For Tapestry and for new opera in Canada, Nigredo Hotel was a shift of seismic proportions. In 1991, Claire Hopkinson joined Tapestry as Executive Director/Producer. Shortly thereafter, a very close creative team of rising stars, including playwright/actress (soon-to-become novelist) Ann-Marie MacDonald, jazz saxophonist/composer Nic Gotham, and director/playwright Banuta Rubess, approached us. Already seasoned theatre collaborators, they had begun a conversation with Urjo Kareda at Tarragon Theatre about an idea for a chamber opera. It was an opportunity aching to be seized.

The extremely physical production required a fight director, a baritone singing actor capable of having a nervous breakdown onstage, and a fearless soprano to climb up on scaffolding above the set, be pulled upside down through the ceiling, and then sing a powerful aria with extended sustain. Shari Saunders, a light lyric soprano with nerves of steel, and Jonathan Whitaker, moving over from musical theatre, accepted the challenge.

The Smiths' set performed, as well as being an elevated, raked stage to allow for a tiny pit for the band at the front. The radiator rattled and emitted steam, the ceiling lighting fixture dropped to become a swing, among cascading fiery swirls of fabric. Paul Mathiesen’s detailed lighting plot (almost a third character) required the actors to hit specific stage lamp positions coinciding with the text/music cues. In his review of the 1992 premiere at Tarragon, Robert Everett-Green opined that Tapestry had opened the way for a “new audience” for the art form. Fulfilling that prophecy defined Tapestry’s artistic path for the future.

- Wayne Strongman

Nigredo Hotel - Print Review
Nigredo Hotel - Globe and Mail Review

"...moments of deep beauty and irreverent joy"

- Times Colonist

“Sophie sings, 'Blessed are the lost, for theirs is the kingdom of wonder.' Nigredo Hotel delightfully opens a door to that very kingdom.”

- Christopher Hoile, Eye Weekly May 12, 2005

Nominated at the 1993 Dora Mavor Moore Awards:

Best New Play/Musical - Nic Gotham and Ann-Marie MacDonald
Costume Design - Jerrard Smith and Diana Smith
Set Design - Jerrard Smith and Diana Smith
Lighting Design - Paul Mathiesen
Performance - Shari Saunders
Performance - Jonathan Whittaker

When Words Sing: Seven Canadian Libretti
Edited by Julie Salverson, Playwright's Canada Press, May 2021. Includes libretto and essays by Ann-Marie MacDonald, Banuta Rubess and premiere lighting designer Paul Mathiesen.