SPOTLIGHT: Caitlin C. Vincent '07

Caitlin C. Vincent ’07, a History and Literature concentrator, is the stage director of the Dunster House Opera (DHO) production of “The Marriage of Figaro.” Trained in classical voice, Vincent jumped into the campus opera scene from the start of her time at Harvard.

I started taking classical voice lessons when I was 14, and I had always planned to continue singing at college. Harvard was the only non-conservatory school that I applied to, and I ended up choosing it because of the performing opportunities (Harvard has far more opportunities for undergraduate singers than most other places). Once I was here, I just started auditioning.

Since her freshman year, Vincent has been deeply involved in campus opera productions. As a senior, Vincent now returns with “The Marriage of Figaro” to the place she began four years ago.

I have always had a sort of soft spot for DHO because one of the first productions I did at Harvard was DHO’s “Cosi Fan Tutte.” I was only in the chorus, but I had a wonderful time. My junior year, I had a more substantial role in DHO’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites.” So I guess I never really left DHO.

Unlike Lowell House Opera (LHO), which primarily casts semi-professional singers from local conservatories, DHO is staged entirely by Harvard undergraduates.

LHO always presents excellent productions, and when I performed in “Don Giovanni” and “L’enfant et les Sortilèges” with LHO, I was very impressed with the professionalism. But, at the same time, I’ve always felt a bit uncomfortable with the lack of Harvard students in the productions. DHO actually makes use of the tremendous talent we have among our undergraduate community, and, in my opinion, the productions are equally high-quality.

Under Vincent’s direction, “The Marriage of Figaro” gets a modern update with a presidential spin.

I wanted to give the production some historical depth without making it a period piece, so I set the opera in the late 1950s/early 1960s. It made sense to present the Count and Countess as operatic versions of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Onassis, considering the Count’s frequent infidelities but overwhelming charm, and the Countess’s penchant for forgiveness.

Elaborating on her artistic vision, Vincent argues that opera isn’t as high brow as it may seem.

I think that theatrical productions often get bogged down with artistic snobbery. Opera, in particular, has a reputation for being all snootiness: only the most intellectual people can truly appreciate the beauty of opera, etc. I couldn’t disagree more. In the end, all theater is about emotion. The most important thing is to express these emotions to the audience. If a director tries to cater to some pretentious expectation, the emotions don’t always get through.

To that end, opera-goers should leave their English-Italian dictionaries at home.

This production of “The Marriage of Figaro” is accessible to everyone. First of all, the opera is sung entirely in English. I’ve also tried to express my own humor and sense of fun in the staging of the opera. The result has been some unorthodox, but all the more entertaining, characters.

In the end, it’s all about the music. Tapping into the campus’ operatic talents with some help from veterans of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Vincent is confident that “The Marriage of Figaro” will be one of the best opera productions that Harvard has recently seen.

Audiences should see Marriage of Figaro for the singers. This production has some of the best opera singers on campus, and they are all surprisingly good actors and comedians as well. It’s really a chance to see a dozen fantastic singers (most of whom don’t get the exposure they deserve) performing in one of the best operas ever.

Dunster House Opera’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro” runs from Feb. 9-11 and from Feb. 16-17 at 8:30 p.m. in the Dunster House Dining Hall.

—Emily G. W. Chau