West Edge Opera’s new takes on classics: Summer shows include a biblical bromance

Berkeley-based West Edge Opera has built a memorable brand by making good on its meaningful name. Since 2014 risk-taking and adventure have marked every production and the East Bay organization on the western edge booms as a cultural hot spot.

The company’s Festival 2025 opens in early August with three exciting shows playing in repertory. The typically daring lineup includes a world premiere commission about a living legend, a brutal tragedy of a man forced to serve the people he hates, and a baroque biblical bromance.

The festival starts with “Dolores,” composed by Nicolás Lell Benavides with a libretto by Marella Martin Koch, and plays August 2 and 10 with matinees, and an August 16 evening performance.

If any contemporary figure deserves the overused accolade of iconic it is surely labor leader and feminist Dolores Huerta. Seeking civil rights and justice for farm workers during the 1968 Delano Grape Strike took her to the highest seats of power in Washington, D.C. The evolution of her stance on women’s right to choose and mature understanding and support of LGBT issues also mark a tireless life devoted to making change.

The world premiere of “Dolores” (with Huerta in attendance) fulfills the first full-length commission created and developed through WEO’s Aperture Program. The creative team and cast includes conductor Mary Chun, Director Octavio Cardenas, mezzo-soprano Kelly Guerra in the title role, bass-baritone Phillip Lopez as Cesar Chavez, and tenor Alex Boyer as Bobby Kennedy.
A first-generation American and native of Southern California, Guerra said of Dolores Huerta, “I have been working on tapping into the joy that she exudes. It’s not trite. Her joy is genuine happiness of someone who lives by her values.”

“David & Jonathan,” composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, with a libretto by Father François Bretonneau, plays August 3 and 16 in matinees, with an August 9 evening performance.

It could be argued the most transgressive work in the summer repertoire is a production of Charpentier’s 1688 French Baroque masterpiece, which takes a deep dive into the political, emotional and, personal aspects of male loyalty and love.

Directed by WEO’s General Director Mark Streshinsky and conducted by award-winning early keyboard specialist Adam Pear, we are guaranteed a new take on a much-discussed scriptural same sex relationship.

Don’t tell the funders at the reshuffled NEA, but it is probably safe to expect a more romantic and homoerotic slant on the biblical story of David, slayer of Goliath, and Jonathan, son of King Saul.

According to the Hebrew Bible’s Books of Samuel, the two men formed a covenant, taking a mutual oath. In Samuel 2 (1:26), David declares Jonathan’s love was, “sweeter to him than the love of a woman.”

Jonathan’s father Saul showed thinly disguised disdain for the bond between the pair. There has always been historical debate about the true nature of their love. Composer Charpentier addresses their anguish and joy with beautifully serene and dramatic music.

Two out and proud tenors, Grammy Award winner Aaron Sheehan as David and Derek Chester (a memorable Macheath in WEO’s “The Threepenny Opera”) as Jonathan, bring subtle authenticity and impressive artistry to their roles. Another Grammy winner, San Francisco Conservatory of Music Voice Faculty Member baritone Matthew Worth performs as King Saul.

The third work is “Wozzeck” with music and libretto by Alban Berg. Its three performances are August 9, a matinee, and evening shows August 14 and 17.

Who’s afraid of Alban Berg? His music may have decisively broken with tonality in the 1920s, but it can be lyrical, jazzy and, in the expressionist opera “Wozzeck,” deeply moving. The shocking impact of the score has assured its place as one of the greatest operas of the 20th Century.

Poverty, mental instability, and societal cruelty plague the luckless anti-hero Wozzeck. His story and that of Marie, the pathetic mother of his child, cannot have a happy ending. Berg seizes on their hopelessness and creates an unflinching narrative of human suffering and inequality. It isn’t an easy listen, but “Wozzeck” is a potent and strangely beautiful theatrical experience.

Director Elkhanah Pulitzer (yes, those Pulitzers’) returns to WEO, with smashing previous production credits including Thomas Ades’ “Powder Her Face” and Alban Berg’s “Lulu,” to name a few. Her artistic vision synchs perfectly with the company’s mission to experiment, empathize and reveal.

WEO Music Director Jonathan Khuner will conduct a cast that includes some popular regulars. Out bari-hunk Hadleigh Adams essays the title role, and remarkable lesbian Emma McNairy returns as Marie. Both are real lookers, but they are willing to get dirty for their art.  

All Summer Fest performances will be held at WEO’s new home venue, the historic Oakland Scottish Rite Center in Oakland. The Lake Merritt BART station is a ten-minute walk to the Center or a free shuttle, which also stops at the station, can be used before and after the performances.

West Edge Opera’s Summer Festival, $22-$172, Aug. 2-17, Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland.
https://www.westedgeopera.org