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Local opera company, Toi Toi Opera, is staging an immersive production of the beloved operetta The Merry Widow at The Atrium in the Tannery this month, in a special boutique ball-meets-opera experience.
The operetta was originally scheduled for Feb 2022, but COVID intervened, so the company is beyond excited to finally be in a position to mount it all these years later.
We spoke to singers and company co-directors Alex Robinson and Katherine Doig about the production, which is being directed by Julian Anderson with musical direction and arrangement by Jeremy Woodside.
It’s a two-night run – there must be a lot of preparation to stage a show like this, for only two nights?
Katherine: There’s a massive amount of preparation. As much as would go into a five-night run, but this is repertoire that really deserves it, and the hard work is well worth it to be able to mount something so joyful with so much incredible Canterbury talent on display.
What made Toi Toi choose to stage The Merry Widow?
Katherine: The Merry Widow is a hugely significant operetta, it became an international sensation after its European debut in 1905, and by the time it got to Aotearoa in 1909, it had already influenced everything from fashion, to candy, to cocktails. It’s remained a perennial favourite for over 120 years. It has a big history and it’s also a really fantastic work – just the perfect mixture of melodies to die for, luscious scoring, romance, and comedy. But our choice to stage it is also a reflection of where opera is at in the city at the moment. We’re working hard to help the artform rebuild its connection with local audiences, and programming a work like this, which is just so engaging, widely loved, and plain good fun is just the medicine.
Is it the case that modern audiences are not so keen on opera anymore?
Alex: It’s a worldwide issue, to be honest. Traditional opera hasn’t evolved as a performing art as other performance arts have. It hasn’t really kept pace. Originally opera was conceived as an art form that was for the masses, but it’s fair to say a lot of opera has evolved into something seen as being more elitist.
Katherine: I think that as an opera company, we need to take lessons from our close colleagues, particularly in musical theatre, who are absolutely brilliant at getting bums on seats – making our offerings much more friendly, and much more accessible. It doesn’t limit us to lighter repertoire (for example last year we mounted a successful season of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea) it just means we have to be more innovative with how we choose to present our productions, to get people in the door, and then keep them coming back.
I guess opera is still seen as being hard work for a lot of audiences: it’s often performed in Italian or German and it can feel outdated to some extent.
Alex: A lot of companies around the world are tackling this in different ways – they’re introducing modern stories, more relevant pieces. This production we are staging of The Merry Widow is a version that was commissioned by the Australian Opera Conference in 2017 – and it has a new libretto by Justin Fleming. It’s still set in a bygone time, but the language and themes are very contemporary.
Katherine: It strikes a beautiful balance with the material – it was very innovative when it was first performed, it really was the biggest thing to hit the stages around the world – so we are really happy to have a version that is modern but still maintains the integrity of the original material. With our production director Julian Anderson’s choice of staging era too, being the early 1920s, I think the whole look and feel of the show will really resonate with those who already love the work, and with those who are new to it too.
Has it been difficult for companies like yours to find relevant material?
Alex: As a smaller company, we can’t easily commission new works, but we can keep an eye out for them, and it’s really part of our ethos to find work that connects with audiences and bring opera to the people again. Funding and politics have also made it difficult for opera companies like ours to exist – funding is challenging across the board and at a micro level, the history of opera in Christchurch is full of drama and politics and would make for a good opera itself!
Katherine: Christchurch having gone without its own opera company for almost a decade following the earthquakes, we and our co-founder Margot Button established the company in 2019. We’re really proud of the quality, quantity, and variety of productions we’ve managed to mount since – even through the challenges brought by the pandemic. There was something about going through the trauma of the quakes – that made people make change. It was kind of freeing to be able to do something without asking for permission, to be honest. We had the energy to make the change and build something coherent and stable, and that’s what we’ve done.
For the last six years you’ve been steadily building up the company, where do you feel you are at now?
Katherine: People are now willing to back us financially which is amazing, and we are so grateful. Securing Creative New Zealand’s Arts Organisations and Groups Funding for this year’s programme of work has been especially significant for us recently, and was a real recognition that we’ve created hundreds of paid opportunities for our fellow musicians and creatives, and that we are really meeting a need. Earlier this year I had the pleasure of sitting on the panel for our big audition round for this season’s productions, and it was genuinely breathtaking how much talent there was on display – great fuel for us to keep the momentum rolling.
Alex: It really has been about figuring out our niche and where we want to be. We are really committed to showcasing new voices and in this current production – we have nine out of a cast of twenty that haven’t performed with us before.
Katherine: So, there’s this constant cycle of refresh and renewal – while we have fabulous established performers, we also have all this wonderful new talent which just brings such a vibrant energy to the room – and it genuinely feels like we’re all working together to advance the collective. We’re so proud of the positive company culture that’s being fostered by our artists across the board.
From what I understand, the last time this particular show was performed in Christchurch, there was a bit of a ruckus around whether an opera company should perform an operetta – why the controversy?
Katherine: Yes, operetta can cause some friction with opera purists who sometimes perceive it as being too lightweight, and too full of spoken dialogue – and I think that was the case here in the 1990s. The Merry Widow is basically a rom-com. The music itself is incredibly beautiful though – and even if they consider it a guilty pleasure, I think there are few serious musicians who don’t actually admire it. In our performance, we have cut out all the unnecessary stuff and focused very much on the gorgeous music and the comedic aspects.
Why is the production being staged at The Tannery?
Katherine: A couple of reasons – the atrium at The Tannery works really well for an immersive production like this. Secondly, when we first started the company budgetary considerations meant we had to be a bit more imaginative with our choice of venues. But funnily enough, what was initially driven by financial necessity is now becoming our signature – performing in venues other than traditional theatres.
Alex: It works on many different levels. We’re not asking people to come to a theatre, or asking them to dress in any way, which in all honestly, can put some people off attending a show. But by having a venue like this – we can have cabaret seating, our cast can interact with the tables, people can choose to dress up if they want to – and in the interval, we’ll also get the audience up to dance, so it’s really immersive and that’s not something you can do easily in a theatre.
Sounds like that approach means collaboration is key for your company?
Alex: It is, from both an ethos perspective as well as a financial perspective. Funding these things is so difficult. Resources are difficult to come by. We are all living in straightened times and as a company we need to acknowledge that and work to it – so collaboration for us is really important. For example, The Piano have been astonishing. We have a studio there that’s subsidised and that has helped us enormously.
Katherine: We are really aware that we want to keep our ticket prices low. Our aim is to connect what we do with as wide an audience as possible, and you can’t do that with expensive ticket prices. We are so grateful for the financial and in-kind support we get from other organisations, and we want that support and goodwill to translate into affordable pricing for our audiences. Collaboration is really important in that context.
Why should people come to see the operetta?
Katherine: It’s just pure joy and escapism. It’s a night of fun and frivolity in the middle of winter. You don’t need to be an opera fan to come to this – it’s immersive and fun and you can come and be part of the ball, you don’t need to be an opera aficionado to enjoy it.
The Merry Widow is on at The Tannery Atrium, 24 & 25 July. Get your tickets here.