composer Daron Hagen and myself, I had another project in mind altogether—something about Johnny Appleseed. It was then that my friend, the designer Chip Kidd, asked if I had thought about Little Nemo. Bingo!

           

Little Nemo in Slumerland was one of the first American comic strips, and  is still the most admired by connoisseurs. It started in the New York Herald on October 15, 1905, and ran until 1914. The genius behind it was Winsor McCay (1869 – 1934), a graphic artist of the first rank, whose sense of dream fantasy and whose exquisite draftsmanship helped bridge the divide between high art and the comics. (In fact, it was the first comic strip made into a Broadway musical, by Victor Herbert back in 1908, and in 1966 the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted an entire exhibit to McCay’s work.)



The characters of Nemo (Katherine Powell), The Princess
(Adriana Fernandez) and Flip (Natalie Almeter)
Photo by Rod Millington

 

Reading through the Little Nemo series, I was struck at once by its marvelous format and possibilities. For a children’s opera, I was aiming to create what used to be called “magic opera”—a story dependent on fantastic theatrical effects—and Nemo’s exploits in Slumberland are just that. From among many different stories, I chose a few that I could make into a continuous dream-adventure, broken up by an “intermission” of daylight. I added or eliminated details, tried to give some depth to the characters, and shaped the story into a moral fable about courage and fairness and the wonders of the imagination. To intrigue the set designer, I stirred into the mix a parade of improbable sights and a scene in which the characters dramatically change size.

           

The composer and I hope we have given the Sarasota team and its remarkable cast of young singers an opera that will be a pleasure to perform and will give their audiences an experience that will thrill and charm them.

- J. D. McClatchy

Tickets are going fast for the world premiere performances of this glorious new opera.  Performance dates are Saturday, November 10, at 5:30pm and Sunday, November 11, at 12:30pm.  To secure your seats today, go online at www.sarasotaopera.org or call the box office at (941) 328-1300. 

My Summer at Camp: A Voice Teacher's Perspective

Mezzo-soprano Nicole Mitchell was asked to join the artistic faculty of the 2012 Sarasota Youth Opera Summer Camp just this past June.  Her primary responsibility was teaching voice.  Ms. Nicole, as the campers called her, has been both an apprentice artist and studio artist with Sarasota Opera and won critical acclaim for her performance of Tituba in the 2011 production of Robert Ward's The Crucible.

We asked her to write up what her experience was like and the challenges she faced working with such young singers.  Here is what she had to say: 



Mezzo-soprano Nicole Mitchell

When I was asked to be a part of Sarasota Opera's 2012 Youth Opera Summer Camp I have to say I was THRILLED!!!  As thrilled as I was though, I was also a bit nervous and perplexed at how I would be able to relay information on the process of singing to almost four dozen children- whose ages ranged from about seven to eighteen years old. Overall, I was excited at the opportunity to share what I've learned as a classically trained singer, but I was also excited to be on the receiving end of knowledge as well. Nothing hones a teacher's skills better than their students. 

Learning how to sing in the classical style is more than just learning how to sing a song without a microphone. It is about what one does physically, emotionally and mentally to prepare BEFORE using the vocal cords.  Teaching voice to a group is a challenge in that you must find the simplest way to convey knowledge to over forty minds about posture, good breathing technique, pitch accuracy, scales, diction and stamina...to name a few, in a limited amount of time. 

Over the three-week period I saw the young singers, some with more abandon, others a little shyer, take chances in trying to do what was asked of them during different exercises.  It was great to see youthful courage, enthusiasm and imagination being used from the many. At times it was a bit daunting as they were asked to combine the information they'd received, not only from my instructions, but that of their other teachers as well. The art of an artist at any age is the effective merging of their talents with their acquired skills and techniques to make a performance look "easy".  

Members of the Sarasota Youth Opera perform a
selection from Little Nemo in Slumberland
on the last day of camp.

In the end, what I was most proud of for each student is that they stepped out of their comfort zones and tried and succeeded! They gave their ALL which is what great performers do. I was thoroughly impressed at their willingness to put their best creative selves forward. In the camp's final exhibition, the young artists sang, emoted and moved in character to tell the stories they were involved in from excerpts of Puccini's Turandot, Verdi's Macbeth and the upcoming children's opera Little Nemo in Slumberland by composer Daron Hagen. I was SO proud!!!

What I stressed most for the young artists during our three weeks together is that they try their best in all they do. Try, just try. You can't go wrong from there because you'll learn something new no matter what.  Now isn't that good advice for us all? It was good for me!

-- Nicole Mitchell