The 2010 Opera Vista Festival is March 20-27 (you can buy tickets for the Festival online now). Over the next three weeks, we’ll be posting profiles of the competitors in the 3rd Annual Vista Competiton for New Opera. Today’s profile is on Jonathan Kupper and his opera The Monkey’s Paw.
Jonathan Kupper
Jonathan N. Kupper is a composer whose musical endeavors have taken him from concert music to opera, musical theater to film-scoring. Born in Providence, RI, he was raised near Rochester, NY, and began to study music from an early age—most notably in the Preparatory Division of the Eastman School of Music. Mr. Kupper went on to pursue undergraduate studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, and graduate studies at New York University (graduate music theater writing program) and the University of Southern California (scoring for motion pictures).
Mr. Kupper’s music has been recorded and/or performed across North America and Europe. He is the recipient of several awards and honors, including: merit-based scholarships, grants, a 2002 fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center, a scholarship for study at the Aspen Music Festival & School, the 2003 Pete Carpenter Fellowship from BMI, and private funding & professional support from Mike Post Productions. He has completed residencies at the Musica d’Estate Festival in Italy, and the 2005 Oregon Bach Festival. In 2008, Mr. Kupper was selected to participate in the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra’s “New Directions” concert series, and in 2009, he was thrilled have his one-act opera, The Monkey’s Paw, selected as a semi-finalist in the Opera Vista Competition & Festival.
In addition to composition, Mr. Kupper is a fine pianist, having toured throughout the United States and Italy, and having worked as a professional music director for the theater. He is an avid creative writer, and a lover of all things Italian: language, food, and (of course) music.
Jonathan on The Monkey’s Paw
For the most part, this operatic adaptation of The Monkey’s Paw directly follows W.W. Jacob’s original, chilling tale.
PROLOGUE
The StoryTeller sets the scene, giving fair warning to anyone seeking a simple, sweet love story… Throughout the piece, this character will assume two additional identities: that of the Sergeant, and the Messenger.
SCENE I
It is a blustery, stormy night. Mr. & Mrs. White and their son, Herbert, await the arrival of a guest to their modest, country home: Sergeant-Major Morris. The Sergeant finally arrives, seeking refuge by the fire, and conversation soon turns to his adventures, his travels throughout India in particular. It is eventually revealed that Morris brought back a very unusual artifact from his days abroad: the mummified paw of a monkey. According to the Sergeant, an Indian holy-man cast a magic spell on the paw: three separate men can each wish upon it three times. However, the Sergeant also makes it clear that while the wishes are granted, calamity is sure to ensue. He claims to have come across the paw by way of its first owner—whose third and final wish was for death. The Sergeant also explains that he himself had three wishes, thus leaving one more set of wishes to be granted. Impulsively, the Sergeant tries to destroy the paw, but it is quickly salvaged by Mr. White who urges his old friend to accept thirty-five cents in exchange for the ‘exotic oddity’… The Sergeant is more than reticent, but with final admonition, sells the paw to Mr. White. Herbert retires as he must get up at the crack of dawn to go to work. The Sergeant takes his leave as well, and Mr. and Mrs. White are left to ponder the events of the evening. Believing the Sergeant’s story was little more than entertainment, the couple eventually decides to wish on the paw, if only for a good cause: they want to take the burden off Herbert of having to pay down their mortgage. To Mr. White’s great surprise, however, the paw writhes in his hand like a snake upon making a “not too greedy” wish for 350 dollars. He shrieks aloud, throwing it to the floor. Mrs. White attempts to comfort her husband by convincing him that his imagination simply got the better of him. The couple goes to bed.
INTERLUDE
Just before dawn. A quiet moment with Herbert as he sleepily prepares for yet another day of manual labor…
SCENE II
It is the next day. Mr. & Mrs. White enjoy a good laugh at how silly they were acting the evening prior. This is short-lived however, as The Messenger comes to their door to deliver some bad news: Herbert was hurt in a work-related accident, ‘but is not in any pain.’ The couple finally comes to understand what the messenger is getting at, and he proceeds with the last order of business: the company Herbert worked for wishes to offer the family a certain sum as compensation for their terrible loss… $350.
SCENE III
Mrs. White is crippled by suffocating grief. She and her husband alternate between blaming and consoling one another… But eventually she remembers: the paw; they still have two wishes left! Despite his initial protestations, Mr. White relents and makes another wish: “I wish my son alive again. I wish him to walk through the door!” At first nothing happens, and Mrs. White considers that perhaps Herbert is on his way from the cemetery. But eventually, there are—once again—three, sharp wraps at the door of the White’s humble home. Mrs. White is ecstatic, and runs to the door in an attempt to fling it open. Mr. White, finally understanding how the paw works, tries to stop her. She fights past him, struggling with the latch which has become stuck. Mr. White knows what he must do—the only thing left to do… He grabs the paw one last time and makes his final wish: “I wish my son dead! I wish him dead and at peace”… The knocking ceases just as Mrs. White succeeds in opening the door.
EPILOGUE
The Storyteller reenters to pose his final questions to the audience. Mr. White, Mrs. White, and Herbert conclude the opera in a ghostly canon…
