Out mezzo-soprano Jill Grove is really excited to be play the Countess Geschwitz in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Lulu. Not only is it Grove's role debut, but she gets to play what is generally regarded to be the first openly gay character in opera.
'It really gives me an opportunity to find the character the way I want instead of trying to fit it into someone else's idea,' said Grove about being in a new staging of the 1935 opera, as opposed to performing in a pre-existing production. 'It's also with a director I love and respect and with a company I really feel comfortable with.'
Interestingly enough, Geschwitz is not the first lesbian character Grove has sung on the operatic stage. Look up Grove in the world-premiere cast list of the 1995 opera Harvey Milk and you'll see she played two characters: the generic role of 'Dyke' and activist Anne Kronenberg.
'This is certainly first time I've ever played opposite of my desire on stage,' Grove said, clarifying that the other characters she portrayed weren't romantically motivated the way 'Geschwitz is in love with Lulu.'
Grove publicly came out by mentioning her longtime partner, Keren James, in a small 2002 profile in Opera News magazine. Since then, Grove's career has only grown in prestige, with major appearances at opera companies in New York, Santa Fe, San Francisco and Los Angeles ( where she was recently directed by film legend Woody Allen in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi ) .
Grove's increased standing in the opera world prompted Opera News to feature her in a larger interview in its October 2008 issue. In it, Grove not only revealed that she and James are now officially married ( having wed in their hometown of San Francisco the day after same-sex weddings became available last June ) , but they are now both proud parents of a seven-month-old son named Gryffen ( born to James through an anonymous donor ) .
For Grove, there was no question that she would not be closeted as an opera singer.
'I'm so out loud with who I am, that this career was either going to work with me or it wasn't,' Grove said. 'I've been out to the world since I hit the auditions.'
So far, Grove's sexuality hasn't had much play in terms of casting, since her vocal type dictates the roles available to her.
'I'm a mezzo, which means I'm usually cast as the scorned woman, or the mother, or the best friend, or the aunt,' Grove joked. 'I'm usually not the love interest, so my own persona or sexuality never really plays into things.'
And since Grove admits to being a woman with curves, she hasn't often been called on to play opera's 'trouser roles,' where mezzos do male drag as prepubescent boys. So with Lulu, Grove is relishing playing the openly gay Geschwitz.
Out director Paul Curran specifically requested Grove to be cast as Geschwitz, but not solely because she's a lesbian.
'The vocal performance was by far the number-one question for me in casting it,' said Curran, lavishing praise on Grove after working with her last season in the Lyric's Die Frau ohne Schatten. ' [ Grove is ] one of the most intelligent artists I've ever worked with—she's enormously intuitive so I love that about working with her.'
Curran also wanted Grove's talents for Lulu since it is generally regarded as one of the most difficult operas in the repertory. Viennese composer Alban Berg composed Lulu in the spiky 12-tone style pioneered by composer Arnold Schoenberg. ( Some people initially write it off as 'atonal.' )
Lulu is also viscerally and emotionally taxing for performers and audiences. Based upon Frank Wedekind's once-banned plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, Lulu is all about a sexually intimidating woman that drives men ( and one particular woman ) to their ruin before she herself is murdered by Jack the Ripper.
'Lulu is not graspable and that drives men crazy because they want to be in control of her,' said German soprano Marlis Petersen, who plays the alluring and deadly title character.
'Geschwitz is one of those people who don't want anything of Lulu. She's just a giving personality and gives her love to Lulu,' Petersen said. 'Lulu isn't used to this.'
'Geschwitz is a doomed character because like all the characters in the piece, she's driven by her obsession,' Curran said. 'But the one thing she doesn't mention to Lulu is sex. She mentions love and emotion—the men are sexually obsessed with her.'
Curran is setting the opera in the 1930s since he wanted it be in a fascistic era when 'it wasn't cool to be openly gay.' The opera also has several characters who openly express their disgust at Geschwitz.
For Curran and Grove, being out and open has imension to staging Lulu. They're dead-set against depicting Geschwitz stereotypically as a more butch lesbian, opting for more femininity and elegance. ( She is a wealthy countess, after all. )
' [ We use our own experiences ] within rehearsals to explore the limits of the sexuality in the piece,' Curran said. 'Jill can help us explore this and understand this better than other women who haven't had any lesbian experiences.'
Indeed, Grove says she's drawing upon her own past 'straight-girl crushes,' although they were never as extreme as the one that holds Geschwitz in thrall.
'Lulu is bad news for Geschwitz,' Grove said. 'Every time she starts to step away and see Lulu in a real light, Lulu just reels her right back in.'
There are times when Grove just wants to shake Geschwitz and say, 'Just go away!' But Grove feels Geschwitz is persistent because, 'she wants to save Lulu, and by being so close to her she thinks that she can protect her.'
Lulu plays seven performances Nov. 7-30 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker. Tickets are $32-$197. Call 312-332-2244 or visit www.lyricopera.org .
