Scott Joplin’s opera, “Treemonisha,” long had a kind of ghostly presence in America’s classical music scene. Certain insiders knew of it, but no one had actually seen it, because it was not fully staged until a 1972 joint premiere by the Atlanta Symphony and Morehouse College music department.
The 1911 work is important because it is a rare early example of an opera by an African American composer, and not just any African American composer, but one of the most important creators of ragtime (though it must be quickly said, “Treemonisha” is not wholly a ragtime opera).
Despite the 1972 premiere and later productions at the Houston Grand Opera and elsewhere, the opera has remained a challenge for presenters because it was unfinished at the time of Joplin’s death, with his original orchestrations and revisions lost. In addition, it has inherent shortcomings, including a libretto that is awkward and outdated when seen through a contemporary lens.
Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha — A Musical Reimagining’
There have been at least three major efforts in recent years to reimagine the work for 21st-century audiences, including this one, put together by a creative team of Black women artists from New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Toronto, and developed and produced by Volcano. The work premiered in Toronto in June 2023 at the Luminato Festival and features an all-Black cast and orchestra.
The American premiere of that production, titled “Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha — A Musical Reimagining,” was presented Thursday evening at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, with one more performance on Sunday.
In short, it is something of a disappointment. While there are some exuberant ensemble sections, strong individual performances and fine dancing, the work does not completely cohere. It feels a little unfinished, its full potential not yet fully realized.
It is important to make clear that this is not a reconstruction; nor is it an attempt to present this opera in its original form. Instead, this production has a new libretto by Leah Simone-Bowen and Cheryl L. Davis that draws on the original but takes it in new directions, putting a greater focus on the strong Black woman at the center of the story.
Treemonisha (soprano Neema Bickersteth, at right) is appointed leader of both the Freedmen and Maroons as Parson Alltalk (bass-baritone Marvin Lowe, from left) and her fiance Remus (tenor Ashley Faatoalia) and others sing their approval in “Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha — A Musical Reimagining” at the Harris Theater.
In addition, the work features a new orchestration and arrangements by Grammy Award winner Jessie Montgomery, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2021-24 composer-in-residence, and Jannina Norpoth. (The Sphinx Virtuosi recently performed the Overture from this work on tour.)
This take on “Treemonisha” opens during the Civil War but mostly takes place in the 1880s along the Texas-Arkansas border, focusing on a longstanding feud between the Freedmen (emancipated slaves) and Maroons (African descendants who had escaped slavery). Right before Treemonisha is about to be married, she learns she is an orphan and embarks on an odyssey to discover her true identity and ultimately uncover leadership skills she didn’t know she possessed.
Although the production runs nearly 2½ hours, considerably longer than the original, which apparently clocked in around 90 minutes, some of the storytelling feels rushed and clumsy. The opening, for example, when an enslaved woman hides her newborn child (Treemonisha) in a tree and is then shot and killed, takes place so abruptly and confusingly that it would be impossible to know what has happened without the synopsis in the program.
This work is probably best described as an operetta, and it often has the jaunty feel of light early 20th-century music theater. Elements of ragtime can be heard, especially in the catchy, high-stepping final number, “A Slow Drag,” the only one in this version of “Treemonisha” in which the lyrics are entirely those of Joplin, but the composer was clearly striving to go beyond that style.
He also mixed in blues, gospel and even a wonderful example of a male vocal quartet, which has a long history in the Black musical tradition, and Montgomery and Norpoth have added to that musical stew in their score, which is performed by a 10-piece ensemble ably led by Jeri Lynne Johnson.
To evoke the backwoods world and ancestral history of the Maroons in Act 2, for example, Montgomery and Norpoth draw on the marimba, West African drums and the kora, a West-African stringed instrument strikingly played by Tunde Jegede.
They also add more contemporary elements, bringing a kind of Whitney Houston pop feel, for example, to the solo of the spirit of Treemonisha’s birth mother, but this diversity of styles old and new does not completely jell into a comfortable, musically cohesive whole.
The 20-member cast, including eight principals is largely effective, with Canadian soprano Neema Bickersteth (Treemonisha) admirably anchoring the production with clear, clarion singing and a grounded acting style. Other stand-outs include Cedric Berry (Zodzerick), with his expressive bass-baritone voice and easy stage manner, and SATE (Nana), a Toronto-based rock and AfroPunk singer with an agile, high-powered, pop-inflected style.