FROM WICKED TO WICKEDER

Spotlight

FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS

Veteran Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz has found his classical muse in the soprano Lauren Flanigan, who stars New York in his debut opera, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, opening at New York City Opera this month. Schwartz, 63, best known for his smash-hit musical Wicked and his Oscarwinning songs for such movies as Pocahontas (1995) and The Prince of Egypt (1998), felt this story would make a perfect opera. Based on the novel by Mark McShane and a 1964 British film version, starring Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough, the work centers on Myra Foster (Flanigan), a fame-hungry clairvoyant who devises a plot with her husband to kidnap a child, solve the case, and bask in the limelight. "The main characters seemed operatic in that they both want things very strongly, but they're not always honest with themselves or each other, which allows the music to tell a story," says Schwartz, who relished the opportunity to compose for Flanigan, a down-to-earth artist famous for her ease and skill with 20th-century works by Samuel Barber, Kurt Weill, and Paul Hindemith, among others.

Since 1990, she has been New York City Opera's reigning diva. "For me Seance bridges the gap between grand opera and musical theater," she says. "The writing for my part is very difficult and I spend the entire evening onstage—but it's absolutely beautiful." When Seance on a Wet Afternoon premiered, in 2009 at the Opera Santa Barbara, it cast a haunting spell. With its gripping drama, luxurious melodies, and layers of Hitchcockian intrigue, it may be the beginning of a whole new genre: opera noir.

DAMIAN FOWLER