It was the classic girl-meets-drone tale at the Metropolitan Opera’s season opener and fundraising dinner last night, where guests including Susan Sarandon and Edie Falco performed a version of Jean · Gathered together to celebrate the premiere of the new opera “Grounded” with music by Tesori and lyrics by George Brandt.
The Opera’s general manager, Peter Gelb, said of the diva: “Wagner had Brünnhilde, Puccini had Tosca… and now Jeanne Tesori and George Brandt have given us Jess.” Jess is played by rising mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, a fighter pilot whose unexpected pregnancy in the Iraq War inspired her to become a drone pilot with a joystick, grappling with the emotional and psychological burdens of war.
When the national anthem was played before the curtain fell — an opening-night tradition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but one that seemed oddly appropriate that night — the audience was ready to exit. With Michael Mayer directing and Jason Thompson and Caitlin Pietras providing mesmerizing digital projection, the production moved swiftly. After the final curtain fell, guests trickled into the David H. Koch Theater on the Promenade for dinner.
Shaking off the fatigue of the flight, D’Angelo was happy, even if a little dazed, at the after-show party in a sophisticated black Saint Laurent evening gown with a silver-laced Burberry dress. “It looks like armor,” he said, putting on his jacket as a line of well-wishers formed around his table. “I hid a little bit under my coat.” Gelb also said that one advantage of modern opera is that stars don’t have bustles or powdered wigs, making the trip from dressing room to dinner much easier.
Not only was it the Canadian singer’s grand opening night, it was also her 30th birthday. Just before dinner next to the Eli Naderman statue in the lobby, Gelb joined D’Angelo’s partner, tenor Ben Bliss, in one of the sweetest renditions of “Happy Birthday” in the song’s history.
After accepting heartfelt congratulations from actress Patricia Clarkson, Tesori recalled the moment that was nearly a decade in the making. Like Cohen, he said: “You never know how this production will be received by the discerning metropolitan audience (who love it).
The night held special family significance for Kimberly Akinbo, the Tony Award-winning composer of “Fun Home”: Her grandfather, also a composer, dreamed of having his work performed at the Metropolitan Opera but died before it could be realized. “Who would have thought his granddaughter would realize his dream.”
As the last bubble of champagne is burst, happy partygoers walk down the grand staircase and into the night. Actor Michael Cerveris carries his Gilded Age co-star Christine Baranski in a white Oscar de la Renta gown (and opera-length gloves, of course). Christine Baranski heads to the Revson Fountain, where she happily signs autographs for a fan.
The new piece’s big issues and heavy themes—surveillance, endless wars, the mental health of veterans—did not dampen the evening’s festive atmosphere, despite the inevitable political climate. “With all the political lies that have occurred during this election cycle, please continue to come to the oasis of artistic truth known as the Metropolitan Opera,” Gelb said in a prefatory comment. Josh Charles Michael Melian Nic Nézet-Séguin Jean Tesori Jonathan Grove Anna Gasteyer Susan Sarandon Eva Emory Peter Dinklage Erica Schmidt Cynthia Rowley Georgina Chapman Sharyn Lamantha La Pigeon Andrew Saffir/Patricia Clarkson/Renée Elise Goldsberry/Alexis Johnson/Camryn Manheim/Melora Harding/Cynthia Rowley Andre Fra ttó/Ellen Burstyn
