A man in love with a giant doll. How Louisville Ballet puts Germantown twist on a classic
A love triangle and doll that's so lifelike it's perceived as a young woman causing chaos in Louisville's Germantown neighborhood.
Ridiculous, right?
That's part of the plot in Louisville Ballet's original production of "Coppelia," which returns to the stage for the first time in seven years and opens this week at The Brown Theatre in downtown. Throughout the show, Louisvillians in the audience will recognize the steeple from St. Boniface Catholic Church, the neighborhood’s iconic water tower, and even The Courier Journal's masthead in the backdrop. The artistic team has twisted this classic fantasy to highlight local history in a new World War I-era story.
The traditional storyline follows a harvest festival and the wobbly engagement of Swanhilde and Franz, who meet a lifelike doll named Coppelia. When Franz is smitten with the doll, his bride-to-be loses faith in their love and pending marriage. The original story is based on stories by German Romantic author E.T.A. Hoffmann, who also wrote "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King."
The Louisville Ballet is kicking off its 71st season by blending that classic story with a bit of historic Derby City charm. Robert Curran, Louisville Ballet’s artistic director, spent more than six months researching the storied Louisville neighborhood and its position in the city at the onset of the war.
In Curran's reimagined ballet the story begins in the fall just months after the United States entered World War I as part of the Allies alongside the United Kingdom, France, and Russia.
Ahead of the Oct. 6 opening, I sat down with Curran to hear a little more about how the ballet company and its designers are paying homage to the original tale and bringing early 20th-century Louisville to life on the stage.
The following Q&A interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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Courier Journal: Tell me about the research that you did for this concept?
Robert Curran: I wanted to preserve some of the story's roots, so I was deliberately looking for things that would pay homage to the roots of this story. One of the first places I started my research was at the Filson Historical Society. I spent many, many hours in the Filson, and you can see all my folders of research there. It was an adventure digging into the Germantown history and getting to know all the names like St. Boniface, (which is the second oldest Catholic Church in Louisville and was named for the Apostle of Germany.)
It was a really fun research process of (exploring) what was going on in Louisville at the time, and very quickly it led me to The Courier Journal because … there was this journalism war going on about the role of German Americans in the War. I felt like that was a really interesting analogy. In the original version, they’re preparing for winter, and they’re getting married to really hunker down for the winter. I felt that was really a good analogy to getting ready for the war, although they didn’t know how dark those times were going to be.
Courier Journal: What are some of the artistic choices you made?
Curran: There is a famous adage in the original story during Act One between the girlfriends and the boyfriends ... and the story goes that if you shake the wheat and it rattles, then your love is going to work. If you can hear the wheat rattling, then it means that your love is going to work and it ties into harvest time, late summer.
What we did to re-contextualize it, is that all the boyfriends are in the military … and instead of the wheat adage, they do pretty much the same choreography, but with a slight twist. As the story goes in the original, Franz and Swanhilde can’t hear anything. Their relationship is in turmoil. Not to mention Swanhilde has already caught Franz flirting with Coppelia in the window — that's actually a doll.
In this version, each of the girlfriends gives their boyfriends a gift for them to take off to the war. So some give him a locket and some give him a letter, some give him a handkerchief and a hair comb or a pin, and each of them exchanges these gifts during the adage. Swanhilde sees these loving exchanges, and she has something to give Franz. But she's not feeling the love between the two of them. It’s not that they can’t hear the wheat, but it’s the same kind of struggle.
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Courier Journal: How much time and energy did you put into building your concept for this version of 'Coppelia?'
Curran: Building a 20th or 21st-century concept of this production is something I'd wanted to do for many years, probably 10 years before I got the opportunity to do it. This was also the first ballet that I programmed in my first full season in Louisville. It was probably six months of research from the end of the 2014 and 2015 seasons, through the summer we opened.
Courier Journal: What kind of feedback did you get from the production in 2015?
Curran: We got great feedback. It is a charming, charming production. The designs are really fantastic. Costume master and designer, Dan Fedie, and artist and scenic designer Jacob Heustis put a ton of work in, every bit as much as I did into the production. The quality of the production is really high. The backdrops are all hand-painted collages of real newspapers. It was a big production to make, down to the detail of the scuffing of Dr. Coppelius' top hat. He could have just put a clean top hat on him, but no he scuffed it, stained it, and made it look a little bit old and battered.
Courier Journal: How does looking into our city's history tie into your vision for a 21st-century ballet company?
Curran: I don't think you can confidently take a big step forward until you know where you’ve been, and I’ve said that all along. It’s been my role to dive into this community and get to know this community and understand what is important, what resonates. Sometimes, in order to deliver that, and sometimes in order to push against that.
A 21st-century ballet company has to be a reflection of the community they’re serving, but it also has to have a broader perspective on what the industry is doing at large. I think that re-contextualizing and remaking classic works is one of the most important things that a 21st-century ballet company can do for its community.
These are fantasies and these are fictional stories, and we have the opportunity to turn them upside down, if we want to. As long as we preserve the essence of the works and keep that integrity alive, but use that to take the art form into the next century and for us into the next 70 years.
Reporter Maggie Menderski can be reached at mmenderski@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4053.
Louisville Ballet's 'Coppelia'
WHAT: The traditional storyline follows a harvest festival and the wobbly engagement of Swanhilde and Franz, who meet a lifelike doll named Coppelia. When Franz is smitten with the doll, his bride-to-be loses faith in their love and pending marriage. The 2022 production is a uniquely local version of this beloved autumnal ballet, set in Louisville’s own Germantown during the fall of 1917 just as the United States joins World War I.
CREDITS: Choreography by Artistic Director Robert Curran (after Arthur Saint-Léon, Marius Petipa, and Dame Ninette De Valois), costumes designed by Dan Fedie, and scenic designs by Louisville-based visual artist, Jacob Heustis.
WHERE: The Brown Theatre, 315 W. Broadway
WHEN: Oct. 6-8
TICKETS: Call 502-583-2623 Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or email boxoffice@louisvilleballet.org. Tickets can also be purchased at louisvilleballet.org.
Louisville Ballet 'Coppelia' Summary
ACT I – The Germantown Neighborhood Louisville, Kentucky, Fall of 1917
Dr. Coppélius, an eccentric German immigrant, returns home in the early hours, crankily dismissing the greetings of two soldiers returning from training at Camp Taylor. Swanhilde arrives and tries to engage with Coppélia, but she is unsuccessful. When Swanhilde’s fiancé Franz arrives, he is also unable to get Coppélia’s attention and Swanhilde becomes irritated, as she thinks Franz is flirting with Coppélia. The Germantown residents, proudly American, enter for an American flag-raising ceremony at St. Boniface Church’s School to support young German-Americans who have enlisted to serve in WWI. Dr. Coppélius bursts from his house and is invited to join the flag-raising, but he refuses to acknowledge the American flag and quickly retreats into his house. Swanhilde, Franz, and their friends, all intending to marry the following day, prepare to say goodbye to their loved ones as they leave for war. Swanhilde and Franz struggle with the security of their relationship – something they want to resolve before Franz leaves to serve. The young townsfolk, not yet enlisted, dance a Czardas in honor of the enlisted men. As evening falls, everyone heads home. Dr. Coppélius leaves his workshop and is confronted by youths, losing his key during the scuffle. Swanhilde and her friends find the key and decide to find out more about the mysterious Coppélia. Franz returns to make amends with Swanhilde, but when he sees Dr. Coppélius’ door is open, he is tempted to find out more.
ACT II – Dr. Coppélius’ Studio
Swanhilde and her girlfriends enter the workshop, and the adventure distracts Swanhilde from her trouble with Franz. Swanhilde discovers Coppélia reading her book and is delighted to find that she is only a doll. She and her friends then discover and activate Dr. Coppélius’ collection of dolls, all representing important figures in German history, but are interrupted by his unexpected return. He chases them out, not noticing Swanhilde hiding behind the curtain. Dr. Coppélius tidies his studio only to be disturbed by Franz. Realizing an opportunity, Dr. Coppélius offers Franz a drink, but the drink is drugged and Franz soon passes out. While Franz is unconscious, Dr. Coppélius revels in his pagan mysticism by trying to bring Coppélia to life with Franz’s spirit. However, Swanhilde has exchanged places with the doll and deceives Dr. Coppélius by pretending to come to life. Dr. Coppélius is overjoyed by his “magical” success but “Coppélia” becomes unmanageable, obsessed with the drugged Franz. When Franz recovers, Swanhilde reveals her true identity and the two are reconciled. They depart together, leaving Dr. Coppélius to his broken dolls, his studio ruined, his German history and culture irreparably destroyed.
ACT III – The Germantown Neighborhood
The next morning, everyone returns from the weddings of Swanhilde and Franz and their friends. The newlyweds celebrate their love for each other, acknowledging the hours that will pass before they see each other again once the men leave for war. The unenlisted young men bring Dawn, a local vaudeville sensation, to dance for the enlisted men. A nurse, Hope, passes through on her way to Camp Taylor, reminding everyone of the gravity of what is about to change their lives forever. Swanhilde and Franz celebrate their love for each other, forgetting their concerns from the day before. The entire community celebrates together before saying farewell to the enlisted men as they depart for Europe.
Source: The Louisville Ballet
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Ballet puts a historical Germantown twist on 'Coppelia'
