Tag: Kennedy Center

This lighthearted photo isn’t actually what I had planned to post today, but I think it suits the mood for April Fools’. Here I am on the left, in the lobby of George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium this past Sunday, with Mather Pfeiffenberger on the right, during intermission at the final performance of Robert Ward’s 1963 Pulitzer Prize winning opera “The Crucible,” presented by Washington National Opera.

Between us is a gentleman who identified himself in his contact info (presented so that I could send him a copy of the photo) only as “Crucible Puritan Guy.” It turns out he’s Gary O’Connor, a DC resident who also frequently attends performances at the Met. An opera cosplayer of sorts, Gary has also worn theme costumes to performances of “Die Frau ohne Schatten” (complete with faux falcon), “Lohengrin,” “Der Rosenkavalier” (in silver face paint), “Tosca,” and “Tristan und Isolde” (with the “Tristan chord” on the sail of a headdress resembling a dragon boat).

Of course, there’s nothing foolish about “The Crucible” itself. Adapted from the Arthur Miller play, it’s perennially, chillingly relevant (people are people, after all, no matter what era they live in), but especially so now. Ward’s opera is inexorable, riveting, and powerful, with a dramatic sweep that makes it seem almost like American verismo.

It was certainly well-cast, with J’Nai Bridges and Ryan McKinny as the ill-fated Proctors, who manage to wrest grace and redemption from the Salem Witch Trials. There were good voices throughout, with the men (including McKinny as John Proctor, Chauncey Packer as Judge Danforth, and Nicholas Huff as Giles Corey) carrying especially well. I had my concerns at the start, as some of the voices were muddied as the singers moved upstage, but everyone soon rose to the occasion. I am sorry to have to leave out some of their names, but I didn’t really intend this as a review.

I will add, however, they were also good actors, with Lauren Carroll exuding menace and unpredictability as Abigail Adams. Bridges has some great moments, especially touching in the final scene, which concludes “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him.”

Robert Spano conducted in the cramped pit, and the musicians played well. Had I not been made aware of it in another write-up, I would never have known that the brass and percussion had to be piped in from another room.

Bravo to Washington National Opera, now free of the Kennedy Center. Hopefully they’ll be back, if there’s anything left of the performing arts complex, a memorial to fallen president John F. Kennedy, under a different administration.

It’s shameful that the Washington Post, now under the ownership of Jeff Bezos, did not review “The Crucible.” Then, all the qualified music people have been driven out.

“West Side Story” will conclude the WNO season, at Lyric Baltimore and the Music Center at Strathmore, May 8-15. If I remember correctly the organization’s 2026-27 season will be announced on May 5. For more information, visit https://washnatopera.org/.

Robert Ward’s “The Crucible” is no laughing matter, but Gary the Crucible Puritan Guy brought some welcome levity to a gorgeous DC afternoon. If only it didn’t take me 4 ½ hours to drive home!