Regina

We started with “the woman in the bathtub”; now get ready for “A Bitch in the House.” That was the working title for Marc Blitzstein’s Regina, based on the play The Little Foxes by celebrated American playwright Lillian Hellman. But in today’s context, may I suggest another possible title? How about “The Art of the Deal”?

It’s the turn of the century on the Giddens family’s plantation home in Alabama. Regina and her siblings Oscar and Ben plan on expanding their family fortune by building a new cotton mill. The deal largely depends on finances from Regina’s ill husband, Horace. Ben and Regina renegotiate: Regina will get a larger cut of the profits – taking from Oscar’s share – if she promises to marry her daughter to Ben’s son so that the money stays in the family. Horace sees through Regina’s scheming and refuses to front the money, but the brothers steal Horace’s bonds, leaving Regina out of the deal entirely. When Horace has a heart attack, Regina refuses to fetch his medicine, leaving him to die. Knowing her brothers have Horace’s bonds, she blackmails them for an even larger share of the mill’s profits. Greed spoils her family – some of them spoiled to death.

Surrounding this family drama is the segregated South, reflected on stage by the Giddens family’s servants and farmers. They try to shield the youth of the family from their parents’ sadistic business dealings to little avail. Blitzstein reflects this diversity in the soundscape as well, drawing on spirituals, blues, and Dixieland jazz. Regina first opened on Broadway (just one day after Lost in the Stars!), which also shaped the score. It features a “Broadway ballad” in classic Rodgers & Hammerstein style. Much of the music that was cut for time on Broadway got restored when New York City Opera included Regina in its repertory, and even further revisions were made for the Scottish Opera in the 90s. Regardless of what version you produce, you’ll need singers adept in a variety of musical styles as well as spoken dialogue.

In reviewing Maryland Opera Studio’s 2016 production, Anna Mendham neatly noted the opera’s relevance today:

“…Blitzstein’s message…reflected the social atmosphere of his time: a privileged white family profiting at the expense of the black community in their town; the voice of social justice communicated through ragtime, spirituals, jazz and blues; and, most prominently, the destructive nature of greed. And let’s face it: we haven’t outgrown these themes. Regina is as important a work today as it has ever been.”

Revisiting Regina also offers a stage director the chance to interpret the work anew, perhaps with a more feminist approach. Reviewing that same 2016 production, Rachel Ace offered this analysis:

“At the time of the work’s premiere in the mid-twentieth century, Regina’s actions were meant to be shocking, callous, and evil… Today’s audience, however, might look back at Regina as a product of her environment. Perhaps the reason that she lies, cheats, and steals is not due to pure selfishness and malice; perhaps she is a woman who has been controlled by male relatives her entire life, and is ready to escape her arranged marriage by any means necessary.”

https://issuu.com/operatheatrestl/docs/2018_otsl_program_low-res/123 OTSL program book for Regina, pages 90-95

“There is a fruitful discussion to be had regarding Regina’s themes of unadulterated greed and inhumanity in light of America’s shifting social milieu. At the time of the work’s premiere in the mid-twentieth century, Regina’s actions were meant to be shocking, callous, and evil; in fact, the opera’s working title was A Bitch in the House. Today’s audience, however, might look back at Regina as a product of her environment. Perhaps the reason that she lies, cheats, and steals is not due to pure selfishness and malice; perhaps she is a woman who has been controlled by male relatives her entire life, and is ready to escape her arranged marriage by any means necessary.” –Rachel Ace (reviewing Maryland Opera Studio’s 2016 production)

“What La Scala missed and Bernstein caught was the power of Blitzstein’s message that reflected the social atmosphere of his time: a privileged white family profiting at the expense of the black community in their town; the voice of social justice communicated through ragtime, spirituals, jazz and blues; and, most prominently, the destructive nature of greed. And let’s face it: we haven’t outgrown these themes. Regina is as important a work today as it has ever been.” –Anna Mendham (reviewing Maryland Opera Studio’s 2016 production)

“Blitzstein, famously left-wing in his politics and not afraid to present his political views into his works for the musical stage, managed to maintain Hellman’s vividly defined characters and, at the same time, introduce new layers of political and sociological exploration. The result is a masterpiece that, while keeping any audience’s attention, constantly disturbs and, at times, confuses with a grand hodgepodge of styles ranging from traditional spiritual to blues to lyrical neo-romanticism to dissonant mid-twentieth-century modernism. At times, Regina is daringly experimental and defiant of operatic tradition—as when, for instance, in the first act, the cast sings its stage directions. And at times it’s assertively show-bizzy—there are scenes that would do credit to Bollywood at its most bizarre. And, at times, styles and concepts seem to collide: a moment that seems almost severely realistic can turn, suddenly, into pure opera.” –Wayne Lee Gay (UNT Opera 2011)

“Although Regina has yet to enter the operatic canon—performances are sporadic and rare, even in an era that appreciates eclecticism—the UNT production proves that it’s a piece very much worth the effort. The third act, indeed, pays off hugely, both in a lyrical moment in which four of the more likeable characters join in at least realizing simple human values, and, moments later, when Regina triumphs over her sibling adversaries and, at the same instant, realizes the tragedy of her own situation. Here, Blitzstein, through the constantly risky brewing of disparate musical styles, achieves a moment in which the political and the personal come together profoundly.” –Wayne Lee Gay (UNT Opera 2011)