Boston Singers' Resource News Bulletin, June 9, 2005

The Chaminade Opera Group lays claim to being the longest running, successful Opera Group in New England. Founder-Director, Louise Pettitt talks with BSR writer, Joe Stroup about Chaminade's history and about their upcoming production of 'Die Fledermaus.'

The story is as dramatic and as unlikely as any opera you’ve ever heard: A fire in the attic, a flood in the basement, trying to find a Blind doctor. Whose opera are we talking about here?

If you live in or near Attleboro or read the Attleboro Sun Chronicle last month, you know that the story isn’t fiction and it hasn’t (yet?) been set to music. It’s the recent story of the Chaminade Opera Group and of its long-time Artistic Director, Louise Pettitt, a dynamic woman of great energy who has worn many hats on its behalf.

The Chaminade Opera Group, which lays claim to being the longest running, successful Opera Group in New England, has put on a fully-staged opera each year since its inception in 1959. It has its origins in the Attleboro-based Chaminade Club which was founded in 1912 as a way for local performers to sing or play instruments for each other. The Club takes its name from the French pianist and composer, Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944) who, in 1908, made a tour of twelve American cities, including Boston. Many such Chaminade Clubs were formed in the US around the turn of the last century.

By 1959, as Maestro Pettitt now tells the story “I was tired of just hearing people get up and sing (at the Club’s events). I thought, ‘Why don’t we put on an opera; do something other than sing songs?’” And so, with little more than a willing cast, she directed and conducted Humperdinck’s ‘Hansel und Gretl’. There was nothing like it in the Attleboro area at the time. “We were asked to perform in several places. From that we just grew and grew and grew; like Topsy.” And the versatile Mrs. Pettitt has been fully involved in every production since.

The variety of the shows, chosen each year by Maestro Pettitt, is remarkable. The three seasons following the Humpdinck saw a Mozart trilogy: ‘Cosi’, then ‘Magic Flute’ and, in 1962, ‘Figaro’. Other productions have included Boito’s ‘Mephistopheles’, Puccini’s ‘Turandot’ (three times) and Gounod’s ‘Faust’ (twice), as well as works by Offenbach, Gilbert and Sullivan and others. Casting may come from within the core membership of Chaminade or through auditions, which are held periodically. Mrs. Pettitt attended last year’s Boston Singer’s Resource Select Audition and “was impressed by the level of performances: very strong.”

When asked about her training and background Mrs. Pettitt likes to recall the effect on her formative years of traveling with her father. “He was an excellent cellist, in high demand, and he would take me along to the rehearsals. I was only five or six. I’d watch the conductors all the time.” But she is a bit modest on how it all came about. Early in her career she was performing as a soprano soloist with the Norton (MA) Singers. “They had several different conductors and then they ran out of one, one year. He got up and walked out because he would smoke cigars during rehearsal and they didn’t like that. They were desperate. So I took over.”

This year’s presentation of ‘Die Fledermaus’ will be the Chaminade Opera Group’s sixth production of the Strauss comic-opera. But, for a while it seemed unlikely that Chaminade would be able to sustain its unbroken and enviable 46-year record. In March, the historic Dodgeville Mill in Attleboro was set ablaze by an arsonist. It was the first of several such fires in the Attleboro/Providence area. The fire destroyed many of the Groups props and costumes and some of its sets. At about the same time, Mrs. Pettitt was also dealing with a flood in her own basement!

A situation like that might, at the least, put a damper on any ambitions for staging an opera. But the seemingly indefatigable Maestro Pettitt didn’t let it stop her or Chaminade. “We postponed the show,” she says, “but we owed it to our followers and to the commitments we’ve made to the theater.” The theater she refers to is the Weber Theater at Wheaton College in Norton, MA. Chaminade has performed in many locations in the area over the years. However, the Weber Theater is the performance location of choice, she claims, because of its excellent acoustics.

Adding to the troubles with fire and flood, Chaminade finds itself having to look for someone to cast in the role of Dr. Blind. Originally, the part was to be sung by Sanjay Merchant. However, when the role of Alfred was suddenly abandoned, Mr. Merchant agreed to take on that part, instead. She is unhappy with this turn of events. “It’s a shame.” But she is undeterred. “If necessary we may take two people out of our group and do something fun with it.”

Such versatility is typical of Mrs. Pettitt’s approach. Though she admits to being unplugged from the Internet (“I have so many demands on my time. I know that if I had a computer I’d probably be on it a lot and I can’t afford the time.”), she has adapted to the changing times by relying on the computer software writing skills of lyric tenor (and BSR subscriber), Paul Turner. Mr. Turner, who, in his second season with Chaminade, has been cast in the role of Gabriel von Eisenstein, is developing the Chaminade Opera Group’s web site (http://wwww.chaminadeopera.com).

Maestro Pettitt and Chaminade’s Board of Directors hope to benefit from the popularity of the Internet. With the loss of so much property and the need to replace it, Chaminade will be aggressively bringing an awareness of their performances to as large an audience as possible. “We’ve had really good promotion through Paul. He’s done a tremendous amount of publicity for us. But we really need a good response this year because of the fire.”

Seeking increased funding resources is another goal. The Chaminade Opera Group has been fortunate to have had significant underwriting from the Attleboro Arts Council over the years and fund-raising events, scheduled annually in August and October, will continue. The regular venues for fund-raisers are the Taunton Holiday Inn and the Attleboro Museum.

With so much at stake this season but with the guidance of the gifted and energetic Louise Pettitt, the Chaminade Opera group will undoubtedly put on some great evenings of opera in this and in future seasons.

The Chaminade Opera Group will be presenting ‘Die Fledermaus’ by Johann Strauss
Iin English, fully staged, with orchestra. Louise Pettitt, in her 46th year as Artistic Director, will conduct. The cast includes Heather Poduska* as Rosalinda, Allison Leaheey* as Adele, Diana Jacklin* as Prince Orlofsky, Paul Turner* as Gabriel von Eisenstein, Sanjay Merchant* as Alfred, Ronald St. George as the Bat, or Dr Falke, Bob Russell as Frank, the warden, and Jason Caldwell as Frosch, the jailor.
Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:00 PM
Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:00 PM
Sun Jun 19, 2005 2:30 PM

The Chaminade Opera Group’s new website is www.chaminadeopera.com.