After UNC Opera was unable to meet in person during the fall 2020 semester, a TikTopera was born. Marc Callahan, director of UNC Opera, determined the show must go on and decided the company would perform “The Child and the Spells” through a series of Snapchat, TikTok and YouCam Fun videos.
“We thought that using social media and modern technology, we could create characters — from squirrels to cats to a grandfather clock — all virtually,” Callahan said.
Callahan said the opera “The Child and the Spells” by Maurice Ravel is about a child who has to stay home and do his homework during the 1918 influenza pandemic. The child’s frustration causes him to lash out on the objects in his house, which then come to life and scold him for his actions.
“We saw a lot of parallels between what we're dealing with now, with staying at home and having to do Zoom lessons, and what the child is experiencing with being locked in the house,” Callahan said.
Ally Dunavant has been a part of UNC Opera since her first year and wasn't sure they would be able to pull off the daunting challenge of putting on an opera virtually.
“It's not at all, in my opinion, a replacement for that real-life timing and connection that making music with other people needs,” Dunavant said. “But it worked for the time being, and we still were able to put out something that we're really proud of.”
The cast had to adapt to practicing over Zoom, which entailed technical difficulties and led to each singer having to work mostly independently.
“Though I am the director of UNC Opera, they really had to self-direct so many of these scenes,” Callahan said.
Sophomore Julia Holoman, who played the child in the opera, faced a distinct challenge as she was scripted to appear several times throughout the opera and had to interact with people she was not physically with.
