Radio Broadcast: Heggie/McNally's Dead Man Walking
Saturday, November 5, 2011 at Noon on Classical 91.7FM (www.classical917.org) and WFMT Network (WFMT.com)
Approximate Run Time: 2 hours, 46 minutes including 1 intermission
Sung in English
Music by Jake Heggie, Libretto by Terrence McNally, Based on the novel by Sister Helen Prejean.
A story of compassion and redemption, Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking has played to sold-out houses across the U.S. and Europe in the decade since its premiere.
Joseph De Rocher (Philip Cutlip) leads a lonely life on death row until Sister Helen Prejean (Joyce DiDonato) arrives as his spiritual advisor. Legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade marks her farewell to the operatic stage with these appearances as De Rocher’s mother and Measha Brueggergosman makes her HGO debut as Sister Rose. Patrick Summers—who
conducted the opera’s world premiere a decade ago as well as the
acclaimed recording on Erato—conducts Houston Grand Opera’s
performances, Leonard Foglia directs.
Adult content: contains strong language, and depictions of sexual activity and violence.
Dead Man Walking was commissioned by the San Francisco Opera.
A co-production of Opera Pacific, Cincinnati Opera, New York City Opera,
Austin Lyric Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera and
Baltimore Opera.
Guarantors
Franci and Jim Crane
Bill and Sara Morgan
Grand Underwriters
Boulware and Valoir
photos by Felix Sanchez
Recorded live at the Wortham Theater Center, Winter 2011
Houston Grand Opera broadcasts its operas nationally via the WFMT Radio Network. In Houston, Classical 91.7FM (www.classical917.org)
airs these programs on Saturday afternoons starting at noon. If you
find yourself outside the Houston area, please check your local radio
listings or visit WFMT.com to find a radio station near you that carries the broadcast.
Houston Grand Opera broadcasts are made possible by major grants from
the Wortham Foundation and from the Ford Foundation Endowment Fund for
Electronic Media, through the Houston Grand Opera Endowment. Recording
for broadcast is made possible through the facilities of Classical
91.7FM; Houston Grand Opera’s Recording Engineer is Marlan Barry.
Programming is at the discretion of member stations and is subject to change.
Synopsis
by Clifford “Kip” Cranna, with composer Jake Heggie
Setting: Louisiana, in the 1980s
Prologue
Two teenagers are brutally murdered by brothers Joseph and Anthony de Rocher.
Act I
In a poor New Orleans school, Sister Helen and Sister Rose teach a
hymn to a group of children. Helen is distracted as she thinks about her
plan to visit Angola State Penitentiary where her new pen pal, a death
row inmate named Joseph de Rocher, has asked her to visit. Against
Rose’s advice, Helen makes the long drive to Angola and ponders the
momentous step she is taking. A motor cop catches her speeding, but lets
her off with a warning, asking her to pray for his sick mother. Sister
Helen prays for guidance as she resumes her journey.
When she arrives, Helen is greeted by prison chaplain Father
Grenville. On the way to his office, they see inmates engaged in a rough
game of basketball. In a tense meeting, the chaplain angrily warns
Sister Helen that she is wasting her time: Joseph is “beyond anyone’s
help.” The prison warden arrives and tells her that Joe is likely to ask
her to serve as his spiritual advisor as he prepares for execution.
Inmates taunt Sister Helen from their cells as she walks toward death
row.
Joe and Helen have an awkward first meeting. Masking his true
feelings with bravado, De Rocher tests the nun’s tolerance by recalling
the pleasures he has known with women. Helen calls his bluff and Joe
admits to his fear. He requests that she be his spiritual advisor and
both acknowledge that they “can’t do it alone.” Joe asks her to
accompany his mother to the pardon board hearing and Helen agrees.
In the court room, the frightened Mrs. De Rocher does her best to
plead for her son’s life: she is a small woman in the face of enormous
hostility. During her testimony, Owen Hart, the father of the murdered
teenage girl, explodes with rage and recounts the grisly details of his
daughter’s murder. In anguish, Joseph’s mother responds that another
killing cannot undo what has already been done.
After the hearing, Joseph’s family and the murder victims’ families
wait for a verdict outside the courtroom. Helen introduces herself to
the parents and they express their grief at never having seen their
children since the fateful night.
The appeal is turned down: Joseph will be executed.
Back in the visiting room, Helen tells Joe that an appeal has been
made to the Governor. Angered by his selfishness, she urges him to
acknowledge his guilt—to seek forgiveness—but he sees no hope and blames
his brother for the murders. Suddenly, the warden appears and insists
that Helen leave. Having had no time to eat, she becomes faint from
hunger, stress and exhaustion. As she searches her purse for change for
the vending machine, a jumble of conflicting voices clutter her mind.
The warden tells her that the Governor has turned down their appeal:
“Joseph de Rocher is a dead man.” The voices in her head grow louder.
Helen faints.
Act II
Joseph is counting push-ups when the warden comes to tell him that
his execution has been set for August 4 at midnight. Alone in his cell,
Joe voices feelings about his impending death, Sister Helen, and his
murder victims.
Sister Helen awakens from a nightmare about Joe and the murdered
teenagers. Rose comforts her and helps her to admit that she still has
to find the strength within herself to forgive Joe, just as mothers
forgive their children’s failings.
On the night of Joe’s execution, Helen tells him about seeing Elvis
Presley in person when she was a girl. Their shared love of Elvis opens a
door between them and they are able to laugh as friends. She once more
urges Joe to admit his guilt and find forgiveness.
Joe’s family comes to see him for the last time. After a tearful
farewell with his mother and two younger brothers, Joe begs his mother
to forgive him. She says she believes what Joseph has always told her:
he is innocent and there is nothing to forgive. Mrs. De Rocher seeks
comfort in her recollections of Joe’s innocent childhood. When Joe is
led away, his mother falls apart, but Helen consoles her with assurances
that there is good in her son and God’s love is not denied him. Left
alone, Helen panics for a moment as she contemplates the harrowing task
she faces that night.
The parents of the murder victims have arrived to witness the
execution. They upbraid Helen for siding with the murderer, rejecting
her words of consolation. Only Owen Hart voices doubts about the value
of the execution. Helen offers him friendship and promises to visit him.
After the guards prepare Joseph for execution, Helen is alone with
him one last time—in the precious moments that remain, she begs him to
tell the truth. She reveals that she has visited the crime scene and
asks him to relive that night. Reluctantly, Joseph tells her the whole
story and, breaking down in sobs, admits his guilt. Helen assures him of
forgiveness: not only hers, but God’s as well. She tells him she will
be the face of love for him when he dies.
“Dead man walking,” declares the warden as he escorts Joseph to the
execution chamber. Father Grenville intones the Lord’s Prayer, echoed by
the voices of inmates, nuns, guards, and parents. Helen remains close
to Joe, reading to him from the Bible. She is allowed to touch him, and
she puts her hand on his back. When they reach the chamber, she is
barred from going any further.
Joseph and Helen exchange an emotional good-bye. She reminds him to
look for her as she takes her place among the others in the viewing
room. After being strapped to the execution table, Joseph asks for the
forgiveness of his victims’ parents. To the solitary sound of Joseph’s
heartbeat, he receives the lethal injection. In his final moment, Joseph
says to Sister Helen: “I love you.” After his death, the witnesses
leave and Helen is alone with Joseph. One last time, she sings her hymn:
“He will gather us around.”
Joyce
DiDonato, Frederica von Stade, Philip Cutlip, John Packard, Patrick
Summers and Anthony Freud discuss HGO's production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. (YouTube)
Colin Ure's Podcast Guide to Dead Man Walking (mp3)
Audio clips provided courtesy of Warner Classics
Preview Dead Man Walking (YouTube)
Colin Ure interviews Jake Heggie (mp3)
Colin Ure interviews Sister Helen Prejean (mp3)
Colin Ure interviews Frederica von Stade (mp3)
Patrick Summers discusses Dead Man Walking (mp3)
"The
real achievement of Dead Man Walking is that everyone witnessing it
will feel they have walked that journey with Sister Helen, with De
Rocher, with his mother and with the parents of his victims. Rarely has
any opera produced such profound empathy for so many on all sides of a
complicated and terrible dilemma." - Houston Chronicle
Click here to read the article
"Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, an alum of HGO’s Studio, dazzles
quietly as Sister Helen... And she is given the perfect foil in baritone
Philip Cutlip, who
plays De Rocher with every ounce of bravado he can muster until his
final breakdown." - Houston Arts Week
Click here to read the article
"Joyce DiDonato and Philip Cutlip are stunning as Sister Helen and De Rocher. Both sing beautifully." - OperaPulse
Click here to read the article
Jake Heggie and Patrick Summers talk with St John Flynn about Dead Man Walking on KUHF's Front Row.
Click here to listen
"Sister Prejean takes on Texas' "killing chamber" as Dead Man Walking opera hits Houston." - CutltureMap
Click here to read the article
HGO to premiere Dead Man Walking - Conversations with Terrence McNally, Jake Heggie, Patrick Summers, and Anthony Freud.
Click here to read the article
"Describing herself as "a pretty regular nun" before she became involved
in death penalty cases, Sister Helen Prejean spoke about her "journey"
to an audience of opera enthusiasts last night in the packed foyer of
the Wortham Center." - Houston Press
Click here to read the article
Philip Cutlip talks with Houston magazine about what it is like to be in Dead Man Walking.
Click here to download the pdf
