Since 2010, UrbanArias has been producing operas that are anything but traditional. The company specializes in contemporary opera that, happily for people with short attention spans, must be under 90 minutes.
Emily Pulley, a soprano who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera and the Virginia Opera, stars in UrbanAria’s current production, She, After, at Artisphere’s Black Box Theater. A one-woman opera in two parts, Pulley plays both Nora from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland after their stories end in the play and book.
During a recent phone interview, Pulley called UrbanArias’ general director Robert Wood “an amazing person, wonderful musician” who tries to pick pieces that his audience will enjoy: “Some small doses of new, interesting opera.”
“It’s a really wonderful and essential opportunity for composers to get their new works heard by open-minded ears and sung by people who are at the top of their game artistically,” she continued.
Compared to some of the larger venues where Pulley has performed, the Artisphere’s 125-seat Black Box Theater is a rather intimate setting. Pulley said the nice thing about performing in such a space is that there’s a “real connection that happens automatically” with the audience. “The connection is still there in a big space,” she said. But “this is very direct.”
“It makes for a very close, personal experience,” she said. “You can really go in depth and explore details and you know that every word you’re saying is being understood.”
Pulley said she prepares in the same way for a performance on a small stage as a large one, but “when it comes down to the performances, I have to prepare myself for being really close to the audience. I have to be vulnerable and be open to the fact that they’re right in front of me.”
In the first half of the 60-minute She, After, Pulley plays Nora: “Basically, in my mind, she’s pleading her case with the audience – here’s why I did what I did.” In the second half, she’s Alice, though not the one you’re likely used to seeing: “We tried to include as many of the iconic ideas from the story that everyone knows. There’s the Mad Hatter’s hat, the hookah from the caterpillar. So there’s little references that gives everybody something to hang onto when they’re look at this very different Alice.”
And all of this falls on Pulley’s shoulders, as it’s just her and the orchestra. “I have always enjoyed relating to people on stage. Those are the best moments,” she said. “So having it be just me is a challenge.”
“The challenges make you better and I’ve learned a lot,” she added.
Although she’s alone on stage, Pulley said the closeness to the audience makes them part of the performance. “It’s amazing how much of a huge leap forward it takes when you’ve got a room full of people that you’re communicating this to,” she said. “It makes you a better performer, and it makes you have to think more clearly so you’re getting your point across. And I love that.”
“I really like having people that I can feel are with me and taking the journey with me,” Pulley added. “It’s my job to make sure they want to go there.”
She, After will be performed on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m., Saturday, November 16 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 17 at 2 p.m. at Artisphere’s Black Box Theater. General admission tickets cost $25, with a $2 discount available when the purchaser uses the code “2off.”
