Opera’s yuletide production delivers on grand scale

The Little Opera Company’s never been this big.

Since its founding in 1995, the independent chamber opera organization has prioritized what artistic director Spencer Duncanson calls “bite-sized” productions, typically telling stories from start to finish in 100 minutes or less.

For The House Without a Christmas Tree, that window of time remains consistent, but the company has engaged more performers than ever before for its flagship annual production: a cast of five principles, an ensemble of 15 singers and an 18-piece orchestra will take the stage this week for a three-night stand at the Desautels Concert Hall.

Originally commissioned for the Houston Grand Opera in 2017, The House Without a Christmas Tree begins when a woman named Addie Mills (Lara Secord-Haid) passes by a holiday window display in downtown Manhattan, drawing her back to the Christmases of her childhood, when the complex grief of young Addie’s (Sara Schabas) father (Toronto’s Dion Mazerolle) called for subdued yuletide celebrations for the whole family. Other principals include Donnalynn Grills as Grandmother Mills and Ashley Schneberger as Addie’s best friend Carla-Mae.

Sung in English, the piece is an adaptation of an Emmy-winning 1972 television movie starring Jason Robards. The Little Opera Company’s production, conducted by Armand Singh Birk, a fellow with the Orchestre Métropolitain Conducting Academy, will stand as the Canadian première of The House Without a Christmas Tree. Winnipeg’s Rob Herriot directs.

Mazerolle, whose upcoming engagements include performances with both the Edmonton and Calgary operas, said the piece could make a solid introduction to opera for the uninitiated while also keeping longtime consumers entertained.

“I find opera is always that kind of all-encompassing art, where you have not only music that’s been written to drive the dramatic storyline, but also a great text that shows human connection on stage,” he said. “On top of all of that, you have the sets and the orchestra in the pit. The vibration of live music is always something that touches the heart.”

Houston had been aiming for an opera experience that might become a holiday tradition on par with ballet’s Nutcracker, and that when he contacted other companies that had staged the show, the reviews were solid, Duncanson said.

“The audience — and it’s always about the audience — appreciated it very much,” he said, referring to the piece composed by Ricky Ian Gordon and written by Canadian librettist Royce Vavrek, whose previous work includes JFK, Song from the Uproar and Angel’s Bone, a 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner for music.

“Critics have sort of called it a hybrid between musical theatre and opera, because of its accessibility,” Duncanson said. “It has the drama that you expect in opera. It has the pathos that goes with living. At times, you’re sitting there watching and thinking, ‘Am I watching a play, a movie or an opera?’ because you get so wrapped up in the storyline.”

Tickets for the opera, which runs from Wednesday to Friday, are available at littleopera.ca, ranging from $33 to $169.

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