June 19, 2008 Issue
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Classified Chestnut Hill Local Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or Winner of Two |
Local opera singer gets to kill her husband — legally
Even the best of relationships endure rough patches when tempers flare and tension builds. Soprano Kate Quinn finds an outlet for those emotions when she performs the role of Odabella in Verdi’s Attila opposite her husband, bass-baritone John Rudolph. “I get to stab my husband at the end,” Quinn laughs. “It’s a good way to vent frustrations.” This month the operatic couple lend their voices to a production of Planet Discord, a sci-fi fantasy musical which Quinn has written and composed. Born in Abington, Quinn, 41, grew up in Germantown and now resides in East Falls with Rudolph and their four cats. From an early age, she demonstrated a talent for music, which her family encouraged. “I sang before I talked,” she jokes. Having started piano lessons at age eight, she also plays guitar and “diddles around with a dulcimer.” A self-taught composer, she wrote her first song when she was 10. Quinn sang in the chorus at Oak Lane Day School and with the Madrigal Group at Settlement Music School. By the time she attended Philadelphia’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, she had decided on a career in opera and musical theatre. Shows like West Side Story, Funny Girl and Camelot captivated her. “My mom shared my passion,” she recalls. “We bonded over our love of musicals.” Although Quinn studied voice and drama at the University of the Arts, she succumbed to the lure of rock ‘n’ roll and veered from her chosen path. She played clubs with the band Sandoz Lime, formed half of a duo and took a shot at a solo career. By 1996, however, her love of opera had reawakened, and she got in touch with Marianne Casiello, a former teacher and the artistic director of Bel Canto Lyric Opera Company. That year, Quinn made her debut with Bel Canto, singing the “flower duet” from Delibes’ Lakmé as well as in the chorus. From then on, she stayed focused, performing with the Main Line Opera Guild, the Amici Opera Company and the Delaware Valley Opera Company (DVOC). In addition to doing choral work, Quinn has appeared as Leonora in Verdi’s Il trovatore, Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème and Zazà in Leoncavallo’s opera of the same name. This season, she sings in the chorus and covers the role of Nedda for DVOC’s Pagliacci. Renewing her association with Casiello altered the course of Quinn’s life as well as her career. At Bel Canto, she met Rudolph. “When I first heard him sing,” she remembers, “I was enthralled. He has a voice like chocolate.” Interested from the start, Rudolph waited to make his move, thinking Quinn was still involved with her rock duo partner. Once he discovered she was unattached, he wasted no time. The sparks began to fly at an Ocean City Pops Concert, where Rudolph performed Romberg’s “Desert Song.” Quinn, thinking Rudolph looked dashing in a tux, fantasized that he was singing to her. Little did she know that he was. They went on their first date the next week and married a year later. Like many artists, Quinn relies on her day job to pay the bills. Both she and Rudolph work as artists’ models. In addition, Quinn markets her talent as a composer through Quinn Compositions, providing melodies for lyrics and poems. Recognizing the importance of having “something practical to fall back on,” she plans to return to school within the coming year and major in web design. The Fairmount Park Commission’s decision to oust DVOC from the Wissahickon’s Hermitage Mansion, its home for 27 years, hit the couple particularly hard. For two years, they had sublet an apartment in the historic building, enjoying the natural setting and the reasonable rent. Their enforced move “devastated” Quinn. “A lot of anger came up for me,” she confides. “The park commission knew five years prior [that it intended to evict the opera company]. We would never have moved in had we known.”In addition to Quinn’s musical gifts, Planet Discord showcases her literary talent. Inspired by such childhood classics as C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia and Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, she wrote fantasies about good and evil while still a little girl. Well over a decade ago, she began work on a novel, Sephro, named after one of the three planets that figure in the plot. She came to realize, however, that “there were too many main characters, and they all wanted their stories told.” Now Quinn is busy with the rewrite, having opted to focus on one main character and spin the others off into novels of their own. Not content with the challenge of writing “Sephro,” Quinn wanted to create an operatic version of the story. She quickly acknowledges the difficulty of working on a novel and an opera simultaneously. “For a while, I put the opera on the back burner while I focused on the book,” she explains. “But then I decided to get the arias out there.” In doing so, she hoped to “solidify the book” as well as “gain some exposure” for the opera. Rudolph includes Chystonian, the opera’s hero, among his favorite roles. A fusion of “Christian” and “Stonehenge,” the character’s name reflects the elements of paganism, especially the Wiccan religion, in the plot. Like “Sephro,” Planet Discord deals with interplanetary relations. The musical originated as a project for the Philadelphia Drama Center. The organization approached Quinn with the theme and plot guidelines. Welcoming the chance to gain experience, she accepted the volunteer commission. Planet Discord premiered in February, 2007, but, judging from the audience’s reaction, Quinn felt she needed to do a better job integrating the elements of the plot. She embarked on a revision, keeping the same characters and some of the same songs but revamping the story. The show’s main character, a little girl named Lula, is the daughter of Katie, an earthling, and Pitark, an alien. Pitark hails from Discord, a planet populated by warring factions. Because of her mixed parentage, Lula has special powers, among them the ability to bring her fantasies to life. As if writing and composing, producing and directing weren’t enough, Quinn will perform the role of Katie. She has cast her husband as Pitark and Gina Lee Celia, an 11-year-old from Medford, NJ, as Lula. Rudolph describes Celia as “a powerhouse” and adds, “The audience will love her.” Planet Discord will be performed at 7 p.m. on both June 28 and 29 at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. in University City. Tickets can be reserved by calling 215-951-9989 or purchased at the door. Another performance will take place at the Painted Bride on September 7 as part of the Philly Fringe Festival.
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