Honoring the memory of Dallas Duell

The Seattle Opera community is grieving and honoring the memory of Dallas Duell (1952–2020), our former Assistant Stage Carpenter, who passed away this September. Dallas retired from Seattle Opera after 31 years with the company last year. A treasured member of our community, Dallas was the creator of magic flutes, dragon tails, sacrificial goats, and fine-tuner of the mechanical Lohengrin swan. For years, he built and created scenery for Seattle Opera, and kept everyone safe on the stage. 

“We Love the Things We Love for What They Are.” 

—Robert Frost

Dallas James Duell, loving husband and father, passed away on September 18, 2020 in Harwich Port, Massachusetts after a brief and brutal encounter with stage 4 lung cancer. In hospice care, he was surrounded by extended family. His wife Christine Johnson-Duell and daughter Abigail Duell were with him when he passed.

Opera production during the pandemic

During non-pandemic times, Doug Provost manages carpentry, sound, lighting, projections, hair & makeup, the costume shop, and more at Seattle Opera. As Director of Production, he supervises the creation of new shows, and productions that we create with other companies. COVID-19 shutdowns have forced the opera industry to adapt in order to survive, and Provost has risen to the challenge with gusto. We sat down with Doug—masked, and from more than 6 feet away, of course!—to learn more about how his role at Seattle Opera has changed in the last six months.  

Since COVID-19 shutdowns hit in March, what have been the biggest changes for you? What are the challenges and what have been the opportunities? 
My primary role as the Director of Production is still the same. Unfortunately, with cancelled performances and the reduction in our core staff, the remaining team and I have taken on additional roles and responsibilities left behind from our furloughed colleagues. I am really proud of my team and how they have navigated the new work dynamics. Despite the painful challenges that the company has faced, our team has had a can-do attitude, and demonstrated amazing work flexibility, and a willingness to take on jobs that have been out of scope to help advance our company and our art. We are approaching this new normal akin to playing a Super Mario game. We are navigating situations and obstacles which are in constant motion; a continual state of flux. This has resulted in a mindset of constant learning and a stretching of our abilities. Getting hit by a new obstacle isn’t viewed as “failing,” but more as an opportunity to learn, adjust, and grow. This has totally changed our work culture for the better. We’re in it to win it. I am so proud of our team.

An inside look at Cavalleria rusticana

The townspeople in Seattle Opera's last Cavalleria Rusticana ('90). Photo by Matthew McVay.

Seattle Opera opens its Fall Season with a recital featuring the highlights of Mascagni's opera Cavalleria rusticana—“Rustic Chivalry” in Italian, or more euphemistically translated to English as “Country Manners.” Cavalleria allowed city dwellers in northern Italy to daydream about how their rural counterparts lived via the story of a little village in faraway Sicily.  "Set in a Sicilian idyll, Cavalleria rusticana is a tale of frustrated love, betrayal and jealousy—with one of the most beautiful intermezzos ever written," writes Rupert Millar for The Drinks Business magazine. "Nineteenth-century Sicily is a place of rough justice, where wine mixes with blood feuds and violence. The beauty of the surroundings belies a strict, extremely conservative society beholden to codes of honor and chivalry, where death is the only penalty for dishonor or disgrace—the 'rustic chivalry' of the title."  

Learn more about Cavalleria rusticana which was composed by Pietro Mascagni, with libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, below.

Watch Crescendo for Racial Justice In Opera

From left: Alejandra Valarino Boyer, Naomi André, Matthew Ozawa, Kazem Abdullah, and J'Nai Bridges.

Black lives matter! And right now, amid COVID-19 shutdowns, the opera world has an opportunity to make systemic changes toward justice. In Seattle Opera’s August 2020 Community Conversation, Black and PoC opera professionals reflected on this pivotal moment in history. How can opera reemerge as a space of belonging, healing, and liberation for communities of color? Watch the discussion to learn more.  

Many thanks to all who tuned in to our Crescendo for Racial Justice in Opera panel. The video is now available to view at seattleopera.org/crescendo. Moderated by Seattle Opera’s own Alejandra Valarino Boyer, Director of Programs & Partnerships (Moderator), we were honored to be joined by Naomi André (professor at the University of Michigan and Seattle Opera Scholar in Residence), Matthew Ozawa (Opera Stage Director), Kazem Abdullah, (Conductor), and J'Nai Bridges (Mezzo-Soprano). 

Below, check out some of the answers to questions we weren’t able to get to during the discussion. Questions were submitted by different viewers via Zoom during the live, online event. Answers are based on the broader discussion, as synthesized by Alejandra Valarino Boyer. (Outside of her work with Seattle Opera, Valarino Boyer is also the creator of BIPOC Arts, a database which highlights Black, Indigenous, and PoC opera professionals).

If you have further comments or questions, email gabrielle.gainor@seattleopera.org.