Opera Review: "This House" Has Great Bones at Opera Theatre

Composer Ricky Ian Gordon, along with librettists Ruby Aiyo Gerber and Lynn Nottage, deliver a gripping multi-generation family drama.

L-R: Briana Hunter, Brad Bickhardt.
Photo by Eric Woolsey.

The Opera Theatre of St. Louis (OTSL) production of This House is composer Ricky Ian Gordon’s third world premiere at company, and as far as I’m concerned, his third hit. With a libretto by renowned playwright Lynn Nottage and Nottage’s poet daughter Ruby Aiyo Gerber, This House is the engrossing and often surprising story of three generations of the Walker family and their brownstone house in Harlem’s Sugar Hill neighborhood, and the secrets it holds.

Those secrets unfold with a near-perfect mix of words, music, and stagecraft. This House is the kind of theatrical experiences that grows in one’s estimation with the passage of time. This may have been the world premiere, but I would expect to see many more performances of this remarkable work in the future.

Allen Moyer’s turntable set allows the focus to shift seamlessly between the outside and inside of the house—a fact that turns out to have an importance that goes beyond the initial visual impact. Outside it’s the present day. Inside the past and the present collide as The House, speaking through its ghosts, reveals the family secrets to Zoe, the daughter of family matriarch Ida.

A prosperous investment banker, Zoe and her husband Glenn are expecting their first child. Glenn is encouraging Zoe to reclaim and rehab the house for their planned family, but Zoe has her doubts. Those doubts come to the surface quickly as Zoe enters the house for the first time in years and immediately finds herself at odds with her mother and her artist brother Lindon over her plans.

As the opera progresses, the ghosts tell their stories. We learn how Minus Walker bought the house for cash in 1919 just as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was heating up, and how it was nearly lost during the 1930s when Minus’s ne’er do well son Percy ran up against debts he couldn’t pay and underworld connections he couldn’t ignore. Percy’s formidable sister Beulah saves both the house and Percy’s life, but at a terrible cost.

In the 1960s we meet Young Ida and her sister Lucy. Ida thinks she has found happiness with Milton, a musician with a promising career, but Milton’s affair with the rebellious Lucy has tragic repercussions. Later we encounter Lindon’s lover Thomas who urges Lindon to abandon his unfinished painting and start a new life in Spain—a dream denied by Lindon’s progressive illness.

It all comes to a head with what the program describes as “one last stunning revelation” before Zoe makes peace with her family’s past and she and Glenn look to their future together. That revelation is as stunning to the audience as it is to Zoe, so you’ll get no spoilers from me.

All of this makes for a compelling multi-generational drama given added depth by Gordon’s score, a libretto that artfully combines prose and poetry, and James Robinson’s fluid staging. Yes, things can get a bit crowded up there at times with the house full of ghosts, but that’s not all bad. It is, for one thing, a constant reminder of the inescapable past they represent.

OTSL has assembled a terrific cast of singers, every one of whom is thoroughly invested in their characters, bringing them to vivid life.

Mezzo Briana Hunter’s commanding stage presence and powerful voice are ideally suited to the character of Zoe, conflicted but with the same steely core as her mother and grandmother. You can see and hear that in Soprano Adrienne Danrich’s Ida, and with particular force, in mezzo Krysty Swann’s Beulah. All three performers let us see the more vulnerable sides of their characters, but little doubt is left that these are women with whom you do not want to mess.

The libretto describes the role of the free-spirited Lucy as “soprano (Melismatic)” which presumably refers to the elaborate vocal filigree that perfectly captures the character’s romantic and somewhat flighty nature. Soprano Aundi Marie Moore’s voice clearly has the flexibility to handle that line, as well as the power to express her anguish when her life spins out of control.

Young Ida’s optimism veers close to naïveté at first but soprano Brandie Inez Sutton never lets her go there, and her grief at the outcome of Lucy’s affair with Milton is palpable.

The role of Milton gets a nuanced and musically solid performance from baritone Sankara Harouna. Tenor Victor Ryan Robinson brings a sinuous vibe to the role of Percy that reminded me Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess, living the “high life” without counting the cost. And bass-baritone Christian Pursell is a warm and sympathetic Thomas—a marked contrast with his swaggering Escamillo in OTSL’s Carmen in 2022.

The role of Glenn is small but critical to the story line, and tenor Brad Bickhardt gives the character real depth.

Last but definitely not least, baritone Justin Austin is heartbreakingly tragic as Lindon. The part is large and the emotional range is wide, but Austin more than does it justice.

Lightly infused with Essence of Copland, Gordon’s score is richly imaginative and creatively eclectic in its evocation of the music and sounds of over a century of American history. It’s filled with brilliant touches, many of which I expect I missed after only one hearing. Conductor Daniela Candillari, who collaborated with Gordon on the opera, leads members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in what must be considered the authoritative performance of this music. Her program notes on the score are well worth reading for their insights into the piece.

Greg Emetaz’s video projections and Marcus Doshi’s lighting combine with Moyer’s set to make The House the living presence it’s meant to be. Costumes by Montana Levi Blanco expertly delineate time, place, and character.

Watching This House, I was reminded somewhat of Wagner’s concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk—the “total work of art”—in which all the elements of the stage combine to create a coherent, artistic whole. This House puts a contemporary (and less didactic) spin on that model that deserves all the praise it is sure to get. Don’t miss it.

This House runs through June 29th on the Browning Mainstage Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. More information on times and tickets for the Opera Theatre season can be found at their web site.

This article originally appeared at St. Louis Arts Scene, where Chuck Lavazzi is the founder and principal critic.