The Iowa premiere of Fierce marks a major moment in Hancher’s current season. Students from the School of Music, the Department of Dance and Department of Theatre Arts are coming together to produce this empowering new opera that celebrates young women.
Fierce is a 21st-century opera that follows four teenage girls—Vesta, Nyomi, Morgan, and Rumer—on their journey toward identity and purpose as they write their college essays in a high school writers’ workshop. The young women face an array of concerns including popularity, social media, parental expectations, self-determination, and personal loss. But these girls are fierce! They are determined, tenacious, and strong. Together they find community, self-empowerment, and the confidence to embrace the next chapter of their life.
“I love the story,” says Meenakshi Chinmai, a second-year Theatre Arts MFA candidate in stage management and international student from India who is the assistant stage manager for Fierce. “It’s great to work so closely with four young women who are close to my age, on a story that is so relatable and fun.”
Fierce was originally commissioned for Cincinnati Opera. Dr. William Menefield, a composer, musician, and UI assistant professor of Jazz Studies in the School of Music, wrote the music for the opera in collaboration with acclaimed author and librettist Sheila Williams. Menefield will be leading the creative team for the Hancher premiere as the production’s director.
“There’s a real balance between being a director and a teacher,” Menefield explains. “There are moments when, as director, I am looking for something specific to happen on stage, either musically or with character development. But they also came to the university to learn.”
“Something I’ve enjoyed about working with Dr. Menefield and the production team is that they’ve fostered an environment of growth,” says Maddy Yankell, a grad student in Music Education from Morestown, NJ, who plays the role of Vesta in Fierce. “We’ll often stop to discuss acting methods or vocal technique, which is so important because, at the end of the day, we’re a learning community.”
The music in Fierce comes from a variety of influences including blues, Afro-Cuban & Latin rhythms, dynamic orchestral sounds and much more. “I think Dr. Menefield called it a genre salad,” explains Brie Bevans, a fifth-year undergraduate in music education who is playing the role of Morgan.
“The opera is a fusion of every genre of singing I’ve studied,” Bevans describes the intricacies of performing Menefield’s intricate composition. “For a long time, I felt like I had two modes of voice—my opera voice and my jazzy chest voice. I’ve really had to learn how to merge them for this performance. There are moments where we are singing these pop-like melodies but we’re performing them in operatic registers.”
In addition to a range of talented student singers and musicians, Fierce also features four dancers —Fabiola Casteneda-Santiago (BA student in Biology), Chloe Schwab (BA in Theatre Arts), Joslyn Sheley (BA in Psychology, Political Science, Pre-Law), and Trinity Woody (MA in Dance Pedagogy and Instruction, Pre-Business)—and a student choreographer, Cami Rezabek.
“I’ve felt really respected in the process,” says Rezabek, a fourth-year BFA candidate in the Department of Dance. “I think it really helps that Dr. Menefield is both composer and director. Not only can I hear the feeling and intention in the music itself, but he’s also there to provide me with feedback. He’s always treated me like a professional, so he’ll tell me if something’s not working and, on the other hand, he’s not afraid to show enthusiasm when the choreography comes together.”
Rezabek stepped in as choreographer in early January and has similarly faced the challenge of working with a mix of different genres. “I had to do a lot of research,” she explains the process. “For example, Nyomi’s scene references house, salsa, and a few other Latin styles. I haven’t done a lot of salsa, so I really had put in the work because we want to show something authentic.”
Fierce spans the entire oeuvre of Performing Arts At Iowa, offering beautifully choreographed dance numbers, amazing musical performances, and heartfelt acting and storytelling.
“One thing I’ve enjoyed about this is that it’s very much theatre,” Chinmai explains. “Sometimes opera can feel more like a recital, where the focus is on the singing. But Fierce is theatre. There is an emphasis put on acting as well as singing—and I really like Dr. Menefield’s approach.”
The cast and crew of Fierce has become very close, and they describe the energy in rehearsals as positive and energizing.
“We laugh a lot, we make up dances, we just have fun,” Yankell describes the environment. “Working on an opera can be stressful, especially when you also have classes and schoolwork. So, to come to rehearsal and know I’m going to laugh is a really refreshing experience.”
“It feels really special,” explains Chinmai, “getting to build relationships with people in dance and music. I feel like it’s not every day that we’re all brought together like this and that we all get to put this production on at Hancher.”
The Iowa premiere of Fierce—a collaborative tour-de-force—is coming to Hancher’s Hadley Stage April 26-27. Tickets are available at hancher.uiowa.edu.
“I cannot wait for people to come and see our show,” Bevans says. “It’s hilarious, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s real. It really doesn’t matter who you are or how old you are. I just think people will really relate to the message of this show.”