Mary looks a little unhinged in her black Motörhead concert shirt, but finally I have an opera to share with my old metal friends from high school.
I haven’t thought about them for ages, those friends perennially hassled for their obligatory long hair and presumed allegiance to satan, but to me they were always the friendliest people. As outsiders they had a natural empathy and compassion, and I suppose banging their heads for hours to loud metal music burned off a lot of pent up aggression.
I would often run into “metal head” Mike Swann at Nudy’s Diner when running late for first period. Nudys was next the garage that fixed the police cars and Beckers drugstore, where I would liberate the “daily times” so I could look at comics over eggs and toast. I figured if I was already late I might as well grab a cheap breakfast and relax somewhere more peaceful than our High School and I guess Mike thought the same thing. His favorite breakfast was not the heads of bats, but a warm sticky cinnamon bun with a melting cube of butter on top. It defied his persona, and I don’t know if Mike was really tough or not because no one ever tested him, he just had that look that let everyone know it wouldn’t be smart to try. He owned an alphabetized collection of black concert shirts: Anthrax, Black Sabbath… Metallica, Megadeth, Motörhead… Slayer, Testament… He wore them all with pride, throwing his hair back, and showing the horns.
The music from Mary Motörhead is more 90’s rave than metal, but I’m really enjoying the wall of textures created by mixing classical instrumentation with electronica.
By the end of the show the protagonist Mary is full-on, unrepentant, Norwegianesque metal goddess, with her boyfriend’s cleaved head beneath her and nothing inside but damaged brains. It is in this aftermath sentenced to 18 years in prison that the audience meets Mary.
She sings of a secret history that shapes all people, a history removed from the big events of the world. The secret history includes the environment and interpersonal relationships of her youth. Like Mary, I think most people reach a point in their life that they are forced to look at the shape the world forced upon them before being able to consciously re-shape it into one of their own choosing.
We find Mary just beginning to look backward and see the shape she has become.
Mary shows no remorse, not yet. She is very matter of fact for what brought her to prison. She is self-aware, but unable to discover a better version of herself, she is a product of her circumstance and remains angry at her defeats and the world she was born into. She is a truly tragic character and defiant to the end.
Poor Bloody Mary, The Ace of Spades is a strong card, but it’s the queen of hearts that always wins.
*Motorhead was a band who crossed over into popular culture with their song and video “The Ace of Spades.”
So What is Mary Motörhead All About: Mary is in prison for murdering her husband and we the audience hear her tell of the events that led her to that moment and eventually prison.
Notes on the Production:
Composer………………………………… Emma O’Halloran
Librettist………………………………….. Mark O’Halloran
Mary Motörhead……………………….. Naomi Louisa O’Connell
Electronic Sound Design…………….. Alex Dowling
Lighting Design…………………………. Christopher Kuhl
Scenic Design……………………………. Jim Findlay
Sound Designer…………………..……. Garth Macaleavey
Director…………………………………… Tom Creed
Elaine Kelly……………………………… Music Director
Prototype
Playhouse Theater at Abrons Arts Center
1/14/23