About five years ago, after multiple viewings of a documentary on the hit Broadway musical “Rent,” loosely based on Puccini’s iconic opera “La Bohème,” noted baritone Will Liverman had an idea. Why not update “The Barber of Seville”, another celebrated historical opera, and set it in a contemporary black barbershop?
“The Factotum,” the resulting work, which Liverman created with producer/DJ/multi-instrumentalist DJ King Rico, opens at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance on February 3, the first of two world premieres this season presented by Lyric Opera. from Chicago
“People know the experiences in the hair salon and have lived through them,” said Liverman, whose baritone is a familiar presence on the Lyric stage, “and so we wanted to create something that was accessible in that way and was a story that we had a perspective on. upon.”
The opera is among the first with an all-black and BIPOC cast and creative team, and is the first to incorporate a DJ on stage as part of its innovative 18-piece orchestration, which includes electronic keyboards and electric bass and guitar.
“I think this is an innovative and unique company,” said Anthony Freud, Lyric’s president, CEO and CEO, “and I think it has characteristics that make it really radical in its approach, in its conception.”
Director Rajendra Ramoon rehearses a scene with the cast of “The Factorum” at Lyric Opera.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
New works can sometimes be a hard sell for opera companies, but all five performances of this work are nearly sold out, according to Freud.
“It talks about what people want in the world of opera,” said Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, co-author, playwright and director. “We have seized a way to make opera important, urgent, entertaining and exciting for people who love opera and for those who have never experienced it.”
Liverman, who grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and now lives in Chicago, has always been interested in composition and captivated by the theater. Although she was initially hesitant to plunge into the operatic conception, the singer brought the idea of a revamped “Barber of Seville” to Rico, a childhood friend of hers. They both discovered opera through a program in Virginia known as the Governor’s School for the Arts that ran parallel to their traditional high school curriculum.
“The Factotum” co-creator DJ King Rico is photographed during a rehearsal for “The Factotum” at Lyric Opera.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Rico didn’t need much convincing to sign.
“Making space to tell our stories is always something that appeals to me,” he said, “and by using the art form of opera, there are so many intricacies that you can draw from: the costumes, the lighting, the design, and obviously the music. ”.
About a year after conceiving and working on this project, Liverman mentioned it to Freud, and the opera boss was immediately intrigued. Discussions continued and Lyric sponsored a workshop in December 2020 that convinced the company to commission the new work and provide additional support.
Due to the intimacy of the work and what Freud and the creative team saw as the need for a close connection between performers and audiences, the opera will be performed in the 1,525-seat Harris Theater rather than the 3,276-seat Lyric Opera House. seating. , the company’s base of operations.
Neighborhood barbershops play an important role in African-American culture, and “The Factotum” revolves around Mike (Liverman) and Garby (Norman Garrett), co-owners of Master Kutz on Chicago’s South Side. The two are at odds over an illegal numbers game Garby is operating after hours, a manhunt that ends up causing his niece, Cece (Nissi Shalome), to have a run-in with the police.
The word “factotum” denotes a person with multiple duties or activities, a kind of jack of all trades, and that describes Mike, who is a focal point of the local community. It is an updated extension of Figaro, who is at the heart of “The Barber of Seville.”
A number of other characters that make up the local black community—employees, customers, friends, and romantic interests—appear and depart in the story, which features 12 main cast members.
Norman Garrett as Garby (left) and Cecilia Violetta Lopez as Rose rehearse a scene from “The Factotum.”
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
The creators have called “The Factotum” a “soul opera,” but its influences go far beyond soul music, encompassing gospel, rap, hip-hop, and R&B.
“It’s a melting pot of all the genres that I know and love and grew up with,” Liverman said, “and that Rico knows and loves and grew up with.”
Since Liverman and Rico are big fans of groups like Boyz II Men, they wanted a barbershop quartet to serve as the musical center of this opera and a kind of Greek chorus to drive the plot forward.
“I would say the barbershop foursome is the glue that holds it together and holds it together,” Liverman said.
