When you talk about media adaptations of comics, opera has a very short list. An upcoming opera based on Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is adding to that list – although it is not a comic book, Kavalier & Clay is set in the world of Golden Age comics publishing, so we’ll allow it.
The Kavalier and Clay opera has a libretto by International Opera Award-winner Gene Scheer (Therese Raquin, Moby Dick) and a score by Grammy Award-winner Mason Bates (Mothership, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs), under the direction of Bartlett Sher (a Tony Award winner for a revival of South Pacific.)
The production is a joint effort between the Metropolitan Opera and the Jacobs School of music at Indiana University, and the world premiere is taking place on Friday at the Jacobs School with a student cast. After this out of town tryout, the opera will open the Met’s 2025-26 season!
According to the school paper,
The collaboration has offered students a rare opportunity to participate in a new production’s origin story while working alongside the most prestigious names in the business.
“Partnering with the most reputable and exciting opera house in the world helps students clearly see the connection between what they’re doing in school and where they’re going to be working and developing as professional artists after their educational experience,” said Catherine Compton, managing director of the Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater.
What a great thrill for these students. Some cool photos of the production in the above link, so check those out.
The internet does not yet reveal too much about the genesis of this project, although it’s been in the works since 2o18 (operas take a loooooong time to come to fruition.) It was supposed to have its world premiere at the LA Opera, but the costs were too much, so the student production was planned instead.
As for the story, it involved two Jewish cousins, Czech artist Joe Kavalier and Brooklynite writer Sammy Clay, as they embark on a career in the comics business with their character, The Escapist. Published in 2000, the book evoked the sweatshop era of the industry – and the real life struggles of Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, and the Captain America team Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. With is acclaim and awards, Kavalier & Clay did much to establish the troubling fortunes of early comics creators in the general cultural narrative.
The book also spun off into an actual comic – The Escapist, published by Dark Horse for several years as an anthology of tales of the character from the book, and a subsequent miniseries called The Escapists by Brian K. Vaughan.
Given the novel’s acclaim and popularity (and strong storyline) it has often been optioned for a film or Tv show….but nothing has come of it yet. There WAS, however, a previous stage version in 2014. And now, a more unlikely artform has taken up the narrative: opera!
As for other comic book operas, there was the Too Much Coffee Man opera, with a libretto by TMCM creator Shannon Wheeler himself. It debuted in 2006 and has actually been mounted a few times since then. An opera based on The Many Deaths of Laila Star by Ram V. and Phillipe Andrade has been in development by the Minnesota Opera. And comics writer Cecil Castellucci has also written three opera librettos: Les Aventures de Madame Merveille (World Premiere in 2010) Hockey Noir: The Opera (World Premiere 2018) and Metternich! The Language of Flowers (World Premiere 2021), with a new one, Opera Noir, in the works.
Annnnnd…..that’s all I got for the comics/opera cross-overs. What am I forgetting?
For Indiana residents, tickets for the four-night production of The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay opera can be purchased here.
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