Elmer Gantry (opera)
Encyclopedia
Elmer Gantry is an American opera
based on the 1926 novel by Sinclair Lewis
of the same name
. It was composed by Robert Aldridge
with a libretto
by Herschel Garfein
. The Nashville Opera
presented the world premier in November 2007.
Elmer Gantry was conceived almost two decades before its premier. The Boston Lyric Opera
and Boston Music Theatre Project put on a workshop production of the first act in 1992. An agreement was made to move forward on a full production which Boston Lyric later dropped. John Hoomes, the artistic director of the Nashville Opera, picked up production in 2003 after previewing the opera at a new works showcase.
in 2008. The Florentine Opera Company produced and recorded the opera in March 2010. A recent production was completed at the University of Minnesota
in November 2010.
The next day, Elmer is called to a prayer meeting by Reverend Baines, the president of Terwillinger. He is offered a full scholarship to seminary for his supposed defense of Jesus, and is invited to convert. Elmer is distracted by Baines' beautiful daughter Lulu, who is engaged to Eddie Fislinger, the head of the campus YMCA. With persuasion from Eddie and lustful thoughts toward Lulu, Elmer decides to accept the scholarship and fakes his conversion.
Eighteen months later while still in seminary, Elmer is hocking farm implements in a nearby town and having an affair with Lulu. He decides to attend a revival meeting held by the famous traveling evangelist, Sharon Falconer. At this meeting he becomes entranced by Falconer. Lulu arrives with Frank to convince him to come clean about their affair, but Elmer chases her away. He approaches Sharon, but is treated with indifference. After she leaves he becomes angry at this rejection.
Some time later, Elmer is a successful business man in Zenith, Missouri. He encounters Sharon Falconer again whilst she is in Zenith campaigning the Elks' club to help build a "grand tabernacle". With a rousing speech he influences the Elks' club vote and wins Sharon's favor.
Six months later Eddie and Lulu are married and living in Cato, Missouri. Eddie learns of Elmer's endeavor with Falconer to build a tabernacle in Zenith and becomes overwhelmed with hatred and envy.
Construction begins on the grand tabernacle, financed by TJ Rigg, a local businessman. Eddie, Lulu and Rev. and Mrs. Baines visit the site and privately express their disapproval of the commercial nature of the tabernacle, while Lulu shows renewed romantic interest in Elmer. Frank also visits and expresses his concern about the price of Elmer's success. A debate about old and new practices in religion follows.
A year later, the affair between Elmer and Lulu is reignited with a secret plan by Eddie and Lulu to expose Elmer's deceit. Elmer meets Lulu for a tryst in the nearly completed tabernacle while Eddie looks on in hiding.
Elmer has asked Sharon to marry him and she agrees, despite her recognition of his faults. The night before the tabernacle's opening, she prays for guidance. As a final touch on the tabernacle, a giant cross of electric lights is suspended above the stage.
During the lively grand opening of the tabernacle, Eddie and Lulu come forward and expose Elmer's philandering. Elmer admits his guilt and asks Sharon for forgiveness as chaos erupts in the tabernacle. The electric cross shorts out and the tabernacle catches fire. Horrified by Elmer's deceit, Sharon refuses his help in escaping from the fire; she and her followers burn to death as Elmer escapes.
Some time after the tabernacle fire, Elmer embarks on a new career peddling the platitudes of the "New Thought" movement and meets with Dr. Binch, the founder of the movement. Binch consoles Elmer, but he is haunted by his memory of the tragedy.
March 2010 recording of Elmer Gantry will be released on the Naxos
label.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
based on the 1926 novel by Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of...
of the same name
Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry is a satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis in 1926 and published by Harcourt in March 1927.-Background:Lewis did research for the novel by observing the work of various preachers in Kansas City in his so-called "Sunday School" meetings on Wednesdays. He first worked with William L...
. It was composed by Robert Aldridge
Robert Aldridge (composer)
Robert Aldridge is an American composer, professor, and current professor of composition at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. He has written over sixty works for orchestra, opera, musical theater, dance, and various chamber ensembles that have been performed in the...
with a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Herschel Garfein
Herschel Garfein
Herschel Garfein is an American composer, librettist, stage director, and faculty member of the Steinhardt School of Music at New York University. He is widely known for his work on Robert Aldridge's Elmer Gantry. In his compositions for the musical Suenos he found an inspiration in Hispanic...
. The Nashville Opera
Nashville Opera Association
The Nashville Opera Association is a professional opera company in Nashville, Tennessee and is a member of OPERA America. The company currently offers three fully staged opera productions and the On Tour educational outreach program during an annual season which runs from October through April...
presented the world premier in November 2007.
Elmer Gantry was conceived almost two decades before its premier. The Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976.Each season, BLO produces three mainstage productions at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre in Boston and a fully staged, one-hour English language version of a popular opera for school...
and Boston Music Theatre Project put on a workshop production of the first act in 1992. An agreement was made to move forward on a full production which Boston Lyric later dropped. John Hoomes, the artistic director of the Nashville Opera, picked up production in 2003 after previewing the opera at a new works showcase.
Performances
Elmer Gantry premiered in 2007 at the Nashville Opera with a subsequent performance at Montclair State UniversityMontclair State University
Montclair State University is a public research university located in the Upper Montclair section of Montclair, the Great Notch area of Little Falls, and Clifton, New Jersey. As of October 2009, there were 18,171 total enrolled students: 14,139 undergraduate students and 4,032 graduate students...
in 2008. The Florentine Opera Company produced and recorded the opera in March 2010. A recent production was completed at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in November 2010.
Act 1
The opera opens in a tavern where Elmer Gantry, captain of the Terwillinger College and Seminary football team, is regaling his friends, including roommate Frank Shallard, with tales of sexual exploits. A young man approaches and taunts Elmer, saying that he "plays football for a sissy bible school". Elmer responds by accusing him of insulting Jesus, and sucker punches him. A chaotic fight ensues.The next day, Elmer is called to a prayer meeting by Reverend Baines, the president of Terwillinger. He is offered a full scholarship to seminary for his supposed defense of Jesus, and is invited to convert. Elmer is distracted by Baines' beautiful daughter Lulu, who is engaged to Eddie Fislinger, the head of the campus YMCA. With persuasion from Eddie and lustful thoughts toward Lulu, Elmer decides to accept the scholarship and fakes his conversion.
Eighteen months later while still in seminary, Elmer is hocking farm implements in a nearby town and having an affair with Lulu. He decides to attend a revival meeting held by the famous traveling evangelist, Sharon Falconer. At this meeting he becomes entranced by Falconer. Lulu arrives with Frank to convince him to come clean about their affair, but Elmer chases her away. He approaches Sharon, but is treated with indifference. After she leaves he becomes angry at this rejection.
Some time later, Elmer is a successful business man in Zenith, Missouri. He encounters Sharon Falconer again whilst she is in Zenith campaigning the Elks' club to help build a "grand tabernacle". With a rousing speech he influences the Elks' club vote and wins Sharon's favor.
Six months later Eddie and Lulu are married and living in Cato, Missouri. Eddie learns of Elmer's endeavor with Falconer to build a tabernacle in Zenith and becomes overwhelmed with hatred and envy.
Act 2
Elmer becomes a business partner to Sharon Falconer and confesses his love to her. She reciprocates, but affirms commitment to her religious calling.Construction begins on the grand tabernacle, financed by TJ Rigg, a local businessman. Eddie, Lulu and Rev. and Mrs. Baines visit the site and privately express their disapproval of the commercial nature of the tabernacle, while Lulu shows renewed romantic interest in Elmer. Frank also visits and expresses his concern about the price of Elmer's success. A debate about old and new practices in religion follows.
A year later, the affair between Elmer and Lulu is reignited with a secret plan by Eddie and Lulu to expose Elmer's deceit. Elmer meets Lulu for a tryst in the nearly completed tabernacle while Eddie looks on in hiding.
Elmer has asked Sharon to marry him and she agrees, despite her recognition of his faults. The night before the tabernacle's opening, she prays for guidance. As a final touch on the tabernacle, a giant cross of electric lights is suspended above the stage.
During the lively grand opening of the tabernacle, Eddie and Lulu come forward and expose Elmer's philandering. Elmer admits his guilt and asks Sharon for forgiveness as chaos erupts in the tabernacle. The electric cross shorts out and the tabernacle catches fire. Horrified by Elmer's deceit, Sharon refuses his help in escaping from the fire; she and her followers burn to death as Elmer escapes.
Some time after the tabernacle fire, Elmer embarks on a new career peddling the platitudes of the "New Thought" movement and meets with Dr. Binch, the founder of the movement. Binch consoles Elmer, but he is haunted by his memory of the tragedy.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : William Boggs) |
|---|---|---|
| Elmer Gantry | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Keith Phares |
| Sharon Falconer | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Jennifer Rivera |
| Frank Shallard | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Vale Rideout |
| Eddie Fislinger | tenor | Frank Kelley |
| Lulu Baines | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Malinda Haslett |
| Reverend Baines | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Brian Banion |
| TJ Rigg | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Kristopher Irmiter |
| Mrs. Baines | mezzo-soprano | Olivia Ward Olivia Ward Olivia Ward is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer and the winner of season 11 of The Biggest Loser, which was the fourth season of couples on the TV reality show. Olivia competed on the purple team, alongside her sister, Hannah, in which they both managed to go to the final two together... |
| Revival Singer | tenor | Chauncey Packer |
Recordings
The Florentine Opera'sFlorentine Opera
The Florentine Opera Company is Wisconsin's oldest fully professional performing arts organization and the sixth-oldest opera company in the United States. The company presents on three staged productions per season largely from the standard operatic repertoire...
March 2010 recording of Elmer Gantry will be released on the Naxos
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
label.