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OVERVIEW
Title: The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring
Composer: James Rolfe
Librettist: Morris Panych
Commissioned By: Tapestry Opera and Vancouver Opera
Language: English
Producer: Tapestry Opera, Canadian Stage, and Vancouver Opera
Run Time: 150
Roles:
Role | Voice Type | Range ? | Character Description |
---|---|---|---|
Sossiya | middle-low | E2-F4 | Man working at a desk |
Tailor's Wife | middle-high | A3-G5 | Tailor's wife |
Mokiya | middle | C3-A4 | Man working at a desk |
Landlady | high | B3-A#5 | The landlady |
Head of Department/Petrovich | middle-low | G2-F4 | The tailor |
Secretary | high | C4-A5 | The secretary |
Akakiy | middle-low | G2-F4 | A diligent man no one likes, who works the numbers best he can |
Manager | middle | E3-A4 | The manager |
Khodozat | low | F#2-B3 | Man working at a desk |
Mad Chorus 1 | high | D4-A5 | Mad chorus |
Mad Chorus 2 | high | D4-A5 | Mad chorus |
Mad Chorus 3 | middle-high | A3-F5 | Mad chorus |
Movement Performer | silent-spoken | dancer | Dancer |
Movement Performer | silent-spoken | dancer | Dancer |
SYNOPSIS
Is it the clothes that make a man, or is it something other than?
Based on the satirical Nikolai Gogol story of the same name, The Overcoat centres on Akakiy Akakiyevich, a diligent man no one likes, who works the numbers best he can. But he can barely pay the rent, and even though his landlady offers him something more than cabbage soup, Akakiy’s mind is elsewhere. Winter’s on its way, and Akakiy’s coat is tacky and more threadbare by the day.
He visits Petrovich the tailor, who though he might drink a sailor under the table, is sober enough to declare Akakiy’s coat not up to snuff; it’s unfixable. Akakiy begs, so Petrovich shifts gears, huffing his own snuff and declaring that Akakiy needs something new. Petrovich declares in fact that this moment is Akakiy’s chance to act. But after careful analysis of fact, his budget cannot budge enough, no matter how many cuts he calculates.
The next day at work, the head of the department has something to say. He saw a poor man the other day with a coat so frayed it got him thinking philanthropically. Just then, Akakiy stumbles in and ends up showing the head of the department his newly calculated, money-saving budget. Inspired, the head decides to pay everyone less, and gives Akakiy a bonus. Akakiy returns to Petrovich freshly rich. The coat can now be bought!
After a flurry of measurement, Petrovich and his wife announce the coat is made, and it’s beautiful beyond compare. Akakiy wears the coat to work and instead of snark, is shown the royal treatment. His colleagues fawn over his coat. Even the head of the department is entranced, and invites him to celebrate that very evening.
It seems things are finally amounting to something for Akakiy. His landlady warns him not to discount how shallow his coworkers might be. But Akakiy sees things differently. Just like the endless glasses of bubbly at the name day party, his new-coat persona goes to his head. Drunk, he winds up getting lost in a part of town he’s never seen. Two rough men, sensing easy prey, sucker punch Akakiy and steal the coat away.
Akakiy, devastated, goes to the police, but they’re apparently the wrong department. He heads upstairs to the Prominent Personage, who doesn’t help him either. Without his coat, he once again adds up to nothing; he placed his whole identity in the coat. He ends up in a mental hospital. But all is not lost.
In fact, it’s merely gone astray. Akakiy learns from the other residents that nothing is ever truly lost. He and his coat are reunited in the hospital, and Akakiy finally finds asylum from an uncaring, shallow world.
MUSIC DESCRIPTION
Influences from the original Overcoat soundtrack (entirely pieces by Shostakovich) are never overt, but the jazz-like modulations and rhythmic intensity offer a subtle homage throughout. The final product is a work of endless detail, taut precision, and delightful melody.
SCORES FOR PURCHASE
Arias & Excerpts:
Akakiy reveals his fascination with numbers, and the chorus announces they’ll help keep track of things. His landlady enters to bring him some cabbage soup- and something more, which he refuses.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Landlady | high | G#3-B4 |
Akakiy | middle-low | D3-E4 |
Mad Chorus 1 | high | D4-F5 |
Mad Chorus 2 | high | D4-F5 |
Mad Chorus 3 | middle-high | A3-D5 |
After rushing to work, Akakiy is bullied by his coworkers. He’s too good at his job, and it’s making the rest of them look bad.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Secretary | high | F#4-G5 |
Manager | middle | E3-G4 |
Mokiya | middle | Eb3-G4 |
Akakiy | middle-low | F#2-D4 |
Sossiya | middle-low | F#2-D4 |
Khodozat | low | F#2-E4 |
Petrovich declares Akakiy’s coat is completely unfixable, but also that this is the chance for Akakiy to choose something new. Of course, he’ll have to pay.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Akakiy | middle-low | E3-B3 |
Mrs. P | middle-high | E4-E5 |
Petrovich | low | B2-E4 |
Akakiy gets caught in rush hour and arrives late to find the head the department telling a sad story about encountering a homeless vagrant. Annoyed at being interrupted, the head of the department grills Akakiy on his little notebook of numbers. Akakiy explains he was using it to find ways to save money, which gives the head an idea. He’ll cut costs too! By paying the workers less and keeping the building a little colder. He rewards Akakiy for his ingenuity with a sizeable bonus.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Mad Chorus 1 | high | Db4-F5 |
Mad Chorus 2 | high | Db4-F5 |
Mad Chorus 3 | middle-high | C#3-Bb4 |
Mrs. P | middle-high | C#3-Bb4 |
Manager | middle | Db3-F4 |
Mokiya | middle | Db3-F4 |
Sossiya | middle-low | C#3-Db4 |
Khodozat | low | C#3-Db4 |
Petrovich | low | A#2-Cb4 |
Akakiy | middle-low | F3-Cb4 |
Secretary | high | D4-G5 |
Measuring Akakiy becomes a ballet of awkwardness. Petrovich and his wife muse on what really makes a man: how he appears.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Mrs. P | middle-high | F#4-F#5 |
Petrovich | low | C#3-F4 |
Akakiy | middle-low | C#3-E4 |
The name day party. Everyone is dressed to the nines, but Akakiy adds up to at least an eleven. They fawn over his coat, going so far as to toast to it. Akakiy forgets to count his drinks, and ends up completely drunk. He gets lost on the way home, winding up in the rough part of town. Akakiy asks two men for directions, but instead, they knock him out and steal his coat. Akakiy wakes up without his prized possession, lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and rushes to the police station.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Mad Chorus 1 | high | D4-C#5 |
Mad Chorus 2 | high | C4-C#5 |
Mad Chorus 3 | middle-high | A3-G4 |
Secretary | high | B4-C#5 |
Mrs. P | middle-high | D4-G4 |
Manager | middle | C#3-F4 |
Mokiya | middle | G#3-C#4 |
Sossiya | middle-low | Bb2-C#4 |
Petrovich | low | C#3-Db4 |
Khodozat | low | Eb2-C#4 |
Akakiy | middle-low | Cb3-Eb4 |
After days of near catatonia in his cold apartment, the landlady asks Petrovich to repair Akakiy’s old coat, to no avail. Even his coworkers arrive to check in, but by then, Akakiy is unreachable. Akakiy is committed to a mental hospital. Once he arrives, the other residents encourage him to look at things a little differently. It turns out he has been “found.” A delighted Akakiy puts on his straightjacket and realizes he did amount to something, after all: himself.
Character | Voice Type | Range ? |
---|---|---|
Mad Chorus 1 | high | Db4-Bb5 |
Mad Chorus 2 | high | Db4-Bb5 |
Mad Chorus 3 | middle-high | Bb3-Db5 |
Secretary | high | Db4-Bb5 |
Mrs. P | middle-high | Bb3-Db5 |
Manager | middle | Db3-Gb4 |
Mokiya | middle | Db3-Gb4 |
Sossiya | middle-low | Bb2-Db4 |
Petrovich | low | Bb2-Gb3 |
Khodozat | low | Gb2-Db4 |
Akakiy | middle-low | Db3-G4 |
Landlady | high | Bb3-Db5 |
PREMIERE PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Premiere Production: March 29 - April 17, 2018 at Bluma Appel Theatre, St Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto ON
Producers: Tapestry Opera, Canadian Stage, and Vancouver Opera
Cast:
Role | Name |
---|---|
Sossiya | Aaron Durand |
Tailor's Wife | Erica Iris Huang |
Mokiya | Keith Klassen |
Landlady | Andrea Ludwig |
Head of Department/Petrovich | Peter McGillivray |
Secretary | Meher Pavri |
Akakiy Akakiyevich | Geoffrey Sirett |
Manager | Asitha Tennekoon |
Khodozat | Giles Tomkins |
Mad Chorus 1 | Caitlin Wood |
Mad Chorus 2 | Magali Simard-Galdes |
Mad Chorus 3 | Iris Huang Erica |
Movement Performer | Colin Heath |
Movement Performer | Courtenay Stevens |
Role | Name |
---|---|
Stage Director | Morris Panych |
Conductor | Leslie Dala |
Set Designer | Ken MacDonald |
Costume Designer | Nancy Bryant |
Lighting Designer | Adam Brodie |
Movement | Wendy Gorling |
Assistant Director | Jessica Derventzis |
Assistant Music Director | Jennifer Tung |
Stage Manager | Kate Porter |
Assistant Stage Manager | Marijka Asbeek Brussee |
Assistant Stage Manager | AJ Laflamme |
CREATION
DEVELOPMENT
The Overcoat’s origins date farther back than many of Tapestry’s other works, with its genesis being a wordless movement piece designed by Morris Panych and Wendy Gorling in 1998. It was a smash hit and ended up touring the world for nearly ten years.
During Tapestry’s LIBLAB in 2015, director and librettist Morris Panych was teamed up with composer James Rolfe, and the two wrote a scene based on Panych and Gorling’s 1998 original. (The scene - in which the tailor measures Akakiy for his new coat - was used almost unaltered in the final production.) It was immediately apparent that the concept had massive potential, and it was subsequently workshopped. The Canadian Stage and Vancouver Opera were brought on to co-produce, and almost all of the workshop cast was retained for the full production.
The end product was something so unique to the field of contemporary opera, it generated debate over what genre it actually stood in, and there were those who suggested it be given status as a new subgenre: kinetic opera.
QUOTATIONS FROM CREATIVE TEAM
“In a way, it’s much more theatre. In a way, opera’s a big word, and sometimes it’s a scary word. People think of things that opera isn’t anymore, or that at least music theatre isn’t anymore. I think it’s a really interesting fusion of serious music and theatre.
I think that what the show does is rooted in pure theatricality, so it moves through music but it also moves through words, and [physical] movement is a big component.”
- Morris Panych
“Really, it’s with a foot in both camps. You could say it’s opera because the singers are opera singers. They’re trained as opera singers, they’ll probably sing acoustically without amplification, there are live instruments and so on... on the other hand, the tone isn’t really operatic. It’s not heroic, there’s not a lot of ‘parking and barking’... it’s a lot of ensemble work.”
- James Rolfe
AWARDS
Winner at the 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Awards:
Performance - Geoff Sirett
Scenic Design - Ken MacDonald
Lighting Design - Alan Brodie
Nominated at the 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Awards:
Outstanding Production
Best New Musical/Opera - James Rolfe and Morris Panych
Direction - Morris Panych
Musical Direction - Les Dala
Performance - Peter McGillivray
Choreography - Wendy Gorling
Costume Design - Nancy Bryant
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