Resident Artist Tenor Speaks of Upcoming Production
Next Saturday, February 17, 2024, marks the first production by Pittsburgh Opera of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up, a work which has been called “Harrowing…powerful… a true opera of our time” by The Washington Post and “A tense and creepy journey into the heart of Manifest Destiny’s darkness” by The New York Times. Tenor Fran Daniel Laucerica, who will sing a leading role in the production, took the time recently to give an exclusive interview regarding the production and his career to date to Chris Cox, Director of Marketing and Communications for Pittsburgh Opera. We’re pleased that the company has shared the interview with us, exclusively, as below:
Chris Cox: Fran Daniel Laucerica, tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you end up at Pittsburgh Opera as a Resident Artist?
Fran Daniel Laucerica: I’m originally from Miami, Florida. I’ve always known and heard a lot of great things about Pittsburgh Opera. It was funny, I happened to be in town for some coachings with [Pittsburgh Opera Director of Musical Studies and Chorus Master] Mark Trawka and [Pittsburgh Opera Music Director] Antony Walker because I had a couple auditions coming up in Europe, when they learned that their tenor from last season, Daniel O’Hearn, wasn’t returning.
So, while I was in town, they both asked me, “Oh, do you have anything going on next season?”, and I said, “Well, nothing on the books yet apart from some individual gigs lined up.” And so eventually I got an email from [Pittsburgh Opera Director of Artistic Operations] Rob Boldin in the middle of the summer that said, “Hey, any interest?” And I said, “Definitely.” I immediately accepted it.
Chris Cox: What have some of the highlights been for you in your first half of the season so far?
Fran Daniel Laucerica: Definitely singing the role of Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville student matinee. That was a role that I’ve almost sung about three times, so it was nice to finally do it. I had never done a student matinee before, and the energy from that audience was unreal. I’ve never felt more like a rock star.
I also really enjoyed learning a lot of new repertoire for the community concerts, in Market Square and small events, and for our Song Shop concerts. That’s been a lot of fun. Most recently, the Fellow Travelers scene that Brandon Bell and I did for the “Valentine’s Day” Song Shop was really exciting. It’s a role that I’ve covered before, but that was a scene that I’ve never performed, even though I’ve sung some things from it in concert.
Certainly, Iphigénie was great. My role in that, Pylade, is actually a role that my grad school teacher said, “Oh, you should look at this aria,” and it was so hard for me back then. It definitely felt like a huge victory to find a good place in it, and I feel like I found more of my rhythm in it with each performance. Character-wise it was so fulfilling, Pylade is such an interesting character.
But Proving Up is my biggest role on stage for the season. I’m really excited about the piece, and I love Missy Mazzoli‘s music.
Chris Cox: Speaking of Proving Up, tell us a little bit about your character, Miles Zegner.
The Zegners – Miles (Fran Daniel Laucerica, in front), Pa (Brandon Bell) and Ma (Emily Richter)
Fran Daniel Laucerica: Well, he’s a 13-year-old kid who was born on the East Coast, and is the youngest in his family. He was very little when they moved to Nebraska, where the story takes place. He has all of the optimism that his parents had when they initially moved to Nebraska, without any of the jadedness and the souring that happened to them over time. He’s excited to grow up and be a man and prove himself to his father, and for his family to prove themselves as a name. He’s really hopeful in comparison to the rest of the characters. Earnest is the way I would describe him because there’s no double-sidedness to any of his enthusiasm.
Chris Cox: Is there any difference in how you prepare for, or sing, a role like this in a modern opera versus a ‘classic’ opera from hundreds of years ago like The Barber of Seville?
Fran Daniel Laucerica: The preparation is similar. You translate your text. In this case it’s in English, so I don’t have to translate. But pretty much everything else is the same – coachings, studying, looking at the libretto, looking at any sort of original sources, watch it if you can, listen to it if you can.
Chris Cox: What are some of the things that the audience has to look forward to in this show?
Fran Daniel Laucerica: It’s a very interesting story, a very inherently American story. Even if you aren’t aware of this point in history and the specific Homestead Act, you know the big “lift yourself up by your bootstraps” type of idea in this country. You feel a weight, culturally, when you’re listening to this music and you’re hearing the story.
And frankly, it’s always nice to hear opera in our own language. It’s always nice to hear an updated and yet still accessible musical language, which I think Missy does a really good job of in this piece. I think that the roles really suit everybody in the case quite well, pretty amazingly. You’re going to hear each role sung at a very high level.
Chris Cox: Most of the audience members presumably did not grow up in 1870s Nebraska, so what are some of the things about the show that they will relate to and identify with?
Fran Daniel Laucerica: The overarching thing that we can relate to is wanting more, and never really being satisfied with the things that we already do have. There’s also the aspect of familial relationships, and the fact that children grow up constantly seeking approval from their parents. Also you see the trajectory of people becoming a little bit hardened through time and hardship, and how that affects and trickles down to their children.
So there’s a lot we can relate to, even though we may not be farmers in the Midwest in the 1870s.
Chris Cox: What else is compelling about this production?
Fran Daniel Laucerica: The actual conception of the production is really interesting. Stage Director Haley Stamats has done a great job of directing this in a way that’s completely her own and gives everything a certain amount of weight. Everything that you see on stage alludes to something else. So even though you’re looking at a doorway, it’s not really quite just a doorway. Even if you’re looking at a window, it’s not just a window. Her direction has been really, really helpful in finding gravitas and what we call high stakes in acting.
The set itself is magnificent. The audience is on both sides of us. That’s something that doesn’t happen very often in opera, and it makes the performances very intimate – the audience will really feel they’re a part of the story along with us.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Proving Up has performances February 17 – 25, 2024 at the Bitz Opera Factory in the Strip District (Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters). For complete production information, tickets, and more, visit Pittsburgh Opera
David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera
Set Designer: Brett Rochford – Costume Designer: Nancy Julian
Categories: Our Posts, Show Previews
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