Tickets are available for “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” at the Indiana University Musical Arts Center.
(Courtesy of the Jacobs School of Music)
Along with Tony-award winning director Bartlett Sher, the Metropolitan Opera is leading the production with the Jacobs School of Music. The opera, by Mason Bates and Gene Scheer, will have a short run in Bloomington before opening at the Met Opera in New York City next fall.
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” follows two cousins in 1940s New York City. Joe Kavalier is a refugee and artist from Prague. And Sam Clay is a toy and novelty copywriter. Together they create their own shackle-breaking superhero — the Escapist.
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” is a sprawling epic, with love stories as well as moments of tragedy. It’s based on the 2000 Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name.
“It's a story about endurance and love and creativity and the role of art in our lives and family,” said Paul Cremo, Met Opera director of opera commissioning.
After the Los Angeles Opera pulled out of the show due to funding, a friend suggested Cremo take the opera to the Jacobs School.
Jacobs School students including Veronica Siebert and Chandler Benn make up the cast. Siebert said the preparation has been intense but exciting.
Siebert said the best part of the process has been working with the Met Opera production team and Sher. Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore and New York City-based design studio 59 Productions worked on the opera.
Siebert said the next time “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” is performed, the cast will include some of the biggest singers of this generation.
“It's quite intimidating, because they've been on these stages that we idolize,” Siebert said. “They've been working with these people who are just huge names, and now … we’re one degree of separation away from the biggest productions that we've ever seen.”
Benn is one of the students debuting the role of Kavalier.
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” will play at the MAC on Nov. 15, 16, 21 and 22. (Courtesy of the Jacobs School of Music)
Kavalier hopes the Escapists’ success will help him free his family from Nazi control. Meanwhile, Clay grapples with his sexuality.
“The most rewarding part of this entire process is building a character from the ground up that's never been in live performance before, with all these people who, maybe even know the character better than I do,” Benn said.
Siebert plays socialite Rosa Saks. Saks works to rescue children from Europe during World War II, and is Kavalier's romantic interest.
“She's a very strong woman,” Siebert said. “She ends up in positions of power that weren't exactly normal for the time, but a very interesting character.”
The all-student cast likely won’t be as polished as professionals, but Cremo said they bring authenticity to their roles.
“The characters are going through the things that these students go through at that age,” Cremo said. “Working at their identity, who they are, who they want to be with romantically, what they want to do with their lives career-wise. How do they express themselves? How do they connect to or break away from their families?”
After the tryout, the Met Opera will open the show in September 2025. Cremo said the tryout allows the Met Opera to work out issues with the opera while giving students a new opportunity.
“This enables us to get a look at the piece,” Cremo said. “See what's working, what could be improved, experiencing it with an audience which can tell us a lot about the pacing and the length and how things are working. "
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
