Birthing a new opera is both a manifestation of optimism and a lesson in endurance. For the creator, what starts as a spark of inspiration then necessitates entrusting that idea to collaborators, nurturing and shaping it through trial and error, and discarding what’s nonessential, all while maintaining an unwavering belief in the power of its story and potential to connect with audiences. It’s a risky and emotionally vulnerable endeavor, but it can be an exhilarating one, too.
As central as this process is to the alchemy of opera-making, it’s something those outside of the rehearsal room rarely get to see. Recently, a team of student filmmakers from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Media Production Division set out to change that with their documentary, Robeson Rediscovered: The Making of an Opera. The film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the development of Robeson, a new opera inspired by the life of the legendary singer and activist Paul Robeson.
Robeson features music by Scott Davenport Richards, with a libretto co-written by Richards and David Cote, and dramaturgy and stage direction by Robin Guarino, CCM professor of opera—the creative team that previously collaborated on the powerful opera Blind Injustice, which explored true stories about the wrongfully imprisoned. Like Blind Injustice, Robeson underwent workshops through Opera Fusion: New Works, a partnership between CCM and Cincinnati Opera that ushers new operas through their next developmental phase.
Over several months between 2022 and 2023, the documentary crew, led by producer and instructor Melissa Godoy, was given up-close access by the creative team to their process of bringing Paul Robeson’s story to the stage. The filmmakers were able to capture the evolution of the opera through rehearsal and performance footage, artist interviews, and archival material from Robeson’s life.
Lauren Dull, a 2022 University of Cincinnati graduate who now lives and works in Los Angeles, was co-producer and editor on Robeson Rediscovered. Said Dull, “In order to tell this story, we had to sort through hundreds of pages, videos, and related material of Robeson. I learned so much about him during this process, and I hope our audience will find him as intriguing as I did.”
Tre Harris is a current CCM media production student and served as a camera operator on the project. He said, “Being on the camera crew for this documentary gave me a wildly new appreciation for operas in general. I had no idea how these types of productions came to life, and I am grateful to have experienced this intricate process alongside my wonderful crew! I think the documentary does a great job at capturing just how much time, patience and research goes into making an opera like this adjacent to the real-life story of Paul Robeson .”
Added Godoy, “This kind of hands-on work is uniquely available to CCM students. It is the valuable experience of working as a company on a professional project with an industry schedule and creative and technical challenges. The bonus is that our crew got to observe another group, Opera Fusion: New Works, tackle their own creative challenges. Both teams rose to the occasion. We all learned a lot.”
Special thanks go to the CCM Harmony Fund for providing support for Robeson Rediscovered: The Making of an Opera.
Opera Fusion: New Works receives support from the Mellon Foundation.