This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jon Miles knew as soon as he saw a brief preview of "The Long Walk" that Utah Opera needed to bring the piece to Salt Lake City.
The Utah Symphony | Utah Opera marketing VP saw the presentation at a summer 2014 Opera America conference a couple of years after the suicide of a friend and former roommate, who had struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism since returning home from military service in Iraq.
"I immediately wanted to have it performed in Utah," Miles said of Jeremy Howard Beck and Stephanie Fleischmann's opera, based on Iraq War vet Brian Castner's memoir about his life in the aftermath of a blast-induced traumatic brain injury.
"More people need to understand what our veterans go through after they return home," Miles said, adding that he hadn't fully appreciated service members' sacrifices — not only during combat, but also afterward — before he roomed with a veteran.
"We all chatted about how compelling it was — not only the music, which is so very representational of the story, but also how topical it is," said Utah Opera artistic director Christopher McBeth, who led a contingent from the company at that 2014 conference. "These are stories going on all around us: people on our block, people in our churches, people we work with. They are part of the fabric of our society."
Utah Opera will present two performances of "The Long Walk" at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center as a special add-on to the current season. It will be the second production of the opera, which premiered in Saratoga, N.Y., in July 2015; stage director David Schweizer, conductor Steven Osgood and baritone Daniel Belcher (who originated the role of Brian) will reprise their roles here.
The title "The Long Walk" refers specifically to Castner's job in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. "It's the path to detonate the bomb," Belcher explained, with Schweizer adding, "when it's time to send a human out to do what a robot can't do." But, of course, there's also a deeper meaning.
"We take the long walk for our brothers; we take it for our wives; we take it for our children," Osgood said. "It's what we do."
In "The Long Walk," domestic and wartime scenes overlap as incidents at home trigger flashbacks for Brian. For example, the kitchen table transforms into a Humvee after Brian's wife, Jessie, issues an ultimatum to a vegetable-averse child. The stark realism is a departure for Megan Marino, who will play Jessie. She joked that as a mezzo-soprano, she's accustomed to playing "12-year-old boys, magical creatures and the occasional ward of an angry old man who wants to marry me." This opera gave her an opportunity to "fully explore what a real person is experiencing." One scene affected her so deeply in rehearsal that she couldn't sing — something she had never experienced in her career.
"Danny and Megan are playing real people," Schweizer said. "That's kind of electrifying on many levels." Schweizer noted that Fleischmann stayed with the Castner family and interviewed them extensively while adapting the memoir into an opera libretto. "She and Jeremy were extremely conscientious and inspired to serve them properly," the director said.
Belcher said he had trepidations about playing a living person — let alone one who has "gone through an experience I can't remotely fathom." On the other hand, he realized, he could relate to Castner as a husband and father. The singer became fast friends with the family and now gives voice lessons to teen son Virgil via Skype. "The boys call me Opera Dad," he said.
The experience of seeing a chapter in his life depicted onstage is "way beyond anything I'd hoped for," Castner said in a phone interview from his Buffalo home. He will be in Salt Lake City for the opera and related events (see information box). "Fortunately, I don't have to run out of the room anymore, but it's still such an emotional ride. It still affects me; I'm not numb to it."
Fleischmann and Beck "were always so respectful," he said. "But when they started to get deferential, I turned it around. I told them, 'You know opera and I don't.' " He believes some parts of the story work better onstage than on the page.
Beck's music is as nontraditional as the subject matter. The 17-piece orchestra includes two electric guitars, and other members of the ensemble occasionally play on party horns, sirens or pie tins. "There are not many tricks that are not deployed, but it's always with a goal in mind," Osgood said. "It's always rooted in dramaturgy." The orchestra will be "embedded in the set" rather than down in the pit, he added.
Because "The Long Walk" premiered at a summer festival, where lighter fare usually predominates, Schweizer said he wondered how audiences would receive "a challenging brand-new contemporary piece about a crazed Iraq War veteran." He was gratified by the "extraordinarily warm, powerful response" from the "summer-suited, seersuckered crowd."
"The emotional center of this family, their struggle for survival, and the joy and heartbreak along the way — it just got to people," the director said.
Belcher shared an encounter he had after a presentation at a war museum. With tears in his eyes, a veteran told the singer, "This might be the first time someone has told my story. I've tried to explain it for decades."
"We're trying to tell part of that story to people who don't know the story," Belcher said. "We are blessed with the words and notes that can be that vehicle." —
Walk of life
Utah Opera presents Jeremy Howard Beck and Stephanie Fleischmann's "The Long Walk," based on the memoir by Brian Castner. The opera is sung in English, with Supertitles.
When • Friday and Saturday, March 31 and April 1, 7:30 p.m.
Where • Jeanné Wagner Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $45; $20 for students and people under 30; utahopera.org
Learn more • utahopera.org/onlinelearning
Related events
Composer presentation
Beck will discuss the music with an opera literature seminar, which the public is invited to join.
When • Tuesday, March 28, 10:45 a.m.
Where • Dumke Recital Hall, 1375 E. Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City
Tickets • Free
Hivemind book discussion
Castner and Fleischmann will discuss the memoir and libretto.
When • Tuesday,March 28, 7 p.m.
Where • Art Access, 230 S. 500 West # 125, Salt Lake City
Tickets • Free; RSVP at the Hivemind Book Club of Salt Lake City page on Facebook
Side-by-side readings
Castner and Fleischmann will read the prose and lyricized text.
When • Wednesday, March 29, noon
Where • Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building, University of Utah
Tickets • Free
Dress rehearsal
The production's final dress rehearsal is open to veterans only.
When • Wednesday, March 29, 7 p.m.
Where • Jeanné Wagner Theatre, 138 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City
Tickets • vettix.org
Reading and signing
Castner will read from his memoir and sign copies.
When • Thursday, March 30, 6:30 p.m.
Where • Weller Book Works, 607 Trolley Square, Salt Lake City