Douglas Moore Opera Carry Nation
Plot Synopsis and Character Description of English Historical Drama
Nov 13, 2008
Carry Nation is a two-act opera composed by Douglas Moore (August 10, 1893 – July 25, 1969). Libretto in English was written by William North Jayme, with original work based on historical events. It was premiered at Lawrence, Kansas, University of Kansas Theatre, April 28, 1966. The setting is in Kansas and Missouri in the 1860s.
Moore's opera examines Carry Nation's life briefly, in particular, her marriage to her first husband Charles for two years, 1865-1867. The period was during the American Civil War. Carry Nation (November 25, 1846 – June 9, 1911) was a member of the temperance movement which opposed alcohol in pre-Prohibition America. On many occasions, Nation would enter an alcohol-serving establishment and attack the bar with a hatchet.
Main Characters
- Carry Nation (mezzo soprano)
- Carry's Father (bass baritone)
- Carry's Mother (soprano)
- Charles Gloyd (baritone)
Plot Summary / Synopses of Carry Nation
Prologue
Carry Nation and her fellow-women advocates go around Kansas destroying saloons in the cause of Prohibition. They are arrested in Topeka.
Act I
Orchestral interlude
Scene 1. An Afternoon in Late Spring 1865
At the parlor of the Carry Nation's parents' home in Belton, Missouri, thirty years before, Carry grows up in Belton, Missouri. She remembers her first religious experience. Carry and her father worry that their mother will object to a boarder, nevertheless, they have rented a room to Dr. Charles Gloyd who has just left the army.
Orchestral interlude
Scene 2. A Churchyard in Belton
Charles hates the town's religious fervor, but loves Carry Nation. Carry's father doesn't like him primarily for his drinking habits. One day while drunk, Charles is thrown out of the house by Carry's father.
Scene 3. A Barn in Belton
Charles finds Carry at the square dance and tells her he has gotten a practice in a nearby town. When Carry's father rejects Charles's request for her hand, he proposes publicly. Carry's father calls Charles a drunk as always, but Carry forgives him and accepts him.
Act II
Scene 1. Home of Charles and Carry in Holden, Missouri, 1867
Carry entertains the women of the ladies' auxiliary who take pity on her. Charles drinking has hurt his practice and they struggle financially to make ends meet. Carry is pregnant and she asks him to give up drinking.
Scene 2. Home of Carry's Parents
Carry sends her mother a letter, begging for money. Her father sees it and fetches Carry home.
Scene 3. A Saloon in Holden
Charles gets drunk in the saloon and remembers how he let a Confederate boy bleed to death during the war. Carry comes to get him. Later, her father arrives and she agrees to leave Charles.
Scene 4. The Churchyard in Belton
Carry learns that Charles has died. She is furious with herself for what she feels is abandonment by leaving him. She decides to devote her life to the cause of Prohibition.
Source:
Martin, Nicholas Ivor. The Da Capo Opera Manual, New York: Da Capo, 1997
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