Full Transcript for The Development and Cancelled Premiere of Indians on Vacation

Indians on vacation is about? 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:05.519 Yeah, it's a couple who've been together for years, uh, Mimi and Bird. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:15.279 And Bird is um uh a journalist and a photo journal a photojournalist and a writer, and is very down on himself. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:24.879 He spends a lot of time in his own head dealing with, grappling with with his issues, which come in the form of demons, um, as they are named in the novel. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:40.800 And Mimi, his um bubbly, uh bright, happy, and sort of nudging wife, is the character that um that uh I would have played. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:07:03.680 And it is the first time I've come across a role in in a in a story like this where I truly identified as a middle-aged person who happens to be indigenous, and they decide to go on vacation, Mimi and Bird, and they go to Prague, and just all the wondro sights that you see are mentioned in that. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.959 And Bird the entire time is concerned that he's sweating too much, he might be dying. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:17.519 You know, he just immediately catastrophizes, and Mimi is aware of what he's doing and keeps saying, I told you to leave your demons at home. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:32.079 And so they go through all of these experiences on vacation together, but Bird's so much in his own head that you go into Bird's World and then Mimi yanking him out of it and saying, Look at this castle, or let's go check out this bridge. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:47.680 And um and just throughout the course of a normal couple's chat, they also talk about their histories, about an uncle that had gone off to Europe and they never found out really what happened to him or where he went. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:53.439 And he'd brought a medicine bundle with him that they wonder if they will ever come across somehow. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:08:01.279 And I guess he had sent postcards that gave them an idea of where he was, sort of a breadcrumb trails kind of thing. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:17.199 So they're going to places where that uncle was seeing the sights and trying to just shed the worries and concerns of the world and enjoy themselves like a normal middle-aged couple and to rekindle something in their relationship. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:31.040 From the you talked about the fact that you were really drawn to this character as a middle-aged woman of indigenous descent, much like Mimi is. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.960 So you were handed a role that has a lot of background. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:43.200 Was there anything else in particular about Indians on Vacation as a novel or Mimi as a character that really appealed to you? 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:52.720 Um, yes, I have been involved in telling Indigenous story through song and through opera uh for a long time. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:58.159 And all of those stories are desperately depressing. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:00.720 And they are truths that people need to know. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:08.559 But my characters were either raped or abused in some way or died uh throughout the course of the opera. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:14.720 Um, in the opera Missing, I'm lecturing about missing and murdered indigenous women. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:24.320 It's a character who really identifies with that and is trying to sort of shake up society and say, please notice that this epidemic is happening. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:32.639 And what is it that's missing in us that we just let it keep happening without engaging in a way that makes women safe? 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:39.759 And it would be a makes all women safe situation if you do focus in on why Indigenous women aren't. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:46.240 Um, and also two spirit and girls or missing and murdered indigenous relatives, really. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:52.159 Um and so it is important to tell those truths. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:14.480 And I have been witness to many people starting their journey of understanding hard truths about this land that we live on, and um, through Opera being able to unable to shed those those truths and stories and to find their own pathways in how to grapple with reconciliation. 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:19.600 So I think that those are really worth it, but they're very hard to carry. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:24.720 It's hard to get through those roles on stage without bursting into tears. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:34.480 And it's really hard to just shed, you know, along with your costume, uh, that character and the feeling of that character when you leave the theater. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:57.440 And it can take at least a month to get over performing one of those roles because you really do embody, no matter how much you create a safe safety net for yourself or or find ways of breathing it out or exercising it out or um finding counteractivities that bring joy, it's just there. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:02.240 And that is part of being an indigenous person is knowing all those things. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:20.080 Um but I was really excited to play someone who stays alive the entire time, who believes in joy, in curiosity, in learning about other people, and and through learning about other cultures, learning more about yourself. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.320 And I really identify that. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:23.679 I have traveled through Europe. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:26.639 I have gone to see those sites, reading the novel. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:29.519 It's like, oh, that bridge, it's amazing. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:42.080 And I remember reading all about it and walking over it a few times and walking up to the castle and all these experiences that I have collected and the wonderment of it. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:49.679 Um so just to get to play a character who has so much in common with my reality. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:12:00.879 Um, there's an aria that that Royce Vavrick, the librettist, picked out of the novel about um Mimi's everyday

kind of um activity. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:16.240 And it's get up and have breakfast and go to work, and you come home and you eat some dinner and watch some TV, and then you get up and you eat your breakfast, and it repeats and repeats and repeats, and it's just the sort of normal everyday can get quite boring. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:23.600 And it's nice to shake yourself out of that and and rekindle curiosity and imagination by traveling. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.120 Um, and that's just something I totally relate to. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:40.240 And one of the things that that I remember in particular about Mimi is that while Bird travels with his demons in tow, Mimi is a source of light and joy. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:46.799 And in fact, she tries to help Bird cope with his demons by naming them. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:51.600 And you spoke earlier about catastrophizing being one of his demons. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:58.480 And because of the beginning of Kat in that word, she's named that particular demon Kitty. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:04.559 And Kitty's an ongoing character that appears throughout the novel whenever Bird has these questions. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:08.480 But that's so much inherent for me and who Mimi is. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:19.039 She brings this joy of just, you know, she wants to acknowledge those dark things are there, but to also have fun and enjoy and be light in spirit. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:31.039 And in naming exactly who those characters are and what makes them rise, being able to say, and now you can put them aside and focus on where we are right now. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:41.120 There is real joy in the character of Mimi, but also I think in the relationship between Mimi and Bird. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:47.200 Now, Indians on Vacation, the Opera has been in development for a number of years. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:52.240 It was written by Ian Kewson, and Royce Favreck, as you mentioned, wrote the libretto. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:14:10.480 It was being developed to be premiered in 2026 in a sort of co-production where it would premiere first at the Edmonton Opera and then it would travel to Toronto to be performed by Against the Green Theater here. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:15.360 I'm interested first, though, in the development of this as an opera. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.559 When did you first become involved with it? 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.279 Uh, deep pandemic. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:34.720 Um, Edmonton Opera had an initiative of putting together librettists and composers and giving them a chance to write a scene, some short scene that had something to do with what was important in that moment. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:41.200 And uh people chose different things, but I think mental health was a big one when they chose Indians on vacation. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:45.519 And I was invited to workshop that and to perform it. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.720 Uh, we went to Edmonton Opera and fully masked. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:58.639 We rehearsed and worked through it and talked about it, and made a video, which was available on the Edmonton Opera website for a time. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:22.720 Um, and it was just Bird and Mimi arriving in in Prague, and Mimi going, We're in Prague, this is amazing, and Bird going, like, I'm sweaty, it's sticky, and I don't know why I'm here, and maybe I'm gonna die of cancer, and and and Mimi's like, we can see this and we can go see that, and come on, like, let's go. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:38.240 And it was really fun to perform that, and it was at the time just in that was just in what was intended, just kind of two short scenes that make up, I don't know, maybe 15 minutes at the most. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.840 Um and so, but it was so successful. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.519 Uh, it was so fun, and people were so curious about it. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:57.440 The music is really beautiful, the libretto is just so understandable by any person, any relatable, I should say, um, that it got a longer life. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.320 And it's like, let's flesh this out and make it into a bigger story. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:02.559 So I was there right from the beginning. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:12.799 And so so you had a period in Edmonton, and I know you've done at I think two workshops or maybe more at the BAMF Center. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:13.679 Is that correct? 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:22.080 Yeah, I've been available for one of the workshops the first time that was put together with orchestra, and we did a sing-through of the entire piece. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:41.519 Um, just lined up on the stage, every character with stands and some light, some lighting and some effects, some um a screen behind us that sort of gave a um a little bit of a showing of where we were in the opera, and you know, how that fleshes out the story a little bit. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:50.080 And we just sang through it for uh I think enthusiastic would be a very under saying of of how that audience responded. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.399 They were just so into it. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:55.279 That was on their feet instantly at the end. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.320 It was really heartwarming, exciting, and fun. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.360 That was the summer of 2025. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:02.639 Is that correct? 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.079 Yes, that's right. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:09.039 Yes, I heard I heard about the workshop, and actually mostly I heard about the reactions. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:13.920 It was why I was so excited to see the opera itself. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:22.319 Um the cast of the opera is all Indigenous singers, with the exception of one. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:23.599 Is that correct? 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:30.400 Um, I think there are a couple that are not, two or three uh who are not, and they're playing non-Indigenous people. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:30.799 Okay. 00:17:31.119 -->

00:17:34.960 But all of the indigenous characters are played by Indigenous singers, yes. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.319 So we fast forward, and it was supposed to happen. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.880 It was supposed to be premiered in February. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:52.079 I was out in Edmonton for the joint conference of Orchestras Canada and the Association for Opera in Canada. 00:17:52.400 --> 00:18:05.920 And this was, in fact, one of the reasons why the conference had been scheduled when it was and where it was, was so that we could all see the Edmonton premiere of this work, which was very exciting. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:10.400 It meant I didn't have to wait until it was done by Against the Grain in Toronto. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:17.839 And the cancellation occurred about two months prior to that. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:19.359 Is that correct? 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:21.119 It was November sometime. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:35.680 It was in November, so about three months before the scheduled premiere, you learned it was canceled, which I'm sure it was difficult for the for everyone involved. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:39.440 It was probably it was hard, I'm sure, for the companies to decide. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:51.039 And I I don't want to legislate that decision here because I'm sure that the the people who were involved with making those decisions made them in the best faith that they possibly could at the time. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:19:07.920 And but what was it like as an artist who had been involved in this project for five years, if it started during the pandemic, all of a sudden to find out that the premiere you'd been building towards in three months wasn't going to happen? 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.839 Uh shocking, a gut punch. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:31.119 And I when we finally got around to actually talking about it with each other, the the team, um, we realized there were, I think, 24 Indigenous artists involved in some way, not just on stage, but also behind the scenes, our director. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:42.640 Um and it was announced before the news came down, just to us at least, in the um uh through email. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:52.400 Um and we did have a chance to possibly meet with them, but we were given very little notice, and I teach, so uh I'm at Uvik as well. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.240 So I I there was no way I could make that that chance to talk. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:05.599 They called it a town hall, but really it wasn't um enough time or effort to have a discussion. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:17.519 But it was just yet another moment in my career of this kind of piece telling indigenous story in which a decision was made without us. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:22.559 And I um I understand that these things are hard. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:34.799 I understand that people um don't know enough to believe, to know who to believe and how to um how to manage when accusations or such come down. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:44.480

But I don't think I've done any Indigenous story or story made into an Indigenous story, even um the first was Magic Flute with Vancouver Opera. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:47.359 There were people who didn't like it from Indigenous community. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:59.759 And it wasn't a big deal because there were enough of us who could have the conversation with them to say why we were going for it, why we wanted it to happen. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:07.680 Um, and so I've really watched a trajectory of of how what stories are being told, how they're being told, who is telling them. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:13.440 But the decision making always comes down to the non-Indigenous community. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:21.920 And when you have 24 artists involved in something like this, we're a wonderful resource for a discussion to happen. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:28.720 Um, it really made me think I have to stop being at the mercy of others, other companies. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:39.920 If I want to tell a story, it's gonna have to come from me, and I'm gonna have to be the person that whoever doesn't want it to happen, they talk to me and my indigenous colleagues. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.839 And that's really what it came down to. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:46.960 I just felt yet again my voice is being taken away in more ways than one. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.119 My job is being taken away. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:59.279 My opportunity to tell a story that I think is really important for an audience to um witness um of Indigenous normality and joy. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.519 And my voice in the decision-making process. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.799 So I was extraordinarily frustrated, to say the least. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:18.079 And since that time, you have had a chance to sit down with the artists who were involved with this process, those people. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.359 And how did that occur? 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:34.559 And what did that help you find movement forward, or at least us a better place for the work? 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:44.880 It was really important for us to meet and Against the Grain convened us, paid our way and our accommodation and for our time to meet in Toronto. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:52.880 I think the Canadian Opera Company donated some space for us to meet in, and we spent an entire day sitting in circle together. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:23:03.599 And we started out in circle, just saying who we were and what role we would have played in the in the overall production and how we were feeling. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:07.440 And it started started somewhere to my left. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:12.000 And by the time it got around to me, a lot of my colleagues had spoken already. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:19.200 And by the time it got to me, I was like, I was just going to say I was a little irritated or angry about this, but I am furious. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:30.240 And just the feeling welling up of how much it disrupted my

colleagues, especially the younger ones, who this would be a breakout for them. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:39.759 A colleague who was meant to perform, and she was invited to perform an entire season at Stratford that she gave up in order to do this project. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:47.200 To have that just pulled out from under her is, I mean, not just that one gig, but the next one. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:53.839 And there was another one on the that hadn't been announced yet, but another company who wanted to remount it. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:56.640 I was furious. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:01.519 And again, what I like what I said before, just that we weren't involved. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:08.079 And listening to the intelligent, thoughtful um reflections of everybody around the circle. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:21.839 Nobody yelling, nobody screaming, um, just just sharing openly and honestly and with so much kindness, and there was so much room being left for those who might not know any better. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:26.799 Um just they're the people who deserve to be heard. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:31.119 And so it was that was the first time around the circle. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:43.759 And then uh Yvette and Against the Grain, um, Heather of Against the Grain had a list of possible paths we could take, things we could talk about. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:48.880 And the next pass through was where do we go from here? 00:24:49.279 --> 00:25:02.000 And one of my thoughts was you know, if if it's true that there is no such thing as bad publicity, this thing could go viral if we were to be brave enough to do something with that score. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:12.079 Of course, we talked about um the author not being Cherokee and what that has meant uh to the story. 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:20.240 But in that I was able to share, and a few other people were as well, that we've known about the controversy, the possible controversy for a long time. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:27.279 And the very first time in Edmonton, in I think 2020, when we engaged in this, the beginning of this story, I brought it up. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:30.000 And the next workshop, I brought it up. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:32.880 And the following workshop in Banff, I brought it up. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:34.799 And so it wasn't a surprise. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.839 We could have had that conversation at any point. 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:42.880 And I had had lots of time to think about, you know, who does tell our stories? 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:57.359 And I think about an opera I won't name that was entirely made by non-Indigenous men that I performed in, and it was a great success, and it really hurt me to tell a story in that way. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:07.759 Um, about all of the operas that have been commissioned, the subject comes from non-Indigenous men and companies. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:19.119 Um, so they've been determining which stories would be turned into operas and what the deadlines would be and who would be involved in them for the most part. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:23.039 Uh and I've been there witnessing that for a long time. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:32.799 And so even knowing that there was a possible controversy, um, I decided that the story was valuable for many reasons. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:59.519 And that I am not aware of another story about just being normal and having fun that has so much wit and joy in it that could take the place of this one and be so perfectly operatic, that has the right number of characters and role sizes for people at different levels to enter into this realm of opera, um, telling stories of them of their own. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:03.759 So I was, I just decided it was worth it for me. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:10.880 And it turned out the rest of the circle felt that it was worth it for them in some way, too, even knowing what that controversy was. 00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:15.920 So I've I mean, in the theater world, uh, Shakespeare has been indigenized. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:20.079 Um, I was part of that magic flute that was indigenized with Vancouver Opera. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:25.519 There are, there is a um a history of indigenizing stories. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:32.160 So if this story of Indians on Vacation is not actually indigenous, we can indigenize it. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:45.119 And I've been part of all these workshops, and Royce and Ian are two collaborators who actually listen to feedback, which is very valuable and a little bit rare in some circles. 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:54.720 Um, and so I know that bits of me are in there, and I am absolutely 100% sure I am indigenous, and that counts for something. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:01.359 Avette was involved in all of it, um, and several others. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:15.359 Uh so I just feel like we should get to choose whether or not we want to tell this story, and that it, I am perfectly happy to stand and have an argument with other Indigenous community who don't feel that way. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.160 We don't have to agree on everything. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:33.519 The idea, I mean, we all, those of us who are First Nations or Metis and we have a card that comes from the government, we share that experience, the connection of government and the following the rules that have been laid out for us and about us. 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:40.960 But we come from different cultures, we come from different um teachings and ways. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:44.559 And so, of course, we're not all going to agree. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:49.279 Um, and that's part of the discussion. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:51.599 And I think we should be allowed to have it. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:29:21.680 And I one of the things that you you mentioned about cards and and and things like that, one of the pieces that I went through in my learning in Saskatchewan was this idea that at least my understanding and my belief now is that white men

have tried for far, far too long, and any time would be far too long, but to dictate who is what and who gets to receive what. 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:39.519 And so it was, I was absolutely clear in my time at SaskArts that I was never going to be the one who set myself up as the one who would ascribe this is who you are, then it just feels so incorrect to me. 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:54.640 Now, out of this talking, at least I believe in as I've heard the story from Yvette, and by the way, we're speaking of uh the great Canadian theater director Yvette Nolan when we talk about Yvette. 00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:59.759 And Yvette is also been involved in opera for many years. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:08.640 She's written a really wonderful libretto, but she had been brought on to this project quite early and done dramaturgy as well as directing it. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:35.759 Um, as Yvette has led me to hear the story, out of that time when you were together in Toronto at the invitation of Against the Grain, has come this special one-day performance, at least currently one day performance on May 9th, presented by Against the Grain Theater at the very unfortunately named Terminal Theater in Toronto. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:40.400 Although I still like to think of it as the former Premier Dance Theater. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:44.160 It's at the Harborfront Terminal, which is where it gets that name. 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:55.359 Um, but it is it is a one-day event called Stories Don't Die, The Artists of Indians on Vacation. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:59.359 Um, it's scheduled for May 9th. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:03.519 You can get more information at atgheater.com. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:08.799 But tell us what is happening, Marion. 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:10.480 What's happening on May 9th? 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:12.319 What is Stories Don't Die? 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:17.599 Um, first, I just want to say a terminal is also where event where adventures begin. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:18.720 Oh, that's interesting. 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:23.839 And you take off into a new adventure. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:24.480 Great. 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:24.799 Thank you. 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:26.799 That's how I'm going to choose to think about that. 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:29.920 That's a much happier image, and I will go away with that. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:31.599 Thank you for helping me. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:32.880 Thanks for bringing it up. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:34.799 It fits well into the story. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:41.599 Um, we will be convening um to uh perform 30 minutes of the music. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:46.319 And a list was drawn up by the creators and Yvette. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:50.880 Um, and we were all given a chance to veto, and nobody did. 00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:56.160 Um, so we'll perform about 30 minutes of the music that are from different sections of the opera. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:03.440 So it'll give a nice overview of what what kinds

of moods different scenes have and who the characters are. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:11.440 And it will include um a wonderful aria that I get to sing as Mimi in a bathtub called Ravishing Quagyulf Woman. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:15.359 We're gonna call it in this case because that's who I am, Quagyulf. 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:29.279 Um, so um that and a discussion in which I think we will share, uh, each artist will share their statements and discuss amongst ourselves and include the audience in that discussion. 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:47.839 Now you speak about being angry, being furious about everything that has transpired, but you've also talked about one of the things that drew you to this was that it was light, it was joyful, the peace. 00:32:49.759 --> 00:33:00.000 If you were asked to guess, and I know that the event on May 9th is still coming together as as we speak, what do you think the event on May 9th will feel like? 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:01.440 Is it a celebration? 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:04.400 Is it a what is it? 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:22.400 I think it's going to be a joyful gathering, um, a chance to air some of this music that we've all been working on and loving, um, that we are so excited for an audience to hear and interact with. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:55.680 And I have great hope that the audience will be interested and will engage in a lively discussion in which all of those truths and difficulties, the messiness of it all, can be shared in that beautiful, calm way that always happens when Yvette Nolan is involved, where people um bring their best selves and um speak with care and truth, honesty. 00:33:56.079 --> 00:34:10.000 Um I'm hoping that it will be a chance to find out how how interested the audience might be to hear more. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:31.519 I think a place like Toronto that is used to all sorts of controversial stories and has so many communities all gathered together, it's like a city of little villages and people living shoulder to shoulder in a way that some of the smaller towns or other parts of Canada are not. 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:45.920 Um, it's really diverse, and I think used to grappling with hard questions and the difficulties that arise, as well as the joys of living with cultures next to each other. 00:34:46.079 --> 00:35:01.039 So I'm really hopeful that there will be a lively curiosity by the audience to help us figure out if there's a pathway forward and some ideas of what that might look like for this piece. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:04.880 I think that sounds very exciting. 00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:08.000 I can't wait to hear it myself. 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:19.199 Um I would encourage as many of our listeners as possible who can be in the Toronto area on May 9th to come and hear the piece. 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:30.000 I think I think that the development of new opera in Canada, of any new opera, is challenging enough. 00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:46.079 I question that we want to throw up any more more blocks, uh, you know, to create more blocks for anything, but particularly a story that involves as many indigenous artists as this one does. 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:54.159 And I think that that's so I would really encourage our listeners to come out and to hear it. 00:35:54.400 --> 00:36:17.760 One of the great blessings, and that's how I always identify it as of my time in Saskatchewan was hearing the stories of so many indigenous peoples, and that was really something that I faced in a way that I'd never been forced to grapple with it before. 00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:29.920 And I would also encourage people that as important as I think that is, it's not nearly as terrifying once you're inside that journey as it sounds from the beginning. 00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:37.039 So so I'm I'm pleased to encourage people to attend that event. 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:42.000 Once again, you can learn about it at atg theater.com. 00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:50.800 That stands for against the grain theater.com, so atg, as long just in case you weren't hearing my consonants very well. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:55.519 Um please look for more information. 00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:09.599 I want to do this in reverse order today because I am very, very conscious of wanting Marion's to be the last voice that's heard in this. 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:14.000 So I'm going to thank everybody for listening now. 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:22.880 This has been an episode of Opera Glasses, which is the official podcast of Opera Canada magazine. 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:33.119 We have been covering the stories around Indians on vacation in various ways. 00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:51.840 In during my entire time, my entire two years with Opera Canada, and in fact, went ahead in December after we knew about the cancellation with publishing our winter issue that had a six-page feature written by Avette about the journey of this piece. 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:57.519 I felt it was important for people to hear the voices of artists involved in that piece. 00:37:57.679 --> 00:37:59.119 And so we continued it. 00:37:59.199 --> 00:38:00.559 We're doing this podcast. 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:11.519 We've decided, we've been, after discussion with Avette, we've decided to actually go and do a review of the concert, even though we do not normally review concerts. 00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:18.800 I think this is an important story, and the more different ways that we can share the ideas of this, the better. 00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:19.760 But that's me. 00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:20.880 I'm Michael Jones. 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:22.159 I would thank you for listening. 00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:27.760 I'm thanking Marion for being our guest and for sharing these stories. 00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:31.039 And I would like to turn to her for the final words. 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:36.000 Thank you so much for helping to give this story voice. 00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:40.559 Um you're part of the stories don't die movement, I think. 00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:46.800 And I am really excited to engage with audience. 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:56.559 Um, know that you are coming to a space that allows for all people to be heard and for opinions to be aired. 00:38:57.119 --> 00:39:02.800 Um and I like making new friends, and this is an opportunity to do that. 00:39:03.119 --> 00:39:08.239 Come and witness what resilience looks like to us and be a part of it.