It is challenging enough to create a western film from a screenplay and Riders of the Purple Sage, adopted from Zane Grey’s bestselling novel, has certainly been made into successful movies. Yet no one has ever attempted to create a western opera. How could one capture the starkly beautiful landscapes of the Arizona/Utah border with its red rises, hidden canyons, cliff dwellings, and sage countryside? In this riveting documentary, composer Craig Bohmler and director Fenlon Lamb do just that, and the results on opening night in Phoenix, Arizona are beyond Bohmler’s expectations.
After visiting the historic site of the Zane Grey Museum in Arizona and reading Riders of the Purple Sage, Craig Bohmler discovers Grey’s book contains all the story and character elements looked for in a great opera. He decides to compose his own opera and collaborates with librettist Steven Mark Kohn to convert words to song. After listening to a musical reading of the opera, Arizona Opera agrees to produce it. Fenlon Lamb becomes the director and celebrated painter Ed Mell agrees to be the scenic designer.
Filmed over several years, director Kristin Atwell Ford provides an excellent portrayal of the making of an opera. Overhead photos show the magnificence of the landscapes and the challenges for scenic design. Historic sites provide background, such as the Zane Grey Museum, Pipe Spring National Monument with Winsor Castle, and the vast sage countryside. Movie clips showing horse riders and cattle indicate differences that will have to occur for a stage production.
Once Arizona Opera agrees to produce the show, auditions are held in New York City, and a few of the final cast members are shown auditioning. Ed Mell paints large backdrops and works with the technical crew who create very tall mountains and trees. The technical design creates a magnificent video wall to display Mell’s colorful backgrounds. Using historic information, the costume designer creates an authentic-looking wardrobe for the cast. Lighting makes final adjustments and the Arizona Symphony prepares for the performance.
Riders of the Purple Sage is a western romance with two love stories. Jane Withersteen inherits a large ranch with grazing land, cattle, and horses. Though a faithful Mormon, Jane shows kindness toward the Gentiles living nearby and even hires non-Mormon men to work on her ranch. The Mormon Bishop would like her to marry Elder Tull and opposes Jane’s hiring of Gentiles. When Jane refuses to marry Elder Tull, he determines to punish Jane by whipping her head rider, Bern Venters, but a gunman known as Lassiter arrives in time to stop the violence. Venters leaves and later meets his new love, Bess. Lassiter asks Jane to show him his sister’s grave; he plans to avenge Millie Erne’s death by finding the man responsible.
The highly recommended Riders of the Purple Sage has a talented cast, wonderful music, and imaginative sets. Atwell Ford takes the audience on a fascinating journey behind the scenes of a truly sparkling production. It is crucial viewing for performing arts students and aficionados. Aud: H, C, P.
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