Project Overview
In 2011, California-based composer and director Ben Bernstein produced his original one-act opera, The Man in the Mirror, at the international American Handel Festival in Seattle. The work was enthusiastically received by both audience and critics alike. Critic Bernard Jacobson wrote in the Seattle Times, “…Handel would have enjoyed the half-hour of comic entertainment.” Crosscut commented: “Bernstein’s comic musical fantasy is original and entertaining.” Festival producer Marty Ronish (in her report to Meet the Composer for the grant that Bernstein was awarded in support of the premiere) said: “Bernstein’s work was a big draw for the entire Festival.” The World Premiere starred the much-beloved local tenor Ross Hauck and featured well-known early music instrumentalists Phebe Craig and David Morris.
The Man in the Mirror is the story of a tenor preparing to go onstage for a performance of Handel’s Messiah. We watch him as he dresses in full tie and tails and warms up. He practices various vocal exercises (“me-me-me, la-la-la”) and sings parts of the tenor solos from the Messiah with tremendous bravado, frequently overwhelming the music itself with his over-the-top performance. All the while, we are hearing the voices in his head, which start out being complimentary and encouraging (“You are sensational!”), but then become critical and accusative (“You should have been a lawyer!”). As the cacophony of his inner voices becomes more troublesome and anxiety-provoking, it seems as if he will lose the struggle for confidence that is essential for performance. Ultimately, he finds his inner strength and, fully dressed, he faces the mirror and sings beautifully, “Comfort Ye” and “Every Valley” with great humility and meaning. He exits to go onstage for the Messiah performance.
The 31-minute piece is scored for tenor, harpsichord, cello, and recorded voices. It was digitally mixed by Los Angeles sound artist Gregory Lenczycki, a colleague of Bernstein’s from the graduate music program at Mills College.
Bernstein received commissioning funds from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, and the East Bay Community Foundation for creating The Man in the Mirror. He was also awarded a grant from Meet the Composer for participation in public events conducted during the Festival in Seattle. A video of the January 2010 workshop production of The Man in the Mirror may be seen at: https://singersgym.org/the-man-in-the-mirror-a-one-act-opera/
The Messiah Complex
Bernstein has conceived The Man in the Mirror as the first of five one-act operas comprising The Messiah Complex. Each of the 25-30 minute pieces may be performed separately, in series (throughout a Festival), or together as a single evening’s work. The entire opus will be structured as follows:
Acts Instrumentation
- 1. Tenor (“The Man in the Mirror”) Harpsichord, cello
- 2. Alto (“My Makeup”) Violin, bassoon
- 3. Soprano (“Never Mind”) Clarinet, viola
- 4. Bass (“Who’s Listening?”) Trumpet, percussion
- 5. Tutti (“The Complex”) + conductor Tutti + small choir
Following The Man in the Mirror for the tenor, the next act is for the alto. Titled My Makeup, the singer is already dressed as the scene opens, applying her makeup and warming up vocally and on her part. The voices in her head are struggling with the question, “How can a Jew sing about Jesus?” bringing to the fore the more profound spiritual issues of who or what the Messiah is. In the third act, the soprano wrestles with her right to be a professional singer. The fourth act has the bass rushing to the concert venue (he is the cover for the programmed bass who has taken ill). As he warms up with his iPhone in the taxi, he struggles with Siri’s voice, which is harshly critical. In the fifth and final act, all four soloists are onstage together, elegantly dressed, performing a highly collaged version of Messiah, with a conductor, an orchestral ensemble of the eight instrumentalists, and a small choir. We hear all the voices in their heads as they comment on each other’s performances. At critical points in the final act, the conductor turns to the audience, conducting them to sing the “Hallelujah!” chorus.
The Messiah Complex explores universal themes of performance anxiety, worldly worries, and personal distractions. It gives audiences a rare and unusual glimpse of what goes on before a performer appears onstage.
Budget
A project budget is being developed and will be available upon request. Expenses will include the composer’s fee, travel, and costs related to recording and mixing the “inner voices” tracks for the four additional acts. Production costs for the World Premiere are not part of this budget.
About the Composer-Director
Ben Bernstein is an award-winning composer for his “The Song of Songs” settings. Following the premiere of his one-act opera, Show Me Thy Ways (libretto taken from the writings of Hildegard von Bingen) and his song cycle, Lambkins Journey, he received commissions for new work by the Sonoma Bach Society, San Francisco Choral Artists, and the Repertory Dance Theater in Salt Lake City. Bernstein has been commissioned to compose vocal work for several prominent Bay Area performers. For his one-act opera, The Man in the Mirror, Bernstein received commissioning grants from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, and the East Bay Community Foundation. In addition, he was awarded a grant from Meet the Composer for his participation in public events related to the World Premiere of The Man in the Mirror at the American Handel Festival in Seattle in 2011.
Bernstein is also active as a director and producer of new work. He was the first director of improvisation at the Sundance Institute, a guest director at the Juilliard School/Drama Division, first assistant director to Gian Carlo Menotti at the American Opera Center, and a visiting director at the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Sydney and Hart House Theater in Toronto. In addition, he directed new work at Mills College and was a voice director at Electronic Arts in Redwood City. Dubbed by American Theater Magazine as “the imagination masseur,” Bernstein has received several artist-in-residence grants from the US and Canadian governments.
A graduate of Bowdoin College, with a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Toronto and an MA in Music Composition from Mills College, Bernstein was trained by Viola Spolin, author of the landmark text Improvisation for the Theater, and was her personal representative at conferences and workshops worldwide. He currently works as a master coach at the San Francisco Opera with the Merola Program and the Adler Fellows, coaching and directing them in solo and ensemble singing and teaching a class in Shakespeare for opera singers. Over the years, Bernstein has conducted workshops and created new musical works in diverse places such as psychiatric hospitals in the US and Australia and in East Harlem public schools. Bernstein founded The Singer’s Gym, a nonprofit training workshop for professional opera singers. The Singer’s Gym provides experienced singers the tools for more sustained and deeper connection in their work. Through The Singer’s Gym, Bernstein has successfully taken Spolin’s groundbreaking work in improvisation into the world of opera, providing freshness and spontaneity to the standard opera repertoire.
Bernstein has four published books to his credit: “Stress-Free” (Kodansha, 1990), “Crush Your Test Anxiety” (Familius, 2014), “A Teen’s Guide to Success” (Familius, 2014), and “Stressed Out! For Parents” (Familius, 2018). He also authors a popular blog on the Psychology Today website.