Alicia Reve Like didn’t think opera was for her. In fact, she didn’t even like it.
“I went to college and I had a professor convince me to do the opera scenes,” said the St. Louis creator. “And then I was like: ‘Oh, this is just like the grandfather of musical theater. You all have tricked me this whole time. I love this.’”
Like is the librettist for “Black Coffee,” which is one of three operas selected by community members and commissioned by Opera Theatre of St. Louis for this season’s New Works Collective. Welcoming new voices to opera is the core mission of the collective, which provides opportunities for creators and performers to bring new ideas to the stage — particularly artists of color who have been excluded from predominantly white opera institutions in the past.
“Black Coffee” follows a young woman’s journey to build community after moving to St. Louis. Opera Theatre will premiere the opera at 7:30 p.m. Thursday alongside “Family Style” and “Kandake” at the Center of Creative Arts.
“Family Style” explores the sacrifices a Taiwanese American girl and her single father make for one another. “Kandake” is based on the history of an ancient Kushite queen who successfully defended her kingdom from Roman invaders.
A group of St. Louis community members, mostly artists of color who work outside the opera world, selected the three works.
“We believe opera is a living, breathing art form, and as we think about the storytellers we work with and the stories we want to see on our stage, we also need to think very carefully about the decision-makers,” said Nicole Freber, Opera Theatre’s managing director. “When we change the decision-makers, we also see the decisions are different.”
During the initiative’s three-year run, collective members expressed a desire to see things onstage that are not typically seen in the opera world.
“Opera has a lot of drama, a lot of tragedy. And our collective members said: ‘We don't want to see trauma on stage. We want to see joy. We want to see love. We want to see empowerment,’” Freber said. “As you look at the throughline of the operas across all three years, I think you see that. You see characters who are embracing their power, who are in charge of their narrative.”
Opera Theatre started the New Works Collective in 2022, with funding for a three-year pilot phase of the project that began in 2023.
Now, they have to figure out how to make the program sustainable so that it can support artists such as Like.
“We've seen the impact of this work,” Ferber said. “We believe in the value of this process.”
Nicole Freber and Alicia Reve Like discussed the New Works Collective and this year’s production on St. Louis on the Air. Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: The New Works Collective
When: Feb. 6-8
Where: Catherine B. Berges Theatre at Center of Creative Arts (6880 Washington Ave., St. Louis, MO 63130)
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
