If you ask me, “Did you enjoy the performance of Dead Man Walking?” I’m not sure if I can say yes. “Enjoy” would probably not be the right word. However, it was a performance that I truly appreciated and would never forget.
The storyline of Dead Man Walking, an opera by Jake Heggie, is based on a book and a true story from Sister Helen Prejean. Sister Helen served as a spiritual counselor to a death row inmate, Joseph De Rocher, who is convicted for raping and killing a high school girl.
To me, the staging of this performance made the story feel very real. Granted, I have never been involved in any situations where death penalty was involved. However, the cast and the musicians in pit orchestra portrayed the intricate feelings surrounding deaths, which made me — and many, many others in the audience — cry, if not sob. It made me examine the effects that murders and death sentence have on the families, supporters, and the convicts themselves, and it served as a conversation-starter for such topics with my friends in the following few days.
All of the singers expressed their characters very well, but one cast that has done an exceptional job was Ms. Lani Stait, who played the role of Mrs. De Rocher, or Joseph’s mother. This role was a difficult one to play – from receiving demeaning comments from the victims’ families to dealing with the dilemma of knowing how kind her son actually is compared to the terrible crime he has committed, this character is loaded with emotions that are difficult to act out, especially for a college-aged singer. She truly became the character, and sang her heart out. Her strength and struggles truly hit my heart.
I did not “enjoy” the performance in terms of having fun — that wasn’t the point of this opera. Instead, I left the theater thinking more about criminal justice, religion, and family — all of which I need to think about, although I don’t get to on a daily basis. It was not an easy opera to watch. This performance combined well-written music and libretto, extraordinary talent of all singers and instrumentalists, and effective lighting, to make the audience seriously reflect on themselves.
