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| Gordon Hawkins and Latonia Moore |
The story of Aida is based in Egypt and centers on the forbidden love between Aida, a slave, and her captor Radames. As the plot thickens loyalties are tested and family ties are uncovered posing the question does love really conquer all?
How do you prepare to play an Ethiopian King?
There was a really important director in Germany who brought me to his theater in Berlin. During the first show rehearsal he said to me ‘You must remember when you come on stage you are also a king’. There is a lot of grandeur and a lot of pageantry and when the audience is seeing Amonarso for the first time they aren’t seeing her father, they are seeing a king. So I always remembered that I myself am a king.
Why do you think you have such a connection to Verdi’s work?
Sometimes operatically it’s easier to speak through characters. It’s a 150 year story, so there’s a truth there. There’s so much beautiful truth in Verdi’s characters that you don’t have to make it come alive. The hard work has already been done.
You have played the role so many times. How does it resonate with you?
There’s a couple of things. First, my role is mostly dynamic. Amonarso is not on stage very long, the bulk of what makes my character is the relationship between me and who’s playing Aida. It’s about how I relate to who’s playing Aida and me relating to Latonia is about personal dynamic. I can play the same role with someone different and it comes across differently because the dynamic is different.
I’m a catalyst. I have to get my daughter to do a specific thing, so I get captured and come into Egypt. I see her and the connection with her and the General. I say to myself how can I use this to my advantage. She has to make a decision to choose her people or her heart. When I come in I raise the temperature 25 degrees. I set Aida’s feet to the fire.
Tell me about Latonia Moore. What is she like?
The girl is the real deal. She is a fantastic person and she has a lot of spunk. She’s fire.
Do you think, even in modern day society, love is political?
Some aspects of it are, certainly people have to choose. Many times the choices cause conflicts in the community. Like the conversation the women are having in the movie Jungle Fever is the modern equivalent.
Opera brings a soundtrack to the love story there’s a longer timeline and in slows things up in personal life to match the timeframe in which opera and ballet is written. It’s hard to slow things down now, but it is needed. The art demands we slow things down. Emotionally we are not dealing with anything we didn’t deal with 250 years ago. Circumstances have changed, but emotions and motivations have not.
I understand there’s an issue of race because of the image portrayed, but I wouldn’t make it a focal point because it’s such an obvious visual.
How do you think arts organizations like the ASO should go about engaging more African -Americans and people of color?
I understand how people can look at a certain organization and say to themselves, I don’t know if I want to be involved and does their interest seek my interest? I would flip it. I would want to be involved because you have an example of people from your similar backgrounds doing something in the arts. Outside of curiosity; it’s in your neighborhood and your sphere. You should be able to shape things. Talk to the administration and organizations about things you want to see. We have access. The perception is changing and there is dialogue. Organizations are willing to engage people on all of those issues, but they have to step it up.
What was it like growing up as a classical musician? When did you start singing?
Growing up I played a lot of sports and it was normal to me to take music classes. I played every sport imaginable. It was normal and acceptable. When I came up we were already engaged it wasn’t out of place because my older brothers and sisters did it before me. We were educated by teachers who lived in the 60’s and they believe in making social change by being fully integrated. So those limitations of ‘I can’t do this’ weren’t put on me. We don’t have that anymore I wasn’t educated out of fear and now they are educating students out of fear and that makes a huge difference.
What made you decide to sing professionally?
I always loved singing and making music. I was validated in college during voice lessons where I felt like I was on par or better than the people I was singing with. I think had I not had that confidence when I moved to New York I would not have been able to step into my training with such assurance.
What has been the biggest challenge of your career?
The thing I had to get comfortable with is the validity of my own voice and my own spirit. I assumed because someone was more artistic or from a bigger city their voice was better than mine and it wasn’t true. I had to listen to my voice to chart my own course and learn to listen to other voices as information gathering. At some point in time you have to speak your truth.