www.broadwaynews.com: I went to see George Brant’s “Grounded” in D.C. back in 2014. I just fell in love with the play, and I fell in love with the actress who played the pilot there. The way that she used the language and took off — it was just this woman in a box with music cues and she evoked this whole world.
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I did not know that in Italian, Opera meant ‘work’. I took Spanish for 5 years but never Italian. The person who wrote this article is a two time Tony award winning composer named Jeanine Tesori. Throughout her piece named “Grounded”, which she produced at the MET, the goal was for listeners and audience members to stop thinking about labels and just enjoy the craft of opera and performance. The opera is about a female fighter pilot, named Jess. Jess feels most free when she is flying planes, but she is taken out of the air by an unplanned pregnancy. When she returns to the military, she is now a drone pilot. This opera focuses a lot on motherhood, which is why Jeanine Tesori was so drawn by the opera, and why she ended up producing the opera herself as well. Jeanine Tesori was really struck by this opera performance, and it really got her gears to turn.
While reading this piece, I started to rethink what I initially thought when I saw the title of the article. Opera in Italian means “work.” I think one of the author’s points is that this show, “Grounded,” has a lot to it, plot and character wise. It makes you think deeper about its themes and subject matters. It takes work to watch, mental work. This is one of the things I love about theatre, good shows make you think. They are entertaining and have good music, yes, but at the core they make you think and take a look at things you might otherwise miss. Theatre shows you the world anew and in sharper, clearer contrast. Phantom, Hadestown, Once, most of Sondheim’s work, they all make you think and it takes work to fully get them. So perhaps all of theatre should be called “opera,” because when it’s good, it makes you think.
I saw a production of “Grounded” directed by my mother in Orlando several years ago. The actress who performed it was incredibly talented, and I was blown away by the script and the themes explored. I haven’t seen many one-person shows, but every time I do I am amazed by the stamina and skill needed to pull them off, for all areas––direction, production, and especially acting. I would never have thought to see “Grounded” turned into an opera, especially because it is already somewhat removed from its subject matter because you can’t really portray drone warfare onstage (well. You probably could. But that’s generally not how it’s done). However, there are a lot of high emotions and intense moments that could definitely be highlighted through song. I’d be curious to learn more about this opera, and I hope it being an opera isn’t discouraging to audiences.
Yeah opera! I opened and closed my first opera at the top of the semester, and it truly changed the way I have thought about working in the entertainment industry. In many ways, ASMing the opera was really similar to ASMing a play. That being said, the way we do things here at CMU is super specific and lives in it's own world, so the separation of the opera and theatre line is a little blurrier. “Jeanine Tesori hopes you will stop thinking about labels of art forms and just witness craft.” This anecdote was really thought provoking for me- because a lot of the time I do think of the form before the purpose. Not to be Ms. Playground again- but the festival has really challenged this belief for me. I have recently been looking more at the spirit or intention of a piece of performance, from musical to play to opera to cabaret.
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