“The Kaiser of Atlantis” begins on Oct. 23.
Atlanta Opera
The Atlanta Opera will be kicking off its 2020-21 season under “The Big Tent” on Oct. 22.
It will include six productions in total and begins with Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci,” performed in repertory with “The Kaiser of Atlantis.”
“City Lights” host Lois Reitzes spoke via Zoom with baritones and Opera performers Reginald Smith Jr. and Michael Mayes.
Interview Highlights:
Smith discussing his character Tonio in “Pagliacci”:
“I often think of Tonio like Iago in Othello. He’s just always there; he’s lurking. He’s the mastermind of it all, and it’s so exciting! It’s a role you can really sink your teeth into. But he kicks off the opera. He starts off by saying, ‘I’m the prologue, when you see us in pain here, we’re not just actors, we’re real people just like you.’ It really sets up the verismo idea from the very beginning that this is not going to be another happy-go-lucky shell. This is some real drama.”
Mayes on his role as the emperor in “The Kaiser of Atlantis”:
“The opera itself was written as a not-so-thinly-veiled critique of an authoritarian Nazi regime that was in charge during the Holocaust. My character is Emperor Overall, which is the king over all. He controls everything, and he’s an authoritarian. We discover through the course of the show that it’s the fears that any oppressed group has about their oppressor are realized. It’s not that this man is fighting for some ideology or for his people. His ideology is that he finds the human race itself to be unworthy of existence. And his plan all along is to wipe them off the face of the Earth and release existence from the torture of the human condition.”
On safety and health measures implemented while on stage:
“We have these cubes we stand in that have a plastic covering. When we’re in those, then we don’t have to wear a mask while performing. Or if we’re in the center of the stage and there’s at least 15 feet around us where no one is around, then it’s OK to not wear a mask. But when you have interactions with other people, then you have to remember ‘Oh, my mask!’ There will be some singing without masks. But you better believe we’re taking every safety precaution imaginable to make sure that not only we’re safe, but that the audience is safe as well,” Smith said.
The Atlanta Opera “Molly Blank Tent Series” will be held on the grounds of Oglethorpe University. Smith will perform in “Pagliacci,” which opens Oct. 22. Mayes will perform in “The Kaiser of Atlantis,” which opens Oct. 23.
