You don’t have to appreciate opera to have respect for what goes into mounting a production like “The Magic Flute,” currently at the Metropolitan Opera.
Directed by the renowned Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), the production features whimsical puppetry as well as a revolving stage set and some very colorful costumes. The show employs 74 choristers, 48 musicians, 48 electricians, 33 carpenters, 30 singers (15 per cast), 34 dressers, 29 dancers, 16 prop people, 6 kids (3 per cast), 2 conductors (1 per cast), a crew of makeup artists, and a prompter who cues up all 17 shows. The holiday favorite has two different casts so that the singers can take breaks from the very demanding vocal chores.
“We’re the Olympians of singing,” the soprano Kathryn Lewek notes. Lewek stands out in her captivating performance in the role of The Queen of the Night. She’s performed the part more than 300 times (over 50 times at the Met alone), but approaches it each time as a new challenge.
“This role and I have been through a lot together,” she muses. “I feel very confident singing her, but it always remains a challenge for sure. I have to always remain laser-focused, and there is no such thing as ‘phoning it in!’ But also she keeps changing for me and that presents challenges as well. As the years go by, my voice has developed — I have a completely different instrument now than when I debuted this role in 2011. Now that I’m headed into a new phase of my career singing bigger repertoire, I’m still finding new ways of growing with the Queen.”
Despite her obvious talents, Lewek is the least likely to assume the mantle of a diva. Down to earth and friendly, she is happy to chat backstage as her makeup is applied, and we were lucky to be there on the day that her two kids came to watch her transformation.
“My daughter Mackenzie saw her first Magic Flute last season at age five, and her little three-year-old brother Charlie is coming to the Met for the very first time. I couldn’t be more excited!” she says. “This will be the first time he has seen and heard me sing outside of our family room studio.”
Lewek adds, “My husband (Zach Borichevsky) is a tenor, so you can imagine that between the two of us, we make a lot of noise, especially when we sing together! We do things like Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Romeo and Juliet, and the kids love it! They always want us to kiss after we finish singing a duet.”
“It’s got the best acoustics !” she saysPhoto by Bob Krasner
Various people stop by the dressing room, such as the stage prompter Donna Racik and the show’s conductor J. David Jackson while Lewek has her hair and makeup attended to by Mannie Jacobo and Heath Bryant-Huppert, respectively. “My longtime makeup artist retired recently, but Heath has been a godsend,” she says.
As for the costume, Kathryn Lewek admits that it “presents certain challenges with the wings and flags. There is a wire helix-type thing that holds the wings high up behind my head, and every once in a while, my jaw clips it when I’m singing those high F’s! It can throw me off a bit. But the costume department here is so amazing; as soon as something isn’t quite right, they fix it right away. Honestly, I love the look – everyone tells me I look tall in this costume, and as a petite five-foot zero, that’s enough to make this Queen grin!”
Blessed with two children who actually enjoy opera, Lewek relates, “It’s much more important to us that they are exposed to as much of a variety of music as possible – but no kiddie tunes! Ok, maybe Raffi’s Baby Beluga. Other than that, my kids are huge fans of Michael Jackson, Billie Holiday, Adele, and Simon and Garfunkel. Their everlasting favorite song is “’Take On Me’ by Aha. We listen to lots of piano concertos and symphonies as well — Handel’s Water Music is a fave as is Mozart’s overture to the Marriage of Figaro. But to be honest, most of their exposure to opera is when we sing it in our home. I love that they love music so much, and make requests to hear specific songs – it feels so intentional and I love that they have big opinions about their taste in music!”
And, she adds, “The Magic Flute is a perfect first opera for adults and kids alike!”
Show information, including ticket sales, is available at https://www.metopera.org/
