Lyric Opera 2022-2023, Issue 7, Factotum

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 16 Mike is concerned with sustaining the legacy tied to his memory of their father’s integrity. Garby is more of a pragmatist and has found some nancial success in the underground economy that comes with risks and, as we learn early on, an increased police presence around the shop. Near the end of the second act, there is a trenchant moment when the dramatic and musical worlds come together in a climactic scene. All the plot points collide at Rose’s EP release party. As Rose has her big moment and sings “Estoy Acqui” the whole cast is assembled, though with notable exceptions. Suspiciously, Garby is missing. Right after Rose’s number, Mike receives a text that Cece is in the hospital and her condition is precarious. The crowd on stage projects less the cacophonous confusion of a Rossinian nale and more the focused energy of a united community. Gathered together on stage in a formation that is resonant of both a protest and a church congregation, the community reacts in a double posture that speaks equally to their current situation and harkens back to the Civil Rights era, with signi ers of the past and present. CJ opens the scene with “What’s goin’ on?”—an allusion to the title track of Marvin Gaye’s celebrated 1971 album, a seminal work that captures the uncertainties and social dif culties of that time. References to MLK and the Dream speech, “Respect” for BIPOC sisters, and the words “We Shall Overcome” are interwoven throughout the number, along with the maxim “No justice, no peace.” Suddenly Mike shifts the mood, while continuing the message of community solidarity. He cites 400 years of slavery, standing up for rights, and the work of Chicago- based Fred Hampton, who was assassinated while serving as the deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party. Mike promises “Cece gon’ be alright. We gon’ be alright,” and as Chantel takes up this line, he ends the scene with this meaningful and powerful phrase. These words, seemingly so simple and straightforward, have coded meanings. Reassuring in content to everyone, the phrase resonates especially strongly in Black music today. While those words have been used by other artists, a particularly notable case was by Kendrick Lamar on his 2015 album To Pimp a Butter y . The track “Alright” (produced by Pharrell Williams and Sounwave) has gained special signi cation in the past few years and became a frequent de facto anthem at many Black Lives Matter rallies during the pandemic and beyond. The Factotum has captured the resilient optimism of the 1960s combined with the more sardonic energy that has emerged in the rst decades of this millennium. This opera extends as a bridge reaching back to Rossini’s Barber where Will Liverman, now reincarnated as a modern factotum, has led the charge for an updated classic. With Black and Latinx voices highlighted, we are ushered into a stylized, modern-day South Side Chicago barbershop with community drama and joy. Concurrently encompassing the past while making way for the future of opera, the sonic landscape of The Factotum sounds both familiar and breathtakingly new. Dr. Naomi Andre is the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor in Music at UNC-Chapel Hill Three murals by Barrett Keithley, like this one on a West Side barbershop,have helped spread the word about the new work. Todd Rosenbeg