The Minnesota Opera opened a show last weekend that the industry no longer sees many of: a work from within the past five years.
The opera, based on Ezra Jack Keats’ 1962 children’s book, originally premiered in 2021. The MN Opera set the libretto by Andrea Davis Pinkney to a new orchestration by Joel Thompson.
(Adult) Soprano Raven McMillon leads the cast as Peter, a child who wakes up excited for the first snow of the winter. Snowball fights, lullabies and nightmares ensue.
“The Snowy Day” brings us to a unique place in opera that I’ve never experienced before: the mundane. Classic opera is mostly rooted in melodrama — think: the trials of Tamino and Pamina in “The Magic Flute” and the immorality and lawlessness of “Carmen.”
Librettist Pinkney takes time to set the scene of a close-knit Black family doing non-dramatic things like getting ready for the day.
Peter’s adventures are still meaningful, but the dramatics of operatic singing assigned to such mundanity take a little getting used to.
McMillon’s voice soars perfectly as Peter, but she struggles with the physicality of playing a little kid. The highlight here is Leah Hawkins as Mama, who commands the stage with a couple different features about her struggles as a doting mother who cares almost too much.
But the most exciting aspect of “Snowy” is Thompson’s new orchestrations. Most well-known for his choral work “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” Thompson has defined himself as one of the most prolific American composers of today.
These orchestrations are a more-than-perfect setting for the staging, complete with a chilling recurring three-chord hum by the chorus that represents the beauty of fresh snowfall. Another standout is the compound-metered dance of “Snowball Fight” (bongos, anyone?).
Thompson adds instruments unconventional to the form like the saxophone to the pit, which bring further musical interest and cements the orchestration as the true star of the show.
As for the staging, scenic designer Amy Rubin designs Peter’s room as a colorful optical illusion that can be torn apart quickly to open to a snowy scene.
The whole thing is a quick hour-and-nine minutes, which is a rare delight in opera. It’s the perfect length to grab a bite or a drink after — away from the snow and cold, of course.
“The Snowy Day” runs at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts through Feb. 16.
Anya Capistrant-Kinney can be reached at capi2087@stthomas.edu.
