Elvis Costello comes to Portland Opera — as in ‘The Juliet Letters’

Published 12:15 am Tuesday, November 12, 2024

In furthering its mission to provide works for different audiences, Portland Opera presents Elvis Costello’s “The Juliet Letters” with six productions, Nov. 15-24 at Artists Repertory Theatre.

It’s certainly an outside-the-box opera, along the lines of Portland Opera putting on “Enchanted Woods: Shakespeare and Song” last season.

“It was due to the excitement that we got around ‘Enchanted Woods,’ that whole immersive art that is an in-your-face kind of thing,” said Alfrelynn Roberts, Portland Opera’s director of artistic planning and operations.

“That was so successful, that this particular production became just as appealing. We’re doing this in conjunction with Papermoon Opera Productions. It’s a constructed set of paper, about letters written to Juliet. People will be able to touch them.”

Indeed, it’s an opera based on the 1993 album “The Juliet Letters.” The song sequence is based on the studio recordings of the British post-punk icon Costello and Brodsky Quartet, as both the singer and quartet deviated from their normal music for a theme in the tale of a Veronese academic who penned responses to notes addressed to Shakepeare’s Juliet.

The 20-song album and opera considers love in all its many forms and aspects, through the motif of the written letter, publicity says.

“It’s about love, all kinds of love, from innocent love to angry love, to ‘I want to die’ love and everything between,” Roberts said. “These singers do a good job of encapsulating that.

“It’s very different for Elvis. However, his lyrics are still very much … definitely in Elvis Costello’s world. The lyrics are potent; he uses instruments in a way not typical of a regular quartet. With Brodsky Quartet, they bring musical elements into it as well. When you hear it live, it is quite good.”

The genre-bending work combines string quartet and voice “that carries us on an intimate journey of hope, loss and longing — all seen through the lens of love,” publicity says.

The production features Portland Opera resident artists.

A special prelude will be by mezzo-soprano Hannah Penn performing “Shakespeare Songs” by Howard Blake.

The set is its own attraction, what with huge paper displays with letter writings on them. And, it’s a different kind of venue — the lobby at 1515 S.W. Morrison St., seating about 200 people — as Artists Rep awaits completion of its theater renovation.

Roberts said Portland Opera tried to get Costello to attend the shows, but he wasn’t available.

More: portlandopera.org.