Opera reboot finds inspiration in woman who fought for freedom dressed as a man

Boston Lyric Opera is known for adding twists to traditional repertoire. As the company was gearing up to contribute its voice to the 250th anniversary of America's independence, artistic director Nina Yoshida Nelsen had a revelation. She recalled thinking, "Maybe we could reimagine ‘Daughter of the Regiment’ to take place in the American Revolutionary War."

Gaetano Donizetti’s comedic opera “Daughter of the Regiment” is usually set during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. Its main character, Marie, was orphaned on a battlefield, then adopted by a French regiment.

While teasing out BLO’s new Boston-based reboot, Yoshida Nelsen learned about a bold, historical figure she’d never heard of — a soldier named Deborah Sampson.

“When you think about a woman who was fighting in the Revolutionary War dressed as a man — that’s pretty incredible, right?"

Deborah Sampson was born in Plympton, Massachusetts and disguised herself for 17 months so she could go to battle. With this rebel in mind, Yoshida Nelsen set out to imbue the fictional, French character Marie with Sampson’s colonial spirit. She knew just who to tap for the opera’s transformation — stage director, choreographer and co-librettist John de los Santos.

“I didn't know anything about Deborah Sampson either,” he admitted, “and I was really intrigued because this will be the third time I've directed ‘Daughter of the Regiment.’ Usually it's set in the Tyrolean Alps in Europe.”

De los Santos got to work adapting the opera's story to 1770s Boston. He described the romantic comedy’s plot as “My Fair Lady” meets “Tarzan.”

“You've got this baby left in the woods,” he said, “and she's found by soldiers, and then she's taken back to her stately, ancestral home and they try to turn her into a lady.”

The BLO’s Marie wears trousers, a tricorn hat and totes a musket. Her comrades, a rag-tag posse of farmers and tradesmen, love her like surrogate fathers. In Act One, Marie reads a poem from a book that speaks to her convictions.

"Enthron'd in the realms of light, Columbia's scenes of glorious toils I write,” Marie shares with her main father figure, Colonel Sulpice. Then she credits its author, “Miss Phillis Wheatley, never a truer patriot — and a girl to boot.”

It was Boston area playwright Kirsten Greenidge’s idea to highlight Phillis Wheatley, who was enslaved as a child and became the first African American to publish a book of poetry. As de los Santos’ co-librettist, Greenidge was charged with writing new English dialogue that bridges the opera’s songs. She said she wanted BLO’s reimagined Marie to be engaged with colonial-era thinking and culture. “She is very excited by who’s thinking of all these things,” Greenidge said of the character’s fascination with Wheatley.

Greenidge also drew inspiration from Revolution-era political cartoons and sprinkled in funny bits about British troops occupying Boston and the King’s taxes on tea and sugar. She dove deep into in the era's history, but already knew about Deborah Sampson because she learned about her in college.

“She stuck with me,” Greenidge said. “And when I was approached to work on this, I was immediately like, ‘Yes, I know who that is!”

Greenidge said the original opera’s Marie is a spunky, lovestruck canteen girl who serves the troops food and drink. While BLO’s Deborah Sampson-like character is also smitten, she’s as brave and invested in fighting tyranny as her adoptive family of militiamen.

“She's seen as an equal amongst them,” de los Santos said. “We also use her voice as a source of her power, because she rallies the men together with her singing. They’re basically her backing group.”

Marie’s first big solo is called "Chacun le sait" in French. “It’s where she sings about how great it is to be a part of the regiment. How we’re unbeatable — and as a family, as a unit, nothing can stop us,” de los Santos said.

De los Santos also explained how “Daughter of the Regiment” is something of a grandfather to modern musicals, with catchy melodies and insanely difficult singing.

“The notes are just flying out a mile a minute, so you have to have really strong opera singers," he said. “But we've strived to have triple threats who can dance and act and do comedy, along with everything else.”

Soprano Brenda Rae jumped at the chance to portray the character of Marie for the first time. “Opera divas aren't always supposed to be goofy,” she joked, “but I'm a real goofy person, so I am so excited to show that side of myself on stage.”

Rae loves Donizetti’s classic "bel canto" opera and relates to the BLO’s remake.

“Why wouldn't women wanna go out and fight for something that they believe in?” she asked. “And during that time, of course, they'd have to hide who they were. I’m sure there are a lot more instances of that in history that we don't even know about.”

Rae thinks this revolutionized opera will resonate for America’s 250th, but said fans of the original won’t be disappointed. De los Santos agreed because it’s still packed with gorgeous costumes, music and virtuosic singing — along with a lot of laughs.

“We can't get all of our humor from the news,” he joked. “So it's good to get it from the opera house, too.”

“Daughter of the Regiment” is at the Emerson Colonial Theater through May 3.