Modesto’s Townsend Opera stages “Dead Man Walking”

Murder, punishment and death are familiar topics in the operatic tradition.

But bringing them all together in a modern production about the death penalty is something altogether new. Modesto’s Townsend Opera presents a production of “Dead Man Walking,” based on the memoir by Sister Helen Prejean and its subsequent feature film adaption. The show, which will play April 29 and May 1 at the Gallo Center for the Arts, follows Prejean through her real-life journey working with a death row inmate.

“This isn’t a preachy piece at all that just says the death penalty is wrong,” said Toronto-based director Michael Mori, who specializes in producing contemporary operas from the 20th and 21st centuries. “Something interesting Sister Helen has said is that if we made every American watch an execution, it’s entirely possible we as a country would have an entirely different opinion of the death penalty.”

Playing Prejean will be San Francisco-based mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm. As Prejean she counsels fictionalized condemned inmate Joseph DeRocher, portrayed by New York baritone Christopher Magiera. The production has a cast of about 30 and will perform an encore presentations with Fresno Grand Opera on May 7.

“Dead Man Walking” begins in the early days of Prejean’s work with inmates, when she first started to serve as a spiritual adviser to those on death row. Since then she has worked with a number of prisoners and been a witness to several executions. She has become a vocal advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States.

Despite the potentially controversial topic of capital punishment, Krumm said the show’s humanity is what’s really at its center.

“The first time I saw the opera I forgot I was listening to an opera. It just overwhelmed me,” Krumm said. “The story is something that is very affecting. It’s just letting you explore what it would be like to be a person in any part of that situation. The political parts are not really discussed. It’s mostly just the human element.”

The production presents Prejean’s point of view as well as that of DeRocher, the families of the people he murdered and those who work in the prison.

Susan Sarandon won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Sister Prejean in the 1995 film adaptation. The opera version was composed by Jake Heggie with a libretto by Terrence McNally. Both Prejean and Heggie came to Modesto earlier this year to speak in advance of the Towsend Opera production.

Unlike many of the most famous operas, which were written well over 100 years ago, “Dead Man Walking” debuted in 2000. But Mori said its present-day themes still fit into operatic history.

“There are lots of precedents of political operas,” Mori said. “In ‘Tosca’ you have an opera about a guy being tortured. There’s lots of precedent for things that deal with life and death and love. I think that’s when opera does the best – when the stakes are high.”

“Dead Man Walking” is also sung in English, making it more accessible to audiences.

“When you walk into this show you don’t need to know more than you already know to enjoy this,” he said. “It’s kind of sad that most of operatic repertoire doesn’t have that immediacy. A whole generation thinks it’s old-fashioned. But like anything else it should be an art form that is changing and growing. To me opera has never been a museum art form. It’s about time opera had something to say about the world we live in.”

Like Mori, Krumm said it is exciting to bring a more cutting-edge piece to the community. Unlike productions of the works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Giacomo Puccini, this show should be new to most who see it.

“The audience doesn’t have a preconceived notion of what it will sound (like),” she said. “And I hope that it sparks people to think about their positions on this topic. I don’t think it will change anyone’s mind. But it offers people the opportunity to think about how they feel about the death penalty and empathy in general.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Modesto’s Townsend Opera stages “Dead Man Walking”."