Nicolas put on a concert of his compositions over the last decade or so. The headliner was a complete sing-through of our opera, “Take Care of Him,” with Nic himself pulling off a Herculean effort on piano. Mezzo-soprano Susana Poretsky sang the role of Yadira with some serious gravitas.
Is “Take Care of Him” scary? I think so? But it’s hard for me to tell, I’ve been so close to the text for so long. Also, I don’t have a deep background in the genre. We weren’t allowed to watch horror movies when I was a kid. I didn’t see the Exorcist until I was twenty-something. So I’m never sure how well this libretto stands up against the standards people expect from a horror movie.
Last night’s audience certainly felt the tension. The more I think about it, the more I prefer the feeling of menace and creeping dread (like in Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommar) much more than the easy surprise-scares or the gore of a monster movie. And like Aster’s movies, TCoH deals with the post-traumatic stress of the nuclear family — or in this case, the people we pay to replace our family.
If creeping dread is the measure, then yeah I think “Take Care of Him” does succeed.
The best part was sitting next to my husband and watching him recognize all the many in-jokes that he and I share, which I sprinkled generously throughout.
Of course I heard a dozen phrases that embarrassed me, and I can’t wait to rewrite them. Fortunately the score isn’t set in concrete yet, so I still have time to iron out the words that hurt my ears.