Handel As You’ve Never Seen (or Heard) Before

Performers in “Alcina,” produced by Early Music Now and Milwaukee Opera Theater. Photo by Mark Frohna Photography

For nearly four decades, Early Music Now has delighted audiences by presenting historically-informed performances of Medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque music. But EMN programs have largely omitted opera.

That’s about to change. A collaboration between EMN and Milwaukee Opera Theatre will stage five performances of Alcina, written by George Frideric Handel in 1735. Opening night is Tuesday, Nov. 12.

“This is not your grandmother’s opera,” promises Charles Grosz, EMN’s artistic and executive director. Odds are that Grandma would not recognize the length of the work (reduced from three hours to a single act running 80 minutes); the stage-free setting (Dandy, a combination vintage goods retailer and event space located on Milwaukee’s West Side), or the use of a narrator, one of Milwaukee’s celebrated drag queens, to help the audience navigate the somewhat convoluted plot.

MOT producing artistic director Jill Anna Ponasik, who reacted with enthusiasm when Grosz suggested the project, explained that the pair first chose the non-traditional venue for the production. The Dandy space (“It has a magic to it,” says Ponasik) inspired the selection of the opera. The story revolves around Alcina, a sorceress who lures men to her enchanted island. When she tires of their affections, she changes her lovers into plants, animals, waves in the ocean, or whatever suits her fancy. The plot thickens with the addition of tangled relationships, jealousy, a woman masquerading as her brother, and a magic ring.

To reduce all this drama from three acts to one, the collaborators started with the music. “Which arias can we not live without? That was the starting point,” said Ponasik. Adaptations to accommodate the performance space and the partners’ resources also influenced the final shape of Alcina.

The production provides exposure and performing opportunities for more than a dozen local musicians. Alcina requires seven singers, selected and rehearsed by MOT, and seven instrumental musicians, drawn from early music specialists in Milwaukee and Madison. The period instruments they will play include three donated to EMN. The opera has segments of Baroque dance, a new experience for the vocalists. In true Baroque fashion, neither singers nor instrumentalists will be amplified. While the arias will be sung in Italian, spoken dialogue is in English.

Helping the production come to life are Hal Leonard Publishing, which tracked down the hard-to-obtain music for Alcina, and the Florentine Opera, which provided rehearsal space. Dandy will draw on its stock of vintage clothing and furniture to supply some of the costumes and props.

Alcina will, Ponasik hopes, attract an audience of people who are “curious, looking for a new experience, and willing to be surprised.” Grosz predicts that those who attend will remember “the innovation of the production.”

Alcina will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, Wednesday, Nov. 13, and Thursday, Nov. 14. Final performances are at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17. The production will be staged in the event space at Dandy, 5020 W. Vliet St., Milwaukee. Tickets are available online for limited seating.