For as long as Highlands East teenager Veronica Beynon can remember she’s always dreamed of writing and producing movies, TV shows and stage plays – now her fantasy is set to become reality thanks to Highlands Opera Community School.
The Hal High victory lapper was recently announced as one of five storytellers for the studio’s upcoming Let’s Make an Opera production. The year-long pilot project is being overseen by Valerie Kuinka, lead at Highlands Opera Studio, and three other mentors – Lauren Margison, Danika Loren, and Michael Murphy.
The goal is to create a professional play based on stories, historical happenings and life experiences in Haliburton County. Fellow County residents Marci Mandel, Meghan Mardus, Jack Simpson and Janet Trull will also have stories featured for the opera, which will premiere later this year. The project is supported through a $97,400 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF).
Beynon’s was one of the last of 14 submissions received, with the student telling The Highlander she quickly put a proposal together after learning about the project through Melissa Stephens, a retired teacher and conductor with Highlands Festival Singers.
“It was actually a week before the final due date – I went into researching some old newspaper clippings from a long time ago to find some fun historical facts I could try to build an opera around,” Beynon said.
She read up on the County’s rich history of logging and found accounts of land disputes between original settlers in Haliburton and those who arrived following the completion of the Victoria Railway in 1878.
After stumbling upon the works of Ontario author Larry D. Cotton, renowned for his Whiskey and Wickedness series that spans 30 books, she settled on a comedic scene involving two men arguing in a fictional County-based bar. Her story is a simple one, involving one other character, a bartender.
“One of the funny recurring themes through all my research was about these almost like duels going on in the bars. Because people were intoxicated, they were forced to take the bullets out of their guns before being served. So I thought it would be really fun to play with the idea of a shootout almost happening in a bar, only for all the suspense and build-up to lead to nothing,” Beynon said, noting it will feature callbacks to key historical moments.
She’s collaborating on the piece with Bill Gliddon, a man almost 70 years her elder. An organist at St. George’s Anglican Church for 63 years and retired music teacher, Gliddon said he jumped at the opportunity to assist Beynon by composing music for her story.
The pair met for the first time in late March to go over ideas. Gliddon said they connected instantly.
“I liked her story, I thought it was funny. Then I thought to myself how refreshing it would be working with someone so young, the intergenerational creativity we could each bring to the project,” said Gliddon, who also submitted a story but wasn’t selected.
Following that first meeting, he provided Beynon with seven musical numbers she could take away to style her words for. A week later, she sent back almost a complete libretto – essentially the manuscript for an opera. That inspired Gliddon, who spent much of April 11 perfecting his composition.
While far from finished, he’s likened the piece to an old-school Gilbert and Sullivan production. That was a nice callback for the former Hal High music teacher and Glee club figurehead, who produced student-led plays from the Victorian-era duo annually through the 70s and 80s.
While Beynon will take a behind-the-scenes role during the final production, Gliddon admits he feels a calling to tickle the ivories. He’ll also assist with final planning.
Next steps
Kuinka said the community is abuzz following the story announcement, with the next phase going to be finding performers. There are workshops scheduled May 16 and Aug. 9, though she encourages anyone interested in playing a role to reach out.
Originally, the opera was to feature three or four local stories, but Kuinka said the judges had a hard enough time whittling things down to five.
“We’ve really hit the ground running now – our selected writers have all been matched with mentors to assist. Some require help with the music, but others are already working themselves to figure out how to best bring their pieces to life,” Kuinka said, noting Mandel and Mardus will also perform in their renditions.
“We have stories that are hilarious, stories that are deeply moving and are tear-jerkers, and stories of human growth, of experience overcoming hardship,” she added.
Kuinka is hoping all stories will be wrapped by Aug. 9, giving performers at least three months to perfect their act.
The final performance will be held in November of December, likely at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion.
HoS is looking to fill a variety of behind-the-scenes roles, as well as on-stage, with anyone interested asked to contact Kuinka at valerie@highlandsoperastudio.com.
