Bill Moyers, who died June 26th at the age 91, would have loved the new opera at Boston’s Strand Theater last weekend. Tuneful and uplifting, To the People Like Us celebrates local culture, young voices, and engaged civic pride. Moyers, who served as Johnson’s press secretary before a long career at PBS, was the subject of a retrospective by Terry Gross on NPR July 1st [Listen HERE]; his voice reminded us: “When you look out and see a group of consumers, you want to sell them something, but when you look out and see a group of citizens, you want to share something with them.”
This new 90-minute opera [full program HERE], was produced by former federal prosecutor and operatic librettist Cerise Lim Jacobs in partnership with 826 Boston, an important supporter of local Boston youth, providing tutoring and writing support in 25 locations around the city. The libretto for the production can be purchased from 826 Boston HERE. “All of the students, myself included, had never written for an opera before,” said Daniela, a student from 826’s Youth Literary Advisory Board “We are so grateful to have had this unique experience collaborating with White Snake Projects. This is such an incredible opportunity to have professional artists perform our thoughts, dreams, and concerns on a grand stage.” Text for the production was drawn from mentored poetic contributions from 826 Boston students (with first-names-only listed in the program as Daniela, Muna, Maya, Ishmael, Oriana, Blessing, Evelyn, Mariam, Tina, Justis, and Sarah). Cerise Lim Jacobs acted as dramaturg and coordinating librettist, weaving the student’s timely, authentic thoughts into a coherent “inaugural community opera.”
Jacobs founded White Snake Projects, “an activist opera company” in Boston around 2010, and that company has collaborated with dozens of contemporary composers on Pulitzer Prize-winning operas and NEA-funded community concerts. To the People Like Us marks WSP’s and 826 Boston’s first full-length operatic collaboration, and the singing overall was wonderful.
To the People Like Us explores topics that have inspired other contemporary masterworks. The central character of Constanza, sung with a white-hot passion that recalls operatic treatments of Elektra, slowly transforms from a local Boston girl to an effective community advocate. Soprano Nina Evelyn sang, danced, and shouted her way into listener’s hearts through a tour-de-force performance combining operatic heft with youthful verve and humor. A District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Nina Evelyn’s Boston Conservatory performance of the title role in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah was named a “standout performance of 2022 in Boston” by WBUR radio. Her voice has matured into a powerful, clear dramatic soprano, beautiful throughout her whole range. Other recent roles include Monisha (Treemonisha, Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Micaëla (Opera North), and as a professional member of the Washington National Opera Chorus. She recently sang art songs by William Grant Still, H. Leslie Adams, and Robert Schumann in recital [listen HERE].
The climax of the drama, a public protest to save a neighborhood park from development, recalls the effective crowd scenes in the grand opera Harvey Milk (now 30 years old). This author sang in the San Francisco Opera 1997 Teldec recording, and that opera has been recently revived in a shorter two-act version by Opera Theatre of St. Louis [overview HERE] and San Francisco’s Opera Parallèle [KQED documentary HERE]. To the People Like Us builds on Milk’s new tradition of contemporary American verismo with an original story focusing on gentrification. Dramaturg Jacobs summarizes the action of this one-act opera: “Teen activist Constanza, aided by her vacillating friend Malakai, organizes her neighborhood against the Sirleaf Corporation, who intends to build a new development by razing their apartments and bodega. Indigo, a newcomer to the neighborhood, attempts to make friends with them and joins their protest group. Sparks fly when Constanza makes a discovery about Indigo that changes their relationships with each other.”
Conversely, Constanza and Malakai don’t have to undergo a journey of personal transformation to realize the value of their neighborhood. To the People Like Us maps a struggle for survival (“At the Park,” in duelling English and Spanish) against development intended to “improve” the south side of Boston. Personal relationships (the contrasting friendships of Constanza, Malakai, and Indy) develop in tandem with a rising self-consciousness (“Who Am I?”) and desire to serve the local community (“People like us fight from the soul”). Sosa opens with a scene that builds from three-part accompanied recitative (“At the Bodega”) to a show-stopping duet climax (“Bodega Life”). To structure the bodega and park scenes, Sosa’s series of duets evolve from conversation over popular song rhythms to grand opera (“Childhood friends”) as the characters mature. Contrasting with the presentation of urban life as a struggle in familiar modern operas (La bohème) and musicals (Annie, Little Shop of Horrors, Les Mis, Rent, Newsies), this libretto, infused by contemporary speech, has a hopeful message throughout that reads as an expansion of the finale The Wiz (“Home”).
Although Hérnandez is a lifelong opera fan, he began his professional life in the U.S. Army, serving for several years in Iraq. In 2007, he wrote to Mark Richter, director of the San Antonio Opera, to inquire about military discount tickets and was offered comps to see his idol, Placido Domingo. After obtaining Domingo’s autograph, he was invited to sing for the famous tenor, and received an invitation to join the prestigious Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists program in Washington, D.C [Domingo speaks about him HERE]. In 2018, he starred as Lt. Pinkerton in Opera Western Reserve’s production of Madama Butterfly [full production HERE] and during COVID, he recorded a version of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” with acoustic guitarist Michael Bard [listen HERE]. This season, he was the featured soloist in the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra’s Opera Night, and his contributions in To the People Like Us lifted the narrative again and again from the local to the universal. Hérnandez showcased a wide range of vocal styles, from a crystal-clear, non vibrato love duet to a warm, heartfelt tone expressing Malakai’s concern for Constanza.
Two main characters represented the concerns of “the city” versus “the community”: Indy and Sirleaf. Indy, who is eventually revealed to be Indigo Sirleaf, daughter of the developer, was portrayed with nuance and compassion by Linda Maritzo Collazo. A Bronx-born mezzo soprano of Ecuadoran and Puerto Rican descent, Collazo’s voice soared through The Strand with passionate, lyrical melodies, moving smoothly from lyric to dramatic expression. This new opera provided a thrilling opportunity to hear her in a leading role, as most of her recent work has been with Bronx Opera (Dorabella in Così), Opera Orlando (Ruth in Pirates of Penzance), and during her studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College (Dinah in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and Orlofsky in Fledermaus). Collazo sung with ease, recalling her sultry “Habanera” with the Charlottesville Opera HERE.
The twin role of Abuelita/Sirleaf provided two complementary parental voices: these were made relevant and convincing through the arrestingly beautiful mezzo soprano voice of Kayla Faccilongo, who projected so well that she could be heard even when singing very softly: members of the audience leaned forward and attended to her final aria as though listening to the words of an intimate friend. Her solo scenes were the most poignant moments of To the People Like Us, informed by her work with BronX BandA (recently featured at Live@Lincoln Center) HERE.
Composer Jorge Sosa’s (1976-) best operatic score so far has been his musical collaboration with Cerise Lim Jacobs (as lyricist and librettist) on I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, which premiered at Boston’s Emerson Paramount Theater in 2019 [BMInt review HERE]. It won a feature in Opera America’s 2021 New Works Exploration Series. That opera has been revived by Resonance Works and the Pittsburgh Children’s Chorus (2022, excerpts HERE], and locally by Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, NY (2023) and Syracuse Opera (2023). To the People Like Us builds on that success, requiring amplification of the vocal soloists during those parts of the score that include live electronics and complex Latin polyrhythms from the rhythm section. Sosa has been well-represented on Boston-area concert programs, lauded for his rich, colorful orchestration [BMInt review HERE]. He composed the soundtrack to the multiple award-winning short film De Familia (2017) and his operatic work has been honored with an essay (in Spanish) in Milenio HERE.
MORE ON A LOCAL GEM
White Snake Projects should be familiar to Boston readers for its 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning Madame White Snake, composed by Zhou Long. This opera was the first of Cerise Lim Jacobs’ Ouroboros Trilogy (2016): it was concluded by Naga, composed by Emerson College professor Scott Wheeler [BMInt review of the 2024 recording led by Carolyn Kuan HERE] and Gilgamesh by Paola Prestini [Showreel HERE]. In 2017, WSP followed these successes with Rev:23, imagining a sequel to the Revelation of St. John. [BMInt review HERE; collaborative interview HERE] An excerpt of Julian Wachner’s aria “Blood Rubies” from the production may be heard HERE, as conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya with Colleen Daly as Persephone. Yankovskaya, Founding Director of Boston’s Refugee Project Orchestra and former Music Director of the Chicago Opera Theater (7 seasons), has continued to engage in contemporary opera by leading the May 2025 run of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at the Kennedy Center, supported by her own impassioned riff in the Washington Post on JFK’s “In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation.” [her essay HERE]
Since COVID, White Snake Projects has hit the ground running. Jacobs has explored “video game opera” through Permadeath [highlights HERE]; rock opera (influenced by Tommy) like Jorge Sosa’s Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parade [2023 BMInt review HERE]; and Mary D. Watkins’s Is This America? based on the life of Fannie Lou Hamer [2024 BMInt review HERE]. Ng acted as Music Director and conducted the nine-piece orchestra for To the People Like Us, ably balancing a classical string quartet against live electronics by Diego Peralta and a jazz rhythm section (David McGrory on piano, Dan Pelletier on drums, John Tyler Kent on guitar, and Robb Simring on bass). The full instrumental ensemble appeared onstage, behind a scrim and cleverly designed vertically-hanging video screens. Scenic and projection design was provided by Erik Diaz and Pamela Hersch: the visual elements, instrumental contribution, and naturalistic staging (by director Pascale Florestal) were integrated into a seamless whole. Violinists Lilit Hartunian and cellist Linda Hwang contributed heavy, sinuous countermelodies to dramatic scenes, and the full string quartet (with violinist Colleen Brannen and violist Justin Ouellet) supported choreographed intermezzi that recalled early works of Alvin Ailey. The Jean Appolon Expressions Dancers featured moving solo work by Mcebesi Xotyeni, Velouse Joseph, and IJ Chan, and Aiden Marshall. The overall production design was fantastic, moving smoothly through scenic transformations and artfully combining video, electronic, and staged elements.
MORE NEW MUSIC IN PROGRESS
This season, White Snake Projects continues its multi-year touring collaboration entitled “Sing Out Strong.” Vocal chamber music with texts by local youths were featured in the first season (during COVID), focused on the theme “Essential Voices.” You can read the BMInt review of the groundbreaking virtual concert HERE and listen to each selection HERE. The second season, focused around the theme “Incarcerated Voices,” may be heard HERE. The goal of this series is to present new songs and operas exploring contemporary and local poetry on environmental themes. Writers (aged 16-77) from across the world recently responded to the prompt “What does the climate crisis mean for your generation?” Songs from these new collaborations were featured at the New England Aquarium (World Ocean Day 2025). Two were featured as “curtain raisers” as a short prelude to To the People Like Us. “Mama, Where Did my Mountains Go?” combined rhythmically vital music by Dión Morales with an urgent lament by Beatriz Pugeda. “We Say Stop!” offered a humorous rejoinder by author Rowsenandre Wagnac to those who thoughtlessly damage environments and ecosystems; Andrés Ballesteros’s setting evoked Barber’s songs, while preserving the youthful aggression of its text. Soprano Hannah Shanefield and pianist David McGrory (who was featured as the orchestral pianist throughout To the People Like Us) were a winning combination, shifting quickly between styles and tempi. Shanefield’s voice continues to deepen and mature, and she has effectively become WSP’s “house singer” for their collaborative song collections.
These two songs anticipate the upcoming WSP mainstage production White Raven, Black Dove, with a score composed by Jacinth Greywoode, whose music for Broadway’s Cult of Love was a 2024 NYTimes Critic’s Pick. His Swing-era period piece Blended 和 (Harmony), exploring the lives of USO-stars the Kim Loo Sisters, was commissioned by Theater Mu. His musical Black Girl in Paris, based on episodes from the life of Sally Hemmings, has just won the 2025 Richard Rodgers Prize. Greywoode’s White Raven, Black Dove, “a thrilling sci-fi fantasy about life after the Sixth Extinction and the resurrection of the world” will explore the impacts of climate change and race as a social construct. The production will premiere September 26-28 at the Strand Theater. The company’s “Ticket Access” Program” guarantees that they can give away 30% of all seats, to diversify their audience (by both income and age). Additional discount programs [HERE] make WSP’s shows a welcoming place for families and for those who might not normally attend operas in Boston. [Production Info HERE]
It was such a joy working on this brand new production To the people like us. The nuances and colors of the opera and the musical creativity of Jorge along with the prompt intuition of Tian, singing with my colleagues, and our director Cerise made this a wonderful experience.
Comment by Jesus — July 10, 2025 at 12:12 pm
From Dr. Prichard: “it would be great if you could add a comment to the article to explain how you coordinated the acoustic and electric instruments into a coherent ensemble, and how that type of conducting contrast with your regular orchestral conducting with the New England Philharmonic.”—— Tianhui Ng, said “Jorge Sosa’s music, particularly the electronic track, introduced musical idioms that were great fun to integrate into the language of contemporary Classical Music. We had moments of hard rock, 80s ballad, salsa, Afro-Carribean Santeria, and even Bollywood. I had great fun, sharing with the cast and orchestra about the performance practice of each kind of music, and how it interacted with our existing bel canto practice in singing and orchestra practice circa 2025, to achieve the blend you heard. From that perspective, it is similar to my approach to understanding the musical origins and performance practices surrounding each composer and their tradition of music making when I approach a new work, also with larger ensembles like the New England Philharmonic.
Comment by Tian — July 8, 2025 at 4:12 pm
Thank you for this thorough review of our work. This was an incredible experience and I was thrilled to collaborate with the young writers from 826 Boston. They brought such great energy to the process. I was able to meet with them remotely a few times in preparation for the show and after the performances. They are such a talented group of writers many of them college bound to some very competitive institutions. I believe firmly in the power of art to transform individuals and enrich lives. I also believe that if we are going to bring young people into the opera houses and concert halls we need to make them active participants and create works that speak about their own experiences. I am grateful to share this vision with White Snake Projects, who are spearheading some important community initiatives. Please support our work by attending a show and being part of our artistic community.
Jorge Sosa,
Composer
Comment by Jorge Sosa — July 8, 2025 at 9:43 am