I Remember Thursday

Lani Willis (Communications & marketing director)

The Grapes of Wrath, © Michal Daniel

Getting to work on The Grapes of Wrath was a privilege and a high point of my time here at Minnesota Opera. It was a big epic opera, and a big epic project; leading up to the world premiere, we hosted lots of community events and worked very long hours, but rather than feeling exhausted, I remember feeling energized. Commissioning and producing this amazing new work had both a galvanizing effect on the staff and transformative impact on the company. I think there was simply a different level of ownership in making it a success. Of course, for any opera, the marketing and communications team wants to have great placements in the media, wants it to be a box-office hit, and wants your audience and critics to love it. But when the composer and librettist are at the office every day – living, breathing human beings that become your friends – you want the success for them. (When you stage Boheme, you want it to be a blockbuster, but not because you care at this point what it means to Puccini!)

The Grapes of Wrath, © Michal Daniel

I started to realize that dynamic at the break of the final run-through. I was standing by Ricky Ian Gordon, the composer, at the top of the steps in the Bemis rehearsal room. We’d just watched the first two acts, which culminate with Noah’s suicide by drowning, when he hears Ma Joad’s lullaby. There was this brief, emotionally charged stillness. Almost everyone in the chorus was frozen in tears. The few guests in attendance were in tears. Artistic Director Dale Johnson was in tears. I was in tears. Ricky was definitely in tears! He asked, “Do you think it’s good?” and I gave him a big hug and said, “Yes, I think it’s good!”

The Grapes of Wrath, © Michal Daniel