Opera of a trans woman's coming of age opens this week in Duluth
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As Lyric Opera of the North opens its 2022-2023 season, the Duluth performing arts company chose a groundbreaking opera. But this is not the first time "As One” has been produced; according to conductor Alexandra Enyart, it is one of the more popular American operas.
“I think this is production number 54,” Enyart said. “And it came out only eight years ago.”
The opera, sung in English, tells the story of Hannah, a transgender woman on a journey to find her identity. Two singers, a baritone and a mezzo-soprano, play Hannah at different points in her life, accompanied by a string quartet.
While the show features the trans experience, Enyart said at its core it is a girl’s coming of age story.
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“A lot of times people label this as the ‘trans opera,’” she said. “But transgender is an adjective, and the noun is woman.”
When Enyart came out as a transgender woman, she thought her career as a conductor was over because of the limited number of trans role models in her field.
[“As One”] “allows me to exist and just be in a world that I thought for sure I was never going to be allowed to be in,” she said.
The conductor for nine previous productions including the Australian premiere, the Chicago-based conductor said the chamber opera’s popularity offers an insight into what attracts audiences.
Enyart is not the only member of the production who has experience with the show. Lucas Bouk, a transgender man, plays the baritone role of Hannah Before (also called Hannah Younger) in this production, but previously played the mezzo-soprano role, Hannah After (also called Hannah Older), in two other productions.
“When I sang the role of Hannah Older, it was challenging for me to imagine her happiness in being a woman,” Bouk said. “[It’s] more comfortable for me now to be singing about almost my own childhood story as a baritone in this production.”
Bouk says that while “As One” is a powerful piece, even helping his own parents understand his trans identity, there is still work to be done for trans representation in opera.
“This story was originally conceived for cisgendered singers, for two people to portray one transgender character” he said. “Now we're looking for different types of representation where you would want to have a trans woman played by a trans woman, you'd want to have trans masculine characters played by trans masculine actors … I do want the industry to change towards that.”
Lyric Opera of the North’s "As One" will be performed at Duluth’s Clyde Iron Works Oct. 10 and 11.
