'The Gilded Age' Cast Talks Reliving the Opera Wars at the Metropolitan
Tannhauser, a German Opera by Richard Wagner, four-hours in length with three intermissions, follows the story of a man facing a moral dilemma: virtuous love with the virgin Elisabeth, or profane pleasure from Venus. Last Thursday, opera fanatics dove into the plot during opening night at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City–an eventful and emotional evening with dramatic occasions both on stage and off.
Hours before the beginning of the marathon performance, a jubilant group of six–Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Coon, Louisa Jacobson, Christine Baranski, Denee Benton, and Morgan Spector–paraded around the Metropolitan Opera to relive the social drama of the opera wars they portrayed on the HBO series The Gilded Age, with the moments immortalized by photographer Emilio Madrid.
High-society-history buffs know the story: old money versus new, with the reigning social titans holding guard at the now-defunct Academy of Music by omitting new members from obtaining boxes (the ultimate sign of status), and new money fighting back by throwing support for the then up-and-coming Metropolitan Opera. Unlike the warring old money and new money of that time, on this night the only point of contention was where to pose first.
But, the fun wasn't all self-service. At about 6 P.M., an hour before the beginning of Tannhauser, the crew headed downstairs to List Hall (where mementos of Maria Callas lay encased in a glass cabinet) where a medley of history buffs, fans, and opera devotees awaited their arrival. There, the six spoke on a panel moderated by C. Graham Berwind III, Vice President Chair of the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Opera.
"How many of you have been to the opera before?" he asked the six and all raised their hands. The ratio of hands shot down to half when he asked the audience. "Well, Tannhauser is certainly not an easy first opera if you are new and seeing it tonight."
The evening began with the dissection of each of their character's stance on the conflict. "Well, Aunt Agnes is of the old world. So, she's appalled! And there are many conversations between Agnus and Mrs. Astor of how we're going to deal with it," Christine Baranski said. "But, Ada is kind of in between," Nixon said. "She knows that Agnes is devoted to the Academy of Music as I am too, but I'd say Ada is more open to letting the new money crowd in."
Then, Berwind became curious about what it's like to take part in a series inspired by true moments in history but sprinkled with fictional moments. Denée Benton's character, Peggy Scott, for example, is inspired by Julia C. Collins, who is widely credited as being the first African-American woman to write a novel. "Peggy has such a grounded voice in the world," Benton said. "She kind of gets to move between feeling fabulous and glamorous, and also bringing a lot of humanity." Carrie Coon's character, Bertha Russell, is obviously representative of Alva Vanderbilt, the real rival of Mrs. Astor. "We have a sense of shape when it comes to the story, but Julien throws in a few surprises throughout the season. We do know the history. We know that the new money people win because they have crushing amounts of wealth," Coon said.
And then it got a little personal. Morgan Spector, who portrays George Russell, was asked about his late mother-in-law, soprano Maria Ewing who had a significant career at the Metropolitan Opera."I know my wife, Rebecca, used to run up and down the stairs when Maria performed and she was looked after by the costume department. So this is a very nostalgic place for me," Spector said. "But, I do have a bone to pick! Because Maria's picture used to be on the wall over there and you guys took it off. I came here with her granddaughter to show it off but... I guess it's not true anymore. Think about it!" The crowd burst into laughter.
The conversations throughout the night not only gave audiences a peak into what it's like to take part in the Gilded Age series but also showed off the cast's synergy with one another. "We are basically all theater kids," Jacobson said. "We'll be on set and at any given moment we might break out into dance."
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