really about a whale but rather everything that is projected on it, what we think it means. It means something different to everyone who reads the book—fact is it’s just a whale. Does it know that all this is being projected on it? No I don’t think so—I think it’s just a whale. I feel it’s the same thing with the opera. We wrote a very human story and we tried to make it as real, personal, and authentic as we could while keeping it an adventure and staying true to Melville’s vision. Therefore I think it means many things to many people—what we have to decide based on the journey of this particular character, Ishmael, he sees the very best of humanity and the very worst, yet still he wants to survive in this world and live to tell more people. What does that mean for all of us when we are survivors? The connection between Queequeg and Ishmael is very clear, their relationship is deeply emo- tional and life changing for both of them. We all have, or hope to have, that connection with someone of some sort of being... Absolutely! It’s what we yearn for. That’s the point Melville spoke of and what we
picked up in the opera. This character that we really know nothing about, goes to sea in the first place because he feels lost, like he has no connection in the world— he is yearning for something. He’s yearning for adventure and identification. He goes and finds it on a ship in the middle of the ocean with the least likely person of all—the one considered a pagan—a heathen from the south, a harpoon in the air and tattooed head to toe, yet this is the person he identifies with the most. Whatever the sense, it means he falls in love with him and I think that’s deeply meaningful for anyone who reads the book or sees the opera. Moby-Dick is a tale and social commentary about the way individuals view relationships. Do you think that we’ll see full marriage equality during our lifetime? Oh yes! Absolutely. I think it’s all headed in that direction. The fact is that there’s a
Jake Heggie Photography by Ellen Appel
that something he created was the inspiration for this new incarnation. Gene and I were both terrified that the Melville scholars would absolutely hate what we did early on—it was quite the opposite. They were thrilled with the fact that we weren’t so literal bringing the book to stage, but rather based it on Melville’s work and took a different tact, which made me very happy. They’ve been some of the biggest champions of my work, which was quite the opposite of what I had expected.(Chuckles) Interesting how life works that way. Yeah, you just have to do something bold and trust your vision—all you can do is
your best in that regard. I feel like we latched onto something very special and the key was to treat the book itself as a memoir. One that would be written many years after the actual events, so that we can portray them in real time on stage and have this one survivor at the end who calls himself “Ishmael.” He becomes the person who years later will go on to write the book—that was tremendously liberating. A quote from Moby-Dick refers to the marriage between the two men who “open the very bottom of their souls to each other, [as] old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning.” What would you to say to Melville the man with whom you’ve had such a romance? (Chuckles) I guess that would depend on how the romance was going and did
we have a good time? (Laughs) Melville describes such a sweet scene and nobody seems to shy away from it. If it were Melville and me in that scene I suppose we’d be having a great time talking about everything under the sun. If could actually sit face to face with Melville in the present day, I would thank him for his bravery and fearlessness for jumping into the fire, placing his stock into the future, knowing that he was so far ahead of his time with what he had to say and how he wanted to say it. I’d assure him that he is respected and loved for what he did. Even though it’s ahead of your time, thank you for believing that it would find the right ears, the right eyes, the right audience and for remaining true to your vision. I would say that to any visionary artist who died before their work could fully be appreciated. What can the LGBT community take away this timeless classic turned opera? I think Melville was very smart in this regard because I am always asked, “What does the white whale represent?” That’s the magic of the piece—it’s not
44 RAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2012
younger generation that’s coming up and they realize that there are other people who they know—whether a family member or friend, neighbor or coworker—gay people really do exist and they deserve the right to marry just the same as anyone. I do not see any reason why it would not move in that direction. I do think it will take a while, but not all that long. It’s already moved much faster than many of us in our life, especially when you consider Stonewall was just a little more than 40 years ago. The elimination of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was huge. It was much, much bigger than anyone could have ever realized, because now you’re not allowed to discriminate in the Army. It will just ripple from there. It’s unacceptable and you’re not allowed to do it. That’s how it should be for everyone and I think we’ll get there. For much more of our conversation with Jake Heggie, go to
ragemonthly.com.
SCHEDULE Saturday, February 18, at 7p.m. Tuesday, February 21, at 7 p.m. Friday, February 24, at 8 p.m. Sunday, February 26, at 2 p.m.
LOCATION San Diego Opera’sMoby-Dick takes place at San Diego Civic Theatre, located at 1100 Third Avenue in Downtown San Diego.
TICKETS Tickets toMoby-Dick start at $50. Great deals on three or four-opera subscriptions for the 2012 International Season are still available. Subscriptions range from $120 to $1,100 and can be purchased by calling 619.533.7000 or
atsdopera.com.
STARS IN THE SALON Meet the singers, conductor and director ofMoby-Dick in this free and informal panel discussion on Thursday, February 9, at 5:30 p.m. in the Beverly Sills Salon, Civic Theatre. Free.
PRE-OPERA LECTURES These 30-minute informative lectures take place in the Civic Theatre one-hour prior to every performance and offer wonderful insight into the production audience members are about to see. These lectures are free to all ticket holders.
MOBY-DICK PERFORMANCES
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