One of the most enduring horror stories in the classical theater is Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and this Halloween, that goes for the opera, too. Opera Orlando’s production of Verdi’s Macbeth is this weekend at the Steinmetz Hall inside the Doctor Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Macbeth is perfect for the spooky season, with witches, ghosts, black magic, evildoers…and even its very own curse! Legend says it’s very bad luck just to say the word “Macbeth” in a theater.
I spoke to Opera Orlando’s General Director Gabriel Preisser, and Norman Garrett, who plays Macbeth. I asked Garrett what kept them rehearsing through everything from a curse to a hurricane.
For Garrett, it was his sheer love of Verdi’s Macbeth. “The thing about this opera in particular that I love is…I feel like it's his greatest opera. These orchestrations that he has in this are just so much more interesting and kind of experimental-sounding for the accompaniment. And honestly,” he laughed, “the true thing that tied me to Macbeth was the chorus scenes, because they're just absolutely incredible - I love magic, there's witches, it's a win-win for me!”
Preisser added that the opera’s artists got creative with this production of Macbeth, to add something new to 400-year-old source material: it’s set in a fictional time and place he calls “futuristic medievalism”:
“If you think of movies like Dune, or even Star Wars to a certain extent, except this is more on the medieval side,” said Preisser. “There’s no high tech, no outer space, no lightsabers, but we do have stick fighting - like Ninja sticks and wooden swords - so it has this barbaric quality to it.”
Another thing that makes this production different is the addition of a chorus of witches that Preisser calls it a “coven.” The fact that Lady Macbeth has been added to that coven/chorus is a new wrinkle, Garrett pointed out, possibly explaining how she was able to control the powerful Macbeth so easily.
As for the “curse” of Macbeth, there are conflicting stories about its origins. One story grounded in the mundane says that in Shakespeare’s time, traveling theatrical troupes would hold Macbeth in their repertoire, as a surefire crowd-pleaser if their own play was failing to draw audiences. Meaning, if a troupe was performing Macbeth, it meant their original play had flopped and they were desperate for money.
Another more fantastical origin story claims that Shakespeare used “real” spells when he wrote lines for the witches in the play…thereby offending “real” witches who cursed the show forever.
Preisser’s advice about the curse is not to dismiss it. “We all now know the curse is very much real,” he insisted. “And it's one of those unfortunate things – how do you promote a show where the name of the show is cursed? I mean, my car even got hit yesterday, and it was a parked car, sitting there! I couldn't find my keys the other day….the weirdest things have been happening, but nonetheless, the show must go on.”
That applies to damage done by Hurricane Milton to Opera Orlando’s administrative offices, as well. Luckily, rehearsals weren’t held at the offices, so the show, in fact, could go on.
“I'm glad we're on the other side, and I'm glad we're still able to make art and make this project go forward,” said Garrett. “That's really all we can ask for.”
