Crossing

Crossing

2017 BAM Next Wave Festival

October 8, 2017

 

Photo courtesy of 2017 BAM Next Wave Festival

The American Repertory Theater production of Crossing was part of the 2017 BAM Next Wave Festival.  This new opera, composed, written, and conducted by Matthew Aucoin, was inspired by Walt Whitman’s diary entries during the time he volunteered at a Civil War hospital.  It explores Whitman’s essential question, “What is it, then, between us?”  The production is majestic and relevant.  Director Diane Paulus keeps everything simple and concise, allowing the music to envelope the audience and the moments to be true and personal.

Photo courtesy of 2017 BAM Next Wave Festival

From the BAM program notes, written by Matthew Aucoin:  “So, in Crossing, the Walt Whitman who walks the stage is not that familiar poetic persona.  Rather, this is Whitman as I imagine he might have been to himself, starting from a midlife crisis which prompts his radical, heroic decision to drop everything and volunteer in the war hospitals.  Naturally, this Whitman is a fictional creation.  Crossing is a musical fantasia which imagines and realizes the many forces – generosity, insecurity, longing, selflessness, bravery, unfulfilled sexual desire, a need to escape his own life, a boundless kindness – that caused a man named Walter Whitman, Jr. to forge an indelible embodiment of the American spirit in his poetry.”

Ron Gilfry & Alexander Lewis
Photo courtesy of 2017 BAM Next Wave Festival

Ron Gilfry commands the stage as Walt Whitman.  Alexander Lewis creates intrigue in the character of John Wormley.  Davone Tines captures the audience’s attention when he tells the haunting background story of his character Freddie Stowes.

The projection design by Finn Ross brings depth and imagination to the emotional stories shared by the characters.  Jill Johnson’s choreography adds dimension to the realistic and somber hospital environment.

Crossing was presented at the BAM Next Wave Festival from October 3 – 8.  Keep your eyes peeled for additional live performances or video broadcasts.  It is well worth seeing. 

Domenick Danza