Playwright Terrence McNally’s passionate association with opera is well known through his heralded trilogy of plays Master Class, The Lisbon Traviata, and Golden Age, as well as from his broadcasts for the Metropolitan Opera, and from his own libretto to the hugely successful Dead Man Walking, one of the most frequently produced new American operas. Here he shares his observations on writing librettos and the process of collaborating with a composer. This article originally appeared as a sidebar in The Musical Theatre Issue of The Dramatist, May/June 2013.
I've loved opera since I was in the sixth grade and our wacko nun brought in a phonograph and some Puccini love duets. I was hooked in about fifteen seconds. I’m sure it is opera that led me to writing plays, which accounts for my fondness for long speeches, duets, trios, and quarters—all spoken, of course. I never found it odd or unbelievable that someone could drink poison or be stabbed and sing for fifteen minutes. It was just another way to try to express “Big Themes” and “Huge Emotions.” For me, good theatre is poetic, a created reality. Opera understands this from the get-go.
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