Wednesday evening at The great Hall witnessed a seminal event in the history of opera; Operamania. Our beloved art form; courtesy of the indefatigable Opera Revue, mashed up with pro-wrestling; in the persons of Junction City Wrestling. What could possibly gio wrong you ask? Well how about Mango Mussolini showing up during the Anthem to claim his 51st state? No worries! Danie Friesen despatched him with a whack over the head with a chair.
I Call myself Princess is a new “play with opera music” written by Métis playwright and actor Jani Lauzon which will première at the Aki Studio in Toronto in September in a production directed by Marjorie Chan. I heard about this project a while ago from Marion Newman who will headline the new production and was intrigued. I knew it was going to be about American composer Charles Wakefield Cadman and his Creek/Cherokee collaborator Tsianina Redfeather. I knew they did a touring show including Cadman’s song cycle From Wigwam to Tepee and that’s about it. It sounded like the worst kind of late Victorian cultural appropriation and “Redsploitation” so why would serious and intelligent Indigenous artists like Lauzon and Newman be interested? Today I spoke with Jani in an attempt to find out.
Marion Newman as Tsianina Redfeather.
Photo by Dahlia Katz. Design by Mariah Meawasige
operaramblings 