I know you haven’t yet heard of an Academy Award winning Emmy Golden Globe winner opera singer but Rehanna Thelwell is just that. She truly captured the audience as Conchetta in Night Trip, a 20-minute African-American coming-of-age Opera by composer Carlos Simon and librettist Sandra Seaton. It tells the story of young Conchetta’s trip (played by Mezzo-Soprano Thelwell) from Chicago to the Deep South with her uncles (played by Baritone Joshua Conyers and Tenor Joshua Blue). On the trip South, Conchetta is confronted by American racism with Southern sensibility seemingly for the first time. The incident explicitly explores the racial and sexual violence faced by Black Women. As we watch the innocence disappear from her, we see her excitement transform from the joys of playing and eating in the Southern landscape to displaying the “steel” in her backbone necessary for her survival.
Thelwell matches the composers threading of various American genres by using her knowledge and vocal ability to seamlessly thread gospel, opera and jazz with excellent vocal technique.
Amanda Lynn Bottoms was captivating, funny, and real in the comedic opera “Admissions.” That voice was just out of this world. She performed as Mother in a dysfunctional family whose leaders (Mother and Father) bribed administrative leaders and testing proctors to force their children’s way into college. Mother, as many mothers, bears the weight of the decision (legally and familiarly) as she is the lead parent and mental manager of the household. Composer Michael Lanci and librettist Kim Davies capture the pain and emotion of the Mother as she faces her wrongdoings.
Bottoms’ dynamic energy and remarkable voice is what sells this role. Her excellent comic timing adds a special warmth and business-like characteristic to Mother.