Madison influence adds to ‘Our Town’ universal themes | Entertainment

“Our Town,” written by Thornton Wilder in 1938, has been called the greatest American play ever written. The Pulitzer Prize-winning work is known worldwide, with frequent revivals generating new fans across generations.

But few know that “Our Town,” at least in part, is our town: Madison.

Although the story is set on the East Coast, Thornton Wilder’s nephew, Tappan Wilder, said Wilder’s early life in Madison inspired parts of “Our Town.”

“He meant for ‘Our Town’ to be about everywhere,” said Tappan Wilder. “It’s set in a small town, and it explodes into a universal statement about life, but it’s influenced by his experience.”

The story follows two families over the course of 12 years in the early 1900s and is set in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. It follows the characters through several stages of life: birth, life, courtship, marriage and death.

“Our Town” was adapted as an opera by composer Ned Rorem and librettist J.D. McClatchy in 2005. It premiered at Indiana University Opera and Ballet Theater in 2006.

The operatic production is coming to University Opera on March 20 for a four-day run in Music Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Wilder was born in 1897 in Madison, where his father, Amos Parker Wilder, was editor and part owner of the Wisconsin State Journal before his work as a diplomat took the family to China and Hong Kong.

Tappan Wilder, 86, was his uncle’s literary executor for 25 years and currently runs the Wilder estate. Tappan Wilder has a personal connection to Madison as well, having received a master’s in American history from UW-Madison. He said the play’s storyline is supposed to be universal but that Wilder took inspiration from Madison, back when the city was less urban than it is today.

University Opera’s entire cast and some of the crew are students in the UW’s University Opera course, said associate professor David Ronis, who teaches the course and produces the opera’s shows. Each year University Opera presents two full opera features, with smaller performances throughout the year.

The production designer for “Our Town” is Em Allen. Costumes were designed by Kenneth Hoversten and lighting is by Matt Albrecht. Although students are not involved as designers, some of the designers have students working under them on the production.

Although he knew Wilder’s family had Madison roots, Ronis was surprised when he got a call from a member of the Wilder clan.

“Tappan called the School of Music. He told the administrative staff that he was thrilled we were doing this and that he’d like to know more,” he said. “We knew of the Madison connection, but Tappan reached out and wanted to express his delight, be connected to the production and to send some of his people to see it. That was really wonderful.”

During his life, Wilder resisted attempts to adapt “Our Town” as an opera. But as literary executor of his estate, Tappan Wilder decided to work with Rorem and McClatchy to create the opera.

“The one thing my uncle never did was tie the hands of the future,” Tappan Wilder said. “He didn’t say, ‘Even after I go, right, yeah, I never want ‘Our Town’ to be turned into an opera.’ He never was that kind of person.”

Tappan Wilder added that Thornton Wilder himself wrote the librettos for two operas: “The Long Christmas Dinner” and “The Alcestiad,” both based on two of his own plays.

“The central theme of the show is that we don’t fully experience our lives while we’re living them, and the dead only understand this in retrospect after they’re dead,” Tappan Wilder said.

There has been a huge surge in opera writing in the last 25 years, and “Our Town” is an example of that, Ronis said. One recent opera, “Everlasting Faint,” created by composer Scott Gendel and librettist Sandra Flores, had its world premiere at Madison Opera last year. It’s common for newer operas to be developed and workshopped by university operas, he said.

“When composers are writing operas, universities are often involved, because we have the means to develop operas and workshop them and sometimes present first performances,” Ronis said. “Frequently composers will start out with university productions, and that’s what happened with ‘Our Town,’ and of course there have been professional opera productions of ‘Our Town’ since.”

The cast size and the vocal arrangements present good educational opportunities for students at all levels of their training, Ronis said.

“The fact that the central characters are young people works well,” he said. “The musical writing works well for young singers. It’s not a huge cast, but it’s a nice size.”

Ronis added that during a run-through of the show, students in the cast connected deeply with the story.

“The students were very emotionally involved and moved, and they get a lot out of telling a story like this,” he said.

Tappan Wilder said that although he is unable to see the opera himself, he is sending members of the Wilder team to Madison in his place, including his daughter, Jenney.

The March 22 performance of “Our Town” will be preceded by a free panel discussion moderated by Ronis. Joining the panel of UW theater and orchestra experts will be Chip Kidd, who is the widower of “Our Town” librettist J.D. McClatchy and is considered to be one of the most influential book cover designers of all time.

“Our Town” runs March 20, 21, 22 and 24 and will be University Opera’s last performance in Music Hall. Next fall, the class will run productions in Shannon Hall. The old Music Hall is being renovated as the new home for the La Follette School of Public Affairs.