LITTLE ROCK — If the word “opera” only calls to mind fat ladies belting out foreign words in high-pitched notes while stuffy rich people in fine attire watch through funny glasses, most likely in Europe, then the next couple months may change your mind.
Circle the date Nov. 19. It's a Friday. It will be the public's first chance to see staging of scenes from Billy Blythe, an opera about the early life of former President Bill Clinton. That's right, an opera. About Bill Clinton.
The production is a collaboration between Arkansas native and Little Rock resident Bonnie Montgomery, and former college classmate Britt Barber, who now lives in Atlanta. It's a one-act short work about a day in the life of teenage Clinton, who then went by Blythe, the surname of his biological father, who died before he was born. The story is based on real events recounted in Clinton’s 2004 autobiography My Life and that of his mother Virginia Clinton Kelley in her book, Leading With My Heart.
“There's a scene in [My Life] where he goes into detail about watching his mother put on makeup” as a child, said Montgomery. “When I read it, in my mind's eye I could just see it on the operatic stage. ... I've gotten a few operatic ideas in my life, but this is the first one I really went with.”
And thus began what would become a four-year project, with music composed by Montgomery, a formally trained vocalist with degrees in music education and performance, and the words — or libretto, in opera lingo — written by Barber, a poet.
While “every bit of what happens in the opera is based on Clinton’s life,” the work condenses several events in his childhood into a single day and presents a story that is, at its core, a portrait of Arkansas, a piece of its culture and a tale that influenced an ordinary kid who grew up to be a global household name.
“It's not about any scandal,” said Montgomery. “It's about his youth ... an uplifting story about a universal character, the average man having a dream.”
And no, it's not in Italian. It's in English. And it's very Arkansan, said Montgomery, who described the music drawing from a rich Arkansas tradition, with ragtime and jazz, “with a lot of swing to it.”
Though able to be orchestrated for a variety of instruments, the music was written for voice and piano — not always an easy task when Billy's part is baritone and all Montgomery could do to mull it over was sing to herself. Also, living in Nashville, Tenn., before moving back to Arkansas last year, she didn't always have the room for a piano in her apartment.
But, believe it or not, when things looked grim for the project — a part-time thing at best, since it was gigs, lessons and odd jobs that paid the bills — Montgomery said she got her inspiration from the works of Clinton and his mother, whom she said is as much a protagonist in her opera as the title character is.
And while looking forward to two months is both “exciting and terrifying” as parts of the work are shared publicly both though the Nov. 19 workshop performance and an airing of an aria on AETN Presents: On the Front Row, Montgomery acknowledges that opera may be a hard sell.
“With [a reputation for being in a foreign language] and having to sit so long your ass gets uncomfortable and the stodginess and getting all dressed up, I realize it's got a pretty bad stack against it,” she said.
But it is with words like “sexy” and “relevant” and “hip” that she talks about what she deems to be “the grandest and highest art form to express yourself with.” She envisions everything from small venue rural shows, to young, contemporary opera groups performing the piece (there are discussion with groups in New York and Chicago). The idea, in part, is to open up opera to audiences that might not give it a second thought — as she, herself, wouldn't have as a kid.
“Living in Searcy, I really didn't know what opera was until I was about 11,” she said. “I just knew I wanted to be a musician.”
In that same nontraditional vein, she's even thought about trying to premier Billy at Little Rock's own White Water Tavern, a plan that isn't entirely abandoned yet.
“With the feel of White Water ... I just had this vision of seeing it on stage there, and I can't believe it probably could come to fruition,” Montgomery said. “Who else has ever written an opera and debuted it at a dive bar by the railroad tracks?”
Of course, “if it's picked by someone else and a huge orchestra is ready to go, hell yes I'll orchestrate it,” she said. “If the Metropolitan Opera wants it, we'll definitely accommodate.”
For the time being, though, the November staging, which Montgomery said will feature “world-class talent,” is set for the Women's City Club in downtown Little Rock on Scott Street. It will be at 8 p.m. and open to the public, but information on ticket pricing and sales is still in the works.
No word on Clinton’s attendance, but Montgomery did say the former president is aware of the project. Indeed, she told him about it herself. While in Little Rock shortly before moving here last year, she happened to see him walking around downtown. He veered into the Capital Hotel, and after a few deep breaths, she followed.
“He was just standing there in the lobby, so I went up to him and told him all about it. I said it all really fast, but he listened and asked a few questions. I said I just wanted to have his support for the project,” Montgomery recalled. “My one big regret is I didn't ask him if I could buy him a drink.”
Maybe after the show.