Sarah and Ernest Butler Opera Center

"Feathertop" is one of Hawthorne's more whimsical tales, it is, nevertheless larded with wry observations about both the act of artistic creation and the shallow values of those who occupy the top rungs of society.The story opens with Old Mother Rigby, a cheerful witch, deciding to devise a scarecrow to keep the birds away from her newly sprouted corn. But, as she works, she conceives that her construction of sticks and old clothes and a pumpkin head is too fine for employment as a mere scarecrow and determines to bring him to life and send him to town as a gentlemen, there to woo the pretty Polly Gookin, daughter of a powerful public figure in the community who is, in some way the story does not disclose, an enemy of Mother Rigby's.Literally inspired by smoke from an old magical pipe, Feathertop, for that is the name Mother Rigby gives to her creation, soon comes to life and learns to walk and speak with sufficient social skill so that his sojourn into town and into the presence of Polly Gookin is marked by the promise of success. The townsfolk are mightily impressed with Feathertop's appearance and gait. Polly's father, while sensing something amiss, remains too obtuse or fearful to save Polly from the romantic attentions of a literal stuffed shirt. Only a child and a dog see Feathertop for what he truly is, but, of course, the dazzled populace ignores these accurate observations. The story reaches a climax when both Polly and Feathertop catch a glimpse of themselves in a mirror, a glimpse which reveals to both of them Feathertop's true nature. Polly faints away at the sight. Feathertop is horrified and comes home, a broken pile of sticks, and falls at his creator's feet, explaining that he has come to see who he truly is and cannot bear it, an observation that ironically gives Feathertop more humanity than many who carry only metaphorical pumpkin heads on their shoulders. Mother Rigby considers rejuvenating him, but decides that he's too decent for that and, in the end, determines that an existence as a scarecrow is most fitting. The artist in this tale is, of course, the isolated witch, Old Mother Rigby, and that fact alone points to the ambiguity with which Hawthorne viewed the artist. As a person who holds an almost magical power to inspirit the merely material, the artist has a great gift, but that gift carries a taint of the demonic, as this story repeatedly suggests. It may be that the artists, like the intellectuals in many of Hawthorne's stories, trespass or seem to trespass in areas rightfully reserved to God, the sacred territory of creation. If so, artist and intellectual both risk the dark pride that so damages some of his more flamboyant villains. In "Feathertop," however, Hawthorne's tone is so light and his artist such a good natured crone, that the notion of spiritual danger lies largely in the background. Whether the story is, in addition and in part, a small vengeance on the philistine views represented by characters like old Peter Hovenden of "The Artist of the Beautiful," is debatable. If it is, it is further evidence of the gulf Hawthorne himself might have felt between himself and those around him whose lives were filled with mere "getting and spending." What is certain is that Hawthorne's amusing story aims to expose the hollowness of people whose heads are filled only with social convention and, because of that, is as applicable today as it was in the mid nineteenth century.

Cast
Alta Boover as Mother Rigby
Yoon Sang Lee as Feathertop
Drake Dantzler as Justice Goodkin
Deanna Waldon as Polly Goodkin
Daymon Passmore as Governor
Keely Rhodes as Lady Governor
Shelton Alexander as Man 1
Ben Bear as Man 2
Steven Long as Man 3
Juliann Albaugh as Woman 1
Nicole Taylor as Woman 2
Holly Schwartz as Woman 3

Director
Robert DeSimone

Conductor
Joseph Turrin

Scenic Design
Christopher McCollum

Light Design
Katherine Eader

Costume Design
Michaele Hite

Composer Biography

Joseph Turrin is a greatly valued contributor to contemporary American musical life thanks to his wide-ranging activities as a composer, orchestrator, conductor, pianist, and teacher.He studied composition at the Eastman School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and has pursued a career that has always been multifaceted. As a composer, he has produced works in many genres. Among the many commissioned works in his catalogue, highlights include Hemispheres commissioned for Kurt Masur's final concert with the New York Philharmonic in May 2002 and taken on tour by Masur and the orchestra to Europe and Asia in June 2002, his concertos for flute (commissioned for Carol Wincence and the New Jersey Symphony) and for trumpet (the latter commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for Philip Smith, its principal trumpet, and conducted at its 1989 premiere by Erich Leinsdorf), the chamber works Riffs and Fanfares (The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center), Arcade (New Jersey Chamber Music Society), Quadrille (West Point Military Academy), Chronicles (twelve American Universities for Philip Smith), Modinha (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) and numerous other commissions. The New York Philharmonic, both as an ensemble and through several of its individual members, has cultivated a longstanding relationship with Turrin. In addition to the new Hemispheres, the Trumpet Concerto (which Kurt Masur has also led with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig), the Philharmonic-commissioned Two Gershwin Portraits (which Mr. Masur and the Orchestra premiered at the "New York 100 Celebration Concert" in Central Park in 1998, with trumpet soloists Wynton Marsalis and Philip Smith), Turrin has composed several pieces for the Orchestra's brass section, including Jazzalogue No. 1 (featured on the Orchestra's 1997 Latin American tour) and West Side Story Suite (commissioned and premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2000 by the Philharmonic's brass section). In addition, he has composed numerous solo and chamber works to spotlight the talents of several Philharmonic musicians. Most recently his Trombone Concerto Illuminations was recorded by Joseph Alessi for Summit Records. His Fandango was performed on "Live From Lincoln Center" in July, 2002 by Kurt Masur and the NY Philharmonic and hosted by Beverly Sills. What the NY Times said about his work Hemispheres: " Mr. Turrin's music is nervous, loud, swift and aggressive to the point of violence. It is also beautifully made, negotiating its constant changes of speed and pulse with grace. Mr. Turrin's music is young: no past, only future. "Active as a composer, and conductor for film and theatre, Turrin lists among his many credits the scores for Alan Alda's film A New Life, Little Darlings, Weeds (with Nick Nolte), Tough Guys Don't Dance (Directed by Norman Mailer), Verna-USO Girl (with Sissy Spacek and William Hurt and nominated for 3 Emmy Awards), Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Kingdom of Shadows (narrated by Rod Steiger), Broken Blossoms (1919 silent film classic directed by D.W. Griffith, starring Lillian Gish) and for the restoration of the silent film classic Sadie Thompson. Other silent film classics that he has scored include, Diary of a Lost Girl, Intolerance and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. His work in musical theater includes performances on Broadway with Michael Feinstein as well as the score for Frankie, with a libretto by Broadway legend George Abbott. Other theater works by Turrin include the opera Feathertop, Love Games and The Barricade. He also did the orchestrations for the 1992 Olympic Fanfare for the summer Olympic ceremonies in Barcelona, Spain Turrin has appeared as a conductor with the Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New Orleans, Detroit, and New Jersey Symphonies; he has performed as a pianist on many recordings and as orchestral pianist for the New Jersey Symphony. He has received awards and grants from the United Nations (for contributions in the arts), ASCAP, American Music Center, first prize in the 2004 National Band Association's William Revelli Composition Contest, and five Fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, in addition to the Ann M. Alburger Award for Chamber Music. In 2005 he was awarded an honorary Bachelor of Music degree from the prestigious Eastman School of Music. His works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, St. Martin-in-the-Fields Academy Orchestra. Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Baltimore Symphony, Gewandhausorchester (Leipzig, Germany), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, English Chamber Orchestra, Little Orchestra Society of New York, Wynton Marsalis, Philip Smith, Joseph Alessi, Lew Soloff, Carol Wincenc, Hugh Wolff, Kurt Masur, Erich Leinsdorf, Ramon Vargas, Evelyn Glennie. Susannah McCorkle, US Army Band, US Army Brass Quintet, Atlantic Brass Quintet, New Jersey Chamber Music Society, West Point Military Academy Band, US Marine Band, Eastman Winf Ensemble, University of North Texas Wind Symphony and many others. His publishers include: Theodore Presser, Boosey & Hawkes, Curnow Music, BIM Editions, Kjos Publications, Rosehill Music, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers Music, C. Alan Publications and others. His works are recorded on the Teldec, RCA, EMI, Cala, Summit, Albany, Klavier, and Curnow labels. Kurt Masur said about Mr. Turrin's music: "I have always liked composers who are reflecting upon the musical sound of their country. Joseph Turrin does it in a very convincing way. I have taken great delight from getting to know his scores, which I have conducted in New York, in Europe, and in Asia."

by Joseph Turrin