Janai Brugger on Intelligence

Premiered at Houston Grand Opera in October 2023 and described by the Houston Chronicle as 'a gorgeous, nuanced, layered and suspenseful masterpiece that deftly balances drama and wit', Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's Intelligence centres on the complex relationship between two women from the Deep South who spied for the Union during the American Civil War: the privileged Elizabeth Van Lew and her ally Mary Jane Bowser, who was born into slavery in the Van Lew household and is sent to work as a mole in the Confederate White House by her employer. 

In the run-up to the release of the first recording on the opera company's new in-house label, I spoke to American soprano Janai Brugger (who created the role of Mary Jane) about how she and her colleagues went about telling this remarkable story, the emotional and technical challenges involved in bringing it to life, the joy of working with such a collaborative composer, and how mastering the role opened up new vocal possibilities... 

Were you already familiar with Mary Jane Bowser and her history when you got involved with the project?

I hadn’t heard of Mary Jane, Elizabeth Van Lew and their significance in the Civil War until Jake reached out to me about the opera and the role that he wanted me to play. We had a good conversation about the character, and after going off to do my own research I was just enthralled and overwhelmed by her story…

She was such a staple in getting intelligence to the Union military, and she had to overcome so much to do that; this was a woman who was very educated and street-smart, and she definitely knew how to navigate the situation. I felt a deep obligation to tell her story as best I could – I’ve sung Clara in Porgy and Bess a few times, but Mary Jane is the first Black character I’ve played who is based on a real person, and I really wanted to do her justice.

When did you first cross paths with Jake Heggie?

My first introduction to Jake and his music was hearing Dead Man Walking when I was a Young Artist at the Los Angeles Opera. I was asked to sing one of the roles when they were doing snippets of the piece at the Broad Theater, and as part of the process I got to meet him. Jake’s an absolute gem, a wonderful human being: he puts so much love into his work and into his relationships with the people who bring it to life.

His writing is so incredible and accessible, not least because he has such a gift for writing tunes – everything is memorable and grips you right away. And each character has their own theme, which I think is really interesting.

What sources did he and Gene draw on during the genesis of the opera? 

One thing that I admire about both Gene and Jake is that they really do their homework: when I was brought into the process, I knew that a lot of time and effort had already been spent on researching the real people who feature in the story.  Gene and Jake spent years travelling back and forth to the site of the Van Lew household in Charleston to get in-depth history and facts first-hand; Elizabeth Van Lew kept a diary during that period, and they were given access to that so that they could base the story off her own writing. I’d devoured pretty much everything that you can find online by this point, but they were able to get even deeper intel because they actually went there and talked with people who really knew about the Van Lew household because their ancestors were their neighbours.

They were both very cautious and conscientious about how they approached something so difficult as slavery and the hierarchies at work during the American Civil War. Dialogue between the creatives and cast is always important when you’re working on something new, and especially when it involves such a dark chapter in our history. I felt very safe and comfortable having those open discussions with them and with my cast-mates throughout the entire process – it was so important for all of us, because there are a lot of things in this opera which are very hard to process in isolation.

We had a fight director and intimacy co-ordinator making sure that we all felt comfortable doing some very difficult scenes, and we had open conversations with our scene-partners to establish boundaries and decide how far to go with certain things. I’m very grateful to work with people who are committed to keeping everyone safe, not just physically but emotionally – you never know what everyone in the cast has gone through (or is going through) in their life, and with triggering scenes like this it’s so important to have the right dialogue and direction.

Had you worked with any of your cast-mates before?

J’Nai Bridges (who plays the mysterious Lucinda) is one of my dearest friends, as is Jamie Barton (who plays Elizabeth Van Lew) – they’re two of the best artists and human beings in the business. I’d got to work with each of them in the past, but this project was something else…The Three JBs all together, working incredibly hard but having a great time! We really leaned on each other throughout the process, because this is a tough opera both technically and emotionally, and of course when you’re involved in the world premiere of a new work you put yourself under enormous pressure to dive right in and be the best you can be.

It was also a joy to meet wonderful new people – Joshua Blue (another JB!) who plays my husband Wilson, Nicholas Newton who plays Henry (the butler to the Jefferson household) and every one of our phenomenal dancers from the Urban Bush Women, under the direction of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. The dynamic in that room with everybody together was magical, and at the centre of it all we had Maestro Kwamé Ryan who was with us all every step of the way in helping us navigate such a complex yet rewarding score.

And I mustn’t forget two other lovely human beings who portrayed rather less sympathetic characters…the wonderful soprano Caitlin Lynch was Elizabeth Van Lew’s sister-in-law Callie, and the baritone Michael Mayes had the unenviable job of playing the corrupt Confederate soldier Travis Briggs. Michael is one of the sweetest, funniest and silliest people I know, but he’s one of those artists who completely becomes the character they’re playing once we’re on stage – and Travis is an absolute monster!  I don’t want to give too much away about the plot, but when an audience boos the bad guy at curtain-call you know the singer’s done their job well…Michael took it to that level, and it was so gratifying to see.

Did you and Jake collaborate directly whilst the opera was being composed, and what sort of technical challenges does the role involve?

I wasn’t cast until the opera had been written, but as soon as Jake knew I was going to be singing Mary Jane he reached out to me; he’s very collaborative, because he wants the singers to be comfortable with what he’s written and he’s always open to making changes if they make sense. That’s the blessing of working with living composers.

Everybody’s music in Intelligence is phenomenal, but for me this role was a real turning-point: I sing a lot of light characters like Pamina, Despina and Susanna, and Mary Jane was definitely the biggest, meatiest role I’d tackled from a technical point of view. A lot of her music sits in my middle register, where I don’t usually get to sing much, and I loved that – but there are also some big exposed high notes, usually in the context of a very emotionally charged state, and that’s difficult to do in the heat of the moment on stage. It’s a very delicate dance, knowing how much to give in those moments without damaging your vocal cords. If you don’t have the right technique in place, you can get yourself into trouble with a role like this, so I had to really work on that with my coach and teacher to get it comfortable.

But a lot of the role isn’t meant to be comfortable: what I love about Jake’s music is that you can feel each character’s emotional journey in the writing. I mentioned his use of individual themes earlier, and when we first meet Mary Jane right at the beginning, she’s singing this melody that’s not quite a lullaby but is something that’s very familiar to her…You eventually find out where it comes from at the end of the opera, but it’s constantly interwoven until the Big Reveal happens!

Without spoilers if possible (!), which scenes made the biggest impact on you?

There’s one episode that’s almost like a dream-sequence where Mary Jane is going back in time, and the way the dancers show that in their movement is so powerful. The energy these women created through movement and the way they told the story through their bodies moved me to tears even in rehearsals.  The audience would go insane after this sequence every night because it’s so beautifully coordinated, and those women gave 110 per cent in each rehearsal – what they’re doing is exhausting and seeing them doing it over and over to get the timing exactly right was so inspiring. It was a huge moment I’ll treasure forever.

There’s a scene with Travis and Henry which is very satisfying and rewarding, because you see Mary Jane’s strength through how she handles Travis in a very difficult moment: he’s been taunting her, been rough with her…it was a difficult thing to stage. Eventually she and Henry confront him, and when she goes to the next level I remember the screams from the audience…You don’t actually see the violence on stage, but because of how Michael plays that character and everything that happens leading up to that moment it was a powerful interaction…

And then there’s the final scene with Jamie Barton’s character Elizabeth, which I definitely mustn’t spoil…aside from knowing that Mary Jane is a spy, the audience are pretty much in the dark about who she is throughout the opera. She has some sort of connection to Elizabeth and to J’Nai’s character Lucinda, but it’s all very mysterious…From the very beginning Lucinda keeps showing up, but nobody knows where she’s come from or how she’s connected with Mary Jane – the audience only find that out when Mary Jane does, right at the end. That revelation is one of the most emotionally intense and riveting moments I’ve experienced in an opera – you could hear gasps from the audience. Maybe a couple people caught on early, but a lot just did not see it coming! I’ll leave it at that…

You mentioned that Mary Jane was the role you'd sung to date - are you moving into full lyric territory in the coming seasons?

Yes, I’m definitely heading in that direction! I’m making my debut as Donna Elvira at the Metropolitan Opera this fall and immediately afterwards I’ll be doing my very first Mimì, at LA Opera – two very big role debuts in important houses, but I’m very grateful to be entrusted with them and excited to take part.