THE TRANSFORMATION OF JANE DOE
Notes from the Creators
From the librettist
Ever since I moved to Chicago in 2012, I’ve wanted to write something that captures the spirit and history of the city.
When you head south down Lakeshore Drive the city reveals itself in some pretty spectacular ways. The Drake Hotel makes itself known quite beautifully there, nestled among the spires, old and new. This 1916 landmark is where we first began looking for a story for our opera. When I think of Chicago my imagination instantly drifts downtown, 1920s, to this dizzying epicenter of cultural, political, and social change. An obsession with The Drake kicked off jaunts from classic hotel to classic hotel in search of a good, solid, 1920s Chicago ghost story. It turns out each hotel seems to have their own endless supply, and, at the center of each, there is often a tragic suicide: a lovesick woman leaping to her death from a rooftop or open window, a Jane Doe doomed to haunt the joint for all eternity. In each story the heroine rarely has a name. We know nothing about her actual life. And if we do, her narrative lacks any real depth or detail. She’s a convenient cultural mirage, a lost headline, a misogynistic trope, just another Jane Doe. This is what placed Stacy and I on our path of exploration. Who were these women? What did they care about? What were their dreams? We wanted to give Jane Doe a name, a face, and a story with a beating heart. We wanted to honor those lives lost inside time, change, and circumstance.
Jerre Dye
From the composer
Composing an opera is an amazingly intriguing challenge. How should I musically depict the characters and storyline that librettist Jerre Dye has beautifully depicted on paper? Are there a few concepts that transcend the entire story that I can utilize to tie everything together musically across the span of ninety minutes? Ultimately, I unified the opera through the use of a series of motives; the three most important motives are below.
Jane Doe is an elusive character. Who is she? How many identities does she have? Will Abigail discover the true identity of Jane Doe? I created a short, four note motive to represent Jane Doe’s constant influence throughout the opera (for music buffs, these are always some version of A – G – B-flat – A). These are the first notes we hear sung at the beginning of the opera, and we hear them repeatedly throughout, sung by various characters and played by instruments in the chamber ensemble.
Next, I constructed a “magic” motive. The motive contains three chords that are always descending (again, for music buffs, each is a major third lower than the previous chord). Not only do the characters sing these chords as part of the Magician’s magic show to the words Magosh, Magoi, La Magie (which translate to “magic” in Persian, Latin, and French), but the chords are integrated into the musical structure of the opera itself. These are the very first chords we hear at the opening of the opera, as well as the very last chords we hear at the end. While composing, I was struck more and more by the extent to which the Magician’s actions control the entire story, and how he affects characters around him, for better or for worse. It seemed appropriate to let his influence permeate the entire opera.
Finally, our story is told both through Abigail’s ongoing investigation in the present, and a series of memories relayed in flashbacks. Whenever a flashback begins, the character who is about to reminisce sings the words, “I remember.” These words are combined with a “chime” motive (the piano plays a quick rolled chord in its upper register) to reinforce that a memory is about to begin. Some memories are longer than others; the longest occurs when Abigail reminisces about her own past. As she sings, “I remember,” we simultaneously hear the “magic” chords repeatedly falling downwards as she spirals deep into her memory, with each chord accompanied by a chime.
The Transformation of Jane Doe was commissioned by Chicago Opera Theater as part of its two-year Vanguard Emerging Opera Composers Program. I am eternally grateful to General Director Ashley Magnus and Musical Director Lidiya Yankovskaya for giving me the opportunity of this residency. I am also very thankful for collaborating with librettist Jerre Dye on his incredible original story, for all of the COT Young Artists and Chicago-based opera singers who participated in the workshop process last December, and for those who are singing in the digital world premiere you are watching.