‘Alice Flagg’ opera written by Pawleys Island native to premiere at Kennedy Center
A Pawleys Island native has brought some Lowcountry lore to our nation’s capital for a world premiere on stage.
“Alice Flagg,” a two-act opera composed by Joseph Kaz, with additional text by Henry Timrod, will make up the third of four performances in the 2:30 p.m. block on Monday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ 14th annual Page-to-Stage Festival, which opened Saturday for three days in Washington, D.C. (www.kennedy-enter.org/calendar/event/XPPPS.)
A graduate of Waccamaw High School in 2010, Kaz earned his bachelor’s degree music composition in 2014 at Ithaca College in New York, and he plans to finish his master’s in music composition next year at the Catholic University of America’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, also in Washington.
His works also have been performed by such groups as the Long Bay Symphony and two university marimba choirs in Tennessee, and he has won composition contests in multiple states.
Speaking by phone last week, Kaz talked about the debut of his latest work, which centers on the pre-Civil War ghost story of a Murrells Inlet girl who got engaged with a lumberjack against her family’ wishes, and later fell fatally ill after being sent to a boarding school in Charleston.
Kaz said that of late, he has been focused mostly on rehearsals for this production, and that he’s grateful to get home at least “for holidays” with family.
Question | How will you present this “Alice Flagg” opera on stage?
Answer | I have a cast of about 20 people, and we’re doing a semi-staged reading of it.
Q. | How’d you build such an ensemble for this special debut?
A. | It’s a lot of coordination, with a mixture of friends of mine, people I go to school with, and people I’ve worked with in the past.
Q. | How special is having a part of your homeland, from your backyard, shared with other people in other parts of the country?
A. | That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about it. It does come straight from the where I grew up. Knowing the story has always been second nature to me, because I grew up with it. It’s great to ... kind of apply it to my real life right now.
It’s a great story that really is great for South Carolina ... and America to talk about.
Q. | How does recounting history mix with music?
A. | The historical element is great, because for me, as a composer ... there’s so much additional research you can do, to influence the creativity of it. Once you put yourself into a box, and start living in that box, and living in the 1840s, it’s really easy to show things in that world. It meshes well in that way. Historically, things have always been interesting to me, personally. It’s always easy to for me to tailor my expressions from that, and my thoughts about it.
Q. | What other chapter of American history might be next to package from your heart and creativity and curiosity?
A. | I have a lot of roots in South Carolina, and I have a lot of connections in upstate New York. I think I would like to look up there at some point. There’s also a lot more stuff I can do, with the Swamp Fox [Gen. Francis Marion], the Gray Man, and subjects like that.
Q. | What was your first opera seen live?
A. | Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo,” at Ithaca College.
Q. | After this big formal introduction to the world for “Alice Flagg,” what’s the next step the work will take?
A. | After this performance, there will be a few more revisions to it. ... We’ll see what works, what didn’t work and what could be better. I’d really like to take it back to South Carolina and set up some new motion for it.
Contact STEVE PALISIN at 843-444-1764.
Alice Flagg’s love story
In 1849, Dr. Allard Flagg moved into his new home, The Hermitage in Murrells Inlet, and soon invited his widowed mother, and 16-year-old sister, Alice Flagg, to live with him. After Alice fell in love with a lumberman, the affluent doctor voiced his objection, but Alice shifted the engagement ring from her hand to a ribbon around her neck, beneath her dress.
Alice also kept the ring after being sent to boarding school in Charleston, where she later fell ill, diagnosed with malaria. Dr. Flagg picked her up for return home, where she soon died. Her body was buried in her favorite white dress at All Saints Cemetery in Pawleys Island, under a stone marked only with “Alice,” but Dr. Flagg threw the engagement ring into the marsh, where reports continue of sights of her lovesick, gown-clad ghost still in search of the ring.
– www.hauntedlowcountry.com
This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "‘Alice Flagg’ opera written by Pawleys Island native to premiere at Kennedy Center."