Join MOT "In the Cloud"
When Milwaukee Opera Theatre was planning their 2020/2021 season, they had an unusual artistic – and practical – goal for the winter slot: Plan something that wouldn’t get canceled. Obviously this has been a precarious time for artistic directors across the country, working to find ways to reach out to audiences in the middle of a pandemic when gathering more than a handful of people in an enclosed space is medically dangerous and often prohibited. So The Distance Commissions were born, along with the newly coined word “Zoirèe:” a portmanteau that MOT made up that means “a soirèe that occurs over Zoom, allowing theater fans to consume a story while remaining safe during a global pandemic.”
In addition to creating a show that would definitely “go on” during a nationwide quarantine, MOT hewed to its mission, continuing to employ composers and singers and create new work. The company commissioned a modern mini-opera that focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic, while specifically replicating an experience for the audience that most virtual productions lack. With a limited number of attendees (only 18 per performance), they created an interactive lobby adjacent to the performance – a place where friends could recognize each other, socialize, and chat before and after the show. Less formal than a talk-back, these audience-focused periods were meant to recreate the natural, serendipitous conversations that usually occur when arts patrons see someone they know across a crowded theater. After enjoying the same performance together, they then had the opportunity to muse about it before departing.
Adding in a live audience element also allowed the performers and creators of the opera to mingle with fans – experiencing actual applause after the show’s final notes and giving everyone the opportunity to comment informally after simply sharing the evening. You know, like we used to in the before times.
On opening night I was pleased to see and greet several friends unexpectedly in the Zoom meeting/pre-show, milling around period. It was also novel to be welcomed to the performance by name by MOT’s Artistic Director Jill Anna Ponasik. Yes, it was virtual, but there was a palpable feeling of community created – an element that is one of the many facets of live performance that we have all lost during this nearly year-long intermission from in-person theater.
The pre-recorded opera by Matt Zembrowski, In the Cloud is a perfectly pleasant, if slight, 20-minute drama documenting the lives of a small family of three during quarantine. As the daughter, Rae Pare captured the ennui of being confined to the house, reluctant to put on pants, and confronted with the relentless sameness of each gray day without real human interaction. By contrast Marilyn White’s mother character is a very funny amalgamation of Baby Boomer parents refusing to socially distance, regarding COVID-19 as an inconvenience to their normal lives rather than a real health emergency. As the father, Norman Moses is a calm, reassuring voice in the middle of a year of panic and uncertainty, even if he is only a distant video that the daughter plays on repeat. Well sung and filmed, the compact story is recognizable and straightforward, if not terribly profound.
Ironically, the most illuminating part of the performance for me was the ten-minute “blooper reel” that director Catie O’Donnell put together, illustrating many of the challenges of putting together even a small show during these socially distant times. Seeing the actors during silly, confounding, and complicated moments as they manipulated their own sets, props, cameras and microphones (with guidance from O’Donnell as a patient voice from “mission control”) gives a small glimpse of exactly what these artists were up against, recreating a collaborative art in a vacuum.
The other moment that tugged at my quarantine-weary heartstrings was watching the entire audience erupt in online applause – fluttery jazz hands – at the end of both presentations. For the first time in ten months I felt like I was part of a collective moment, giving artists the adulation that they earned.
Space is limited for the remaining three performances, January 29, 30 & 31, but I urge you to tune in, to witness the resilience of art and artists operating under the most challenging circumstances. You’ll also have the restorative opportunity to participate in an informal conversation with fellow arts patrons, reminiscing about sharing live performances in theaters together, and looking forward to the day when we can all return.