La traviata: Meet Director Kaley Karis Smith
/
Kaley Karis Smith joins operadelaware this March to direct Verdi’s la Traviata
Opera Delaware's Kerriann Otaño caught up with director Kaley Karis Smith in advance of her March arrival for La traviata. The two discussed Kaley's inspiration and vision for tackling this timeless piece, and what she hopes audiences will take away from their experience with La traviata.
Kerriann Otaño: What do you find most compelling about La traviata?
Kaley Karis Smith: This is maybe the obvious answer, but I stand by it: I think Violetta and her choices are the most compelling part of Traviata. This woman delights in life and accepts its shadows. She consciously chooses and builds her life in a world where doing so is almost impossible for a woman. She chooses to open herself up to the possibility of Alfredo’s love. She selflessly chooses to give him up when she learns about an unforeseen consequence of that action. Perhaps she regrets some of those choices, but making those kinds of decisions is an irrevocable part of navigating being human and alive. This story is very much about fate vs. choice for me, and whether our choices create our fate, or vice versa.
KO: How do you view your responsibility to be a storyteller and innovative director in 2023 when working with source material from another time period?
Kaley Karis Smith: Well, to some extent, time period is irrelevant, in that so much about what it means to be human and the human experience has changed relatively little- we are still looking for those truths through art, philosophy, and psychology. So fortunately, the only thing I have to worry about is telling the story in the most clear and honest way I can. Sounds simple, but it’s not always easy!
Innovation, I think, comes from following your own truth and exploring the things we (as in, the collection of artists interpreting a piece together) have learned from a story, and trying to share those things with our audience. It’s all in the little details that only we notice or create in these characters.
KO: Kaley - What do you hope our audience will connect with in your interpretation? What will make this production come to life?
Kaley Karis Smith: I hope our audiences will connect with themselves, mostly. One of the purposes of art is to communicate about our own humanity, and so I hope that people connect with their emotions without judgement and get lost in the story and beautiful music.
This opera is based on very real people, so we have a responsibility to honor them as human beings who are passionate, flawed, and trying to find their way in life, just like everyone always has. Verdi’s cinematic music, the orchestra, Maestro, our amazing cast, the artists who created our beautifully designed set/costumes/lights/etc., and the crew and stage managers will make this production come to life. They all live in the story as it happens with the music.