[The opera is among the first with an entirely Black and BIPOC
cast and creative team, and it is the first to incorporate an onstage
DJ as part of its 18-piece orchestration.]
[[link removed]]

CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE IS HEART — AND SOUL — OF LYRIC OPERA’S
‘FACTOTUM’  
[[link removed]]


 

Kyle MacMillan
January 27, 2023
Chicago Sun-Times
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ The opera is among the first with an entirely Black and BIPOC cast
and creative team, and it is the first to incorporate an onstage DJ as
part of its 18-piece orchestration. _

Director Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj (from left), conductor Kedrick
Armstrong, co-creator DJ King Rico, and co-creator Will Liverman are
photographed at a rehearsal of their world-premiere production of
“The Factotum,” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Anthony
Vazquez/Sun-Times

 

About five years ago, after watching a documentary several times about
the hugely successful Broadway musical “Rent,” loosely based on
Puccini’s iconic opera “La Bohème,” noted baritone Will
Liverman got an idea. Why not update “The Barber of Seville,”
another celebrated historical opera, and set it in a contemporary
Black barber shop?

“The Factotum,” the resulting work, which Liverman created with
producer/DJ/multi-instrumentalist DJ King Rico, opens at the Harris
Theater for Music and Dance on Feb. 3 — the first of two world
premieres this season presented by Lyric Opera of Chicago.

LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO — ‘THE FACTOTUM’

WHEN: 7 p.m. Feb. 3, with four additional performances through Feb.
12

WHERE: Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph

TICKETS: $35-$125

INFO: lyricopera.org/factotum [[link removed]]

“People know the experiences in the barber shop and have lived
that,” said Liverman, whose baritone is a familiar presence on the
Lyric stage, “and so we wanted to create something that was
accessible in that way and was a story that we had a perspective
on.”

The opera is among the first with an entirely Black and BIPOC cast and
creative team, and it is the first to incorporate an onstage DJ as
part of its innovative 18-piece orchestration, which includes
electronic keyboards and electric bass and guitar. 

“I do think this is a groundbreaking, unique venture,” said
Anthony Freud, Lyric’s president, general director and CEO, “and I
think it has characteristics about it that make it really radical in
its approach, in its conception.”

New works can sometimes be difficult sells for opera companies, but
the five performances of this work are nearly sold-out, according to
Freud.

“It speaks to what people want in the world of opera,” said
Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, co-book writer, dramaturg and director.
“We’ve tapped into a way to make opera important, urgent,
entertaining and exciting for folks who love opera and those who’ve
never experienced it.”

Liverman, who grew up in Virginia Beach, Va., and now lives in
Chicago, has always been interested in composition and enthralled by
theater. Although hesitant at first to dive into operatic conception,
the singer took his idea for a revamped “Barber of Seville” to
Rico, a childhood friend. They both discovered opera through a program
in Virginia known as the Governor’s School for the Arts that ran
parallel to their traditional high-school curriculum.

“The Factotum” co-creator DJ King Rico is photographed during a
rehearsal of “The Factotum” at Lyric Opera.Anthony
Vazquez/Sun-Times

Rico didn’t need much convincing to sign on.

“Carving out space for our stories to be told is always something
that is appealing to me,” he said, “and using the art form of
opera, there are so many intricacies that you can pull from — the
costumes, lighting, design and obviously the music.”

About a year after conceiving and working on this project, Liverman
mentioned it to Freud, and the operatic chief was immediately
intrigued. Discussions continued, and Lyric sponsored a workshop in
December 2020 that persuaded the company to commission the new work
and provide additional support.

Because of the work’s intimacy and what Freud and the creative team
saw as a need for a close connection between the performers and
audience, the opera will be staged in the in the 1,525-seat Harris
Theater and not at the 3,276-seat Lyric Opera House, the company’s
home base.

Neighborhood barber shops play an important role in African American
culture, and “The Factotum” revolves around Mike (Liverman) and
Garby (Norman Garrett), co-owners of Master Kutz on Chicago’s South
Side. The two are at odds over an illegal numbers game that Garby
operates after hours, a pursuit that winds up causing their niece,
Cece (Nissi Shalome), to have a run-in with the police.

The word “factotum” denotes a person with multiple duties or
activities, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, and that describes Mike, who
is a focal point of the local community. He is an updated extension of
Figaro, who is at the heart of “The Barber of Seville.” 

A series of other characters that make up the local Black community
– employees, customers, friends and romantic interests — come and
in out of the story, which features 12 principal cast members. 

Norman Garrett as Garby (left) and Cecilia Violetta Lopez as Rose
rehearse a scene from “The Factotum.” Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

The creators have labeled “The Factotum” a “soul opera,” but
its influences go far beyond just soul music, taking in gospel, rap,
hip-hop and R&B.

“It’s a melting pot of all the genres that I know and love and
grew up with,” Liverman said, “and that Rico knows and loves and
that he grew up with.” 

Because Liverman and Rico are big fans of groups like Boyz II Men,they
wanted a barber shop quartet to serve as the musical center of this
opera and a kind of Greek chorus pushing the plot along.

“I would say the barbershop quartet is the glue that holds it
together and makes it cohesive,” Liverman said. 

KYLE MACMILLAN, a native of Kansas City, Mo., served as fine arts
critic of the Denver Post from 2000 through 2011. Currently he is a
Chicago based freelance writer and contributor to the Chicago
Sun-Times where he covers visual art, dance and classical music, as
well as larger issues and trends in the arts. His work has appeared in
The Chicago Sun-Times, Ravinia Magazine, Art in America, Early Music
America, Selvedge Magazine, Classical Voice of North America, The Wall
Street Journal, La Voz Chicago, Playbill, WBEZ-FM (Chicago, IL), Art
in America, Modern Luxury CS, Inkl Blog, EMAg, Classical Voice North
America, Chicago on the Aisle.

THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, winner of eight Pulitzer Prizes, is Chicago’s
oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city. Founded in
1948 through a merger of the Chicago Sun and the Daily Times, it
features hard-hitting investigative reporting, in-depth political
coverage, timely behind-the-scenes sports analysis, and insightful
entertainment and cultural coverage.  In 2022, it became part of the
Chicago Public Media family of companies and now operates as a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Become a member of the Chicago
Sun-Times. [[link removed]]

* opera
[[link removed]]
* chicago
[[link removed]]
* African American culture
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]