美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Stonewall' Opera Marks Uprising's 50th Anniversary

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This coming week marks the 50th anniversary of an event that proved to be a catalyst¹ for the gay rights movement. June 28, 1969, New York City police raided an illegal bar in Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn. A new opera called "Stonewall" dramatizes that historical moment - premiered last night in New York.

Jeff Lunden has the story behind it.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE²: The Stonewall Inn was a dive, says the opera's director Leonard Foglia, quoting from the history of the uprising.

LEONARD FOGLIA: It said that, you know, Stonewall was a bar that, if you were too poor, too young or just too much to get in anywhere else, that's where you went. It had only a front door. It had no fire exit. All the windows were boarded up. It was a terrible, terrible place run by the Mafia. But it was a place where people could go and be themselves.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "STONEWALL")

JORDAN WEATHERSTON PITTS: (As Renata, singing) Renata is here. Renata is here.

LUNDEN: The idea for an opera came from New York City Opera general director Michael Capasso.

MICHAEL CAPASSO: City Opera had been founded as the people's opera. We thought that we needed programming that needed to speak to the people of the city of New York.

LUNDEN: All of the people - City Opera has presented work for Latinx audiences. And every June - Pride month - the company presents gay-themed work. Just 18 months ago, which is no time when it comes to creating a new opera, Capasso hired Foglia to direct. Then he turned to two high-profile artists, Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist³ Mark Campbell.

MARK CAMPBELL: I mean, I wasn't there in 1969, but I'm a beneficiary of what happened in 1969, as are all gay people. We've all learned from Stonewall. That's why it was such a terrific privilege to be able to write it.

LUNDEN: Campbell wrote a first draft in three weeks. He was paired with British composer Iain Bell.

IAIN BELL: I was in the middle of writing another opera. Yes, the time constraints⁴ would be pretty intense, but I knew that this was a story I wanted to be involved in telling.

LUNDEN: The story focuses on 10 characters - who include a couple of lesbians, a drag queen, a gay high school teacher - as they prepare to go to the Stonewall Inn. Librettist Mark Campbell says he wanted to give audiences a sense of what it was like to be gay in New York in 1969.

CAMPBELL: I wanted to remind them that there was a reason for Stonewall and that there is still a reason for Stonewall - that you could be harassed⁵ or you could lose your job, that people were trying to apply conversion⁶ therapy to you. I mean, all of these stories - all of part one is about examining how homosexuality was a crime.

LUNDEN: So the teacher in the opera gets fired for being gay.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "STONEWALL")

BRIAN JAMES MYER: (As Carlos, singing) I know what I'll miss the most - my kids' faces, my kids' faces.

LUNDEN: Brian James Myer plays him.

JAMES MYER: So many operas are historic in nature. Why not this? Why not now? This is a perfect time. It's the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots this year. It's also the 75th anniversary of New York City Opera. And it's a particularly timely piece in the current political climate that we're in.

LUNDEN: But the composer and the librettist wanted to show how the gay community tried to escape the political climate of their time. So they wrote two tunes⁷ that were prerecorded to play through a jukebox on the set and sung by 1960s star Darlene Love.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TODAY'S THE DAY")

DARLENE LOVE: (Singing) They may say our love is wrong, and they may say we don't belong. But our love is sure and strong, and we'll never falter⁸ once we hit the altar.

LUNDEN: Inside the bar, couples are dancing and making out. Then the police raid the joint⁹. Joy turns to confrontation¹⁰. And, eventually, a riot erupts outside the bar. Director Leonard Foglia says this moment is the crux¹¹ of the opera.

FOGLIA: It's about a group of people finding the strength to use their voice. What is that moment when people find the strength to use their voice?

LUNDEN: One of those voices belongs to a character named Maggie, sung by Lisa Chavez.

LISA CHAVEZ: She's based off of a real woman who did stand up to the cops. She sees everybody getting roughed up. And she says, no, no. This is enough. Enough is enough. And we're done with this.

LUNDEN: And the rest of the cast locks arms with her.

(SOUNDBITE OF OPERA, "STONEWALL")

CHAVEZ: (As Maggie, singing) You hurt us long enough. You beat us down. You screwed us over, harassed us, hurt us, harmed us, beat us (unintelligible).

LUNDEN: Composer Iain Bell wasn't even born when the Stonewall uprising happened, yet he says his life would be different if it hadn't.

BELL: I would not be married were it not for the actions of those brave people that evening. But Pride in and of itself isn't just about some capital-F fabulous¹² (speaking French). It's actually shining a light on the fact that horrible atrocities¹³ are still happening in our backyard, and that has to be addressed. So by us saying this and telling this story, we hope that this resonates with people and it makes them realize that the events of 50 years ago - they're not antique. This isn't an antique piece. This is as relevant as it could be.

LUNDEN: For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF IAIN BELL'S "FINALE FROM STONEWALL")

1 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 librettist   

n.(歌剧、音乐剧等的)歌词作者

参考例句：

• The musician and the librettist were collaborators. 音乐家与剧作者通力合作。
• Italian-born American composer and librettist whose operas include The Medium(1946) and The Consul(1950). 梅诺蒂，吉安卡洛生于1911意大利裔美国作曲家和歌剧词作者，其歌剧作品包括女巫（1946年）及领事（1950年）

4 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

6 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

7 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

11 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。

12 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

13 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》