Aaron Cain: I'm Aaron Cain for WFIU Arts. IU Jacobs School of Music Opera Theatre presents Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod, starting this weekend at the Musical Arts Center, 7:30 PM on Friday and Saturday. The opera is double cast, and I recently had the chance to speak with the two leads from one of those casts: tenor Jaemyeong Lee, who will sing the role of Roméo, and soprano Ginaia Black, who will sing the role of Juliette.
Aaron Cain: How do you feel about stepping into the role of probably the most famous lovers in all of literary history?
Ginaia Black: Yeah, it was a huge deal. I actually was very nervous because I knew that it hadn't been performed in so long at IU. And so, like, it was a really big deal to bring this show back. I was a bit nervous, but now that I've actually, like, stepped into the role fully, I feel so much better about it and I'm feeling more so, like, I can resonate with her character a little bit.
Aaron Cain: Jaemyeong, how do you like singing the role of Roméo?
Jaemyeong Lee: I like the role because Gounod’s music is very beautiful. When I hear the first orchestra music, sometimes I cry sometimes. Yeah, very sad because I knew the story. The bad ending. Yeah, so. It's very sad, so sometimes I'm…I'm crying.
Ginaia Black: Yeah, the…I feel like the music definitely evokes a lot of emotion. If you get to see the performance, you'll be blown away for sure.
Aaron Cain: One of the things that Charles Gounod changed from Shakespeare's original play is that he gave Romeo and Juliet a final chance to see each other when they die, whereas in the play they don't get that chance. But it's opera, so you've got to have a final scene…
Ginaia Black: You’ve got to.
Aaron Cain: …between the two lovers….
Ginaia Black: Yeah
Aaron Cain: …So what's that like to do that last tragic love duet?
Ginaia Black: Oh, it's a lot of emotions. I feel like we're both trying to comfort each other in a way, even though we're both about to die, like…I've just went ahead and stabbed myself. And so it's like I'm still trying to comfort him because he’s dying, but he's looking at me and he's upset because I'm dying. But at the same time, I wouldn't want it any other way because, you know, I love him that much. And so I think it's a special thing to be able to die alongside the person you love. When hearing about Romeo and Juliet, I've seen, like, a lot of the movies, and a lot of the portrayals, and I never considered Juliet to be as young as she is. A lot of our stage directors say, like, she's a young girl, like 12 or 13 and I'm like, really? I think that was a huge shock to me. That she was so young.
Jaemyeong Lee: Romeo is 15 year right? But I'm…[laughs]…I'm 32 years. [laughter] I'm not young.
Ginaia Black: Right.
Aaron Cain: What are you excited about? What's something you're really looking forward to being able to do in this performance?
Ginaia Black: Me personally, the Poison Aria. It's probably one of my favorites in the entire opera. I think it's just such a complicated piece because it's a big role, but it also has a lot of coloratura, like, runs and melismas in it, so it's something that you have to work on a lot. It's long, there are recits, and I just love it. It's very beautiful music, but it was definitely a challenge for me in the beginning. But now I feel like I'm looking forward to singing it. ‘Cause now it's fun for me to sing.
Jaemyeong Lee: One of my best aria is Ah! Levè-toi. Ah! Levè-toi from Roméo et Juliette, Act 2. This is very famous scene…
Ginaia Black: Mm-hmm
Jaemyeong Lee: …of a balcony scene. Yeah.
Ginaia Black: Yeah.
Jaemyeong Lee: This is very famous, you know.
Ginaia Black: It’s beautiful.
Jaemyeong Lee: Yeah. So when I sing I feel love a lot.
Ginaia Black: I think that the audience should look forward to a bit of a shock, because I feel like a lot of the time when this show is done, it's done in a way that there's a lot of sadness and it's not a whole lot of joy throughout the entire show, and I feel like the way that our director, Katherine, has staged it, there's a lot of scenes that you'll be laughing at. And you'll, you know, you'll smile about the show. So I think that that's definitely something to look forward to, and definitely a fresh take on the show.
Aaron Cain:, thank you so much for speaking with me today.
Ginaia Black: Thank you.
Jaemyeong Lee: Thank you.
Aaron Cain: Jaemyeong Lee and Ginaia Black, who play Romeo and Juliet respectively, in one of the two casts of Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gonoud, performed Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 at the Musical Arts Center, with additional performances next weekend, November 17th and 18th, at Clowes Hall in Indianapolis. More information at operaballet.indiana.edu. for WFIU Arts, I'm Aaron Cain.
