An Interview with Caitlin Gotimer Who Returns as Nedda in Pagliacci
Those who remember her dynamic performances as a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera will be more than pleased to look forward to Cailin Gotimer’s return as Nedda in the company’s revival of Pagliacci, the famous operatic duet, with Cavalleria Rusticana, this coming Saturday night, November 9, at the Benedum.
Recently, Chris Cox, Director of Marketing and Communications for Pittsburgh Opera, took time out of his hectic schedule to interview her exclusively for onStage Pittsburgh.
And here ‘s the transcript ——
Chris Cox: Welcome back Caitlin! When you were a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist, you sang the National Anthem at a Pirates game at PNC Park. You are originally from Long Island, from a family of Mets fans. Were you rooting for or against the Yankees in the World Series?
Caitlin Gotimer: Oh, definitely against the Yankees.
Chris Cox: So you were happy with the Dodgers winning the World Series last night?
Caitlin Gotimer: Yes. My dad would be very, very unhappy if he ever heard I was rooting for the Yankees.
Chris Cox: We don’t want that to happen. So, what have you been up to since you were here as a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist?
Caitlin Gotimer: After the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist program I joined the Arizona Opera Resident Artist program, and I was a resident artist there for two seasons.
Then I started my transition from young artist to freelance full-time opera singer. That transition has been interesting. I sang with Arizona Opera as a guest artist. I sang with Palm Beach Opera. I sang for Dayton Opera. I’m back with Pittsburgh Opera. So I’ve been bouncing around, and it’s been great to make that transition now into just full-time opera singer.
Chris Cox: You were a finalist in the 2023 Operalia competition. Tell us a little bit about that.
Caitlin Gotimer: That was very exciting. I was a young artist at the Santa Fe Opera for the summer of 2023. I found out that I was going to be in the quarterfinals of the Operalia competition, which is known as the World Cup of Opera.
So I went to Cape Town South Africa for the quarterfinals, and ended up making it all the way to the finals and got an Encouragement Award, which was a really exciting experience, not only to sing on a big platform like that, but also to get the experience to go to South Africa to do what I loved. It was like a double whammy of awesome.
Chris Cox: That’s fantastic. We’re really happy for you. We were following it from afar and cheering for you.
Caitlin Gotimer: Thank you. Everyone was making posts, and I was getting lots of emails and messages, and one of the best parts of the whole experience was just hearing from so many people who were so supportive including Pittsburgh Opera.
Chris Cox: Did it feel at all like deja vu when you came back to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago?
Caitlin Gotimer: Yes. We’re put up in a hotel by the opera, and out the window I can see my old apartment building and think, “I used to live there.” It’s wild. And the Strip District has really changed so much, in such a great way. I’m sad that none of that was here when I was here, but I’m also really excited to have this new experience that makes it fresh and exciting. I’m very excited to be back.
Chris Cox: Tell us a little bit about the role you’ll be singing here in Pagliacci. Who exactly is Nedda?
Caitlin Gotimer: Nedda is part of a traveling performance troupe. Throughout the story we find out that Canio, who is kind of the head clown, picked Nedda up off the streets and gave her a name and brought her into this troupe. You can only partly piece together what her life might have been like before that. So this is the life that she knows, traveling with this troupe.
In the show it’s mentioned that she doesn’t necessarily love being in the troupe, and she’s not in the happiest relationship with Canio. She falls in love or lust-it’s up to you how you interpret it-with a townsperson in one of the towns that they’re performing in. She’s in this predicament of running away with him and starting a life that feels free or staying with the troupe because she owes a lot to Canio. He did take her off the streets and give her a life.
Pagliacci follows her predicament of having a life that is free and not feeling like she’s stuck in this traveling life or staying true to someone who helped her have a life.
Chris Cox: This a role debut for you?
Caitlin Gotimer: Yes, it’s my first time singing the role.
Chris Cox: How are rehearsals going?
Caitlin Gotimer: I have to say this role feels like such a good fit for me in all aspects. I can’t say that I relate with the infidelity part of the character, but I absolutely can relate to the feeling of being a little stuck and wanting to feel free and not knowing exactly the steps to take. I think that’s pretty relatable for a lot of people. At some point many of us feel like, “Oh, maybe this isn’t exactly where I want to be. What do I do?”
I love the musical part of Pagliacci. It’s a really good musical fit for me. It’s the stuff that I love to sing. It’s the style of music that comes naturally to my voice, which is really nice.
We’ve had one week of staging so far, and we staged the entire piece. Coming up in a few days we’ll have our final room run and then move into the theater. It’s a fast process, but it’s been going great.
Chris Cox: How do you think it will feel to perform on the Benedum stage again?
Caitlin Gotimer: Because my time here ended with the COVID Pandemic, I wasn’t able to do all that much on the Benedum stage. So it’s been a lot of years since I’ve sung on that stage. My last time was Sandman and the Dew Fairy, in Hansel and Gretel in 2018. I’m really looking forward to it. I wonder if I’ll step on and it will feel familiar, or if I’ll step on and it will feel new. I am actually not sure, which is kind of exciting.
Chris Cox: Do you have a favorite moment in the show?
Caitlin Gotimer: There are so many really, really good ones. Canio’s character has some of the best music in the show, and I feel really honored that I get to listen to Jonathan Burton sing it. There are some very distinct moments in this latter half of the piece that I get to be on stage with him while he’s singing.
It is just incredibly well-sung and incredibly well-written music, and then I get to be a part of that. Then we get to sing all together at the very, very end. I would say that’s my favorite part. That’s when all the drama is really happening fast, and you have this amazing music going within it; it’s exciting to be a part of it. This show is the culmination of a lot of excellent things, and I just feel really grateful to be a part of it.
Chris Cox: What does the audience have to look forward to when they come see this show?
Caitlin Gotimer: What is so cool about this piece is when it starts, it is every bit as exciting as the actors are making it out to be.
When the troupe arrives in the town, all the townspeople are very excited; the audience feels the excitement of the circus performers performing. They feel that excitement in the music and what’s going on stage.
The way that it’s written, when the drama starts to unfold, it’s in real time. It’s the same as when something in real life just happens, you can blink and all of a sudden everything is different. This piece does a really good job of doing that exact thing, where everything is really happy and then all of a sudden “what just happened?”
And that is exactly what both the audience on stage and the actual audience experiences too – “what just happened?” That’s a really cool thing. The audience gets to take the journey with us. It’s a unique experience, and is one of the things that makes Pagliacci great.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Cavalleria Rusticana is this coming Saturday night, November 9, 2024, at the Benedum. For full production information and TICKETS, visit Pittsburgh Opera
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