The Sound of Identity | Virtual LIVE Q&A

Hey everyone, how's it going? Thanks so much for the warm welcome, Victor, and thanks to our audience for being out there. This is day five now of the OUTshine virtual edition, right? How are you feeling after all this? It's your first virtual film festival. How's it going so far, Victor?

So far, so good. Attendance has been pretty good, and things are going well. Now, from The Sound of Identity, we have director James Kicklighter.

Next we have producer Russ Kirkpatrick. Then we have the main subject, opera singer Lucia Lucas.

Hello.

Next we have director of photography Jonathan Pope.

Hey, guys.

Then we have the composer of the film, Nicolas Repetto.

Hello. How are you?

And we are joined by another composer, in this case an opera composer, and the artistic director of Tulsa Opera, Tobias Picker.

Hello, everybody.

Welcome to the virtual Q&A. Thank you for being here tonight. My first question is to James and Russ: how did you come to the project, or how did the project come to you?

From the producing side of things, Tobias Picker was instrumental in helping us understand the opportunity that existed for this particular story as it relates to Lucia. Not only the importance, the historical nature, of it happening in the location where it did happen, but really the importance of opera as an art form and what that looks like moving forward. So for us, it was through the relationship with Tobias and others associated with Tulsa Opera. From there we started a conversation, and we ultimately decided this was a great path to go. That, of course, led to the other things, like conversations with James, to bring this story to life on film: an amazing story involving Lucia Lucas.

Excellent. Thank you very much.

Great. The next question I would love to throw to Lucia, as well as Tobias. First we'll start with Lucia, since you have such a strong role in this. How did you feel being the subject of a documentary? Do you have a particular favorite moment in the film?

I enjoy talking about opera and advocating for opera. Of course, advocating for trans people is very important to me, but also just introducing opera to people who haven't seen it before, or people who haven't seen a new version of opera, with people who haven't traditionally been cast in operas for a long time. And I have Tobias to thank for that, really.

And Tobias, how about you? You obviously have a really large role in this film.

[inaudible]

Do people have a favorite moment in the movie, or in the opera itself?

I really enjoyed just getting to know Tobias and hanging out with him, and some of that was caught on camera. We had a lot of genuine moments of getting to know each other and playing video games together, and just talking about life and about growing up and feeling different from other people. I think that's key for LGBT people, and anybody, really: to understand that everybody had their own struggles growing up, and everybody's still trying to get over their own struggles. If you just treat everybody as an individual person with strengths and weaknesses, and just listen. I don't know. It's just humanity, right?

[partly inaudible] She's hard. She's very challenging.

Absolutely. Much more than the rest of us, I take everything really seriously, including video games.

It definitely comes across. For James, Nicolas and Jonathan: in piecing the documentary together, it involves opera and rehearsing, which is almost like having a narrative in there. How did you work together to shoot it and light it? And especially for Nicolas: you already have this great music of the opera, and now you're also composing the soundtrack for the documentary. What was the challenge of taking the music that was being sung there and tying it into the music that you created for the film?

Thank you for having me. James and I have worked on several films together already, so we've developed a shorthand when it comes to what he wants for scores. In this case it was finding the right tone for the film, the right themes, and making sure, obviously, that Lucia was at the forefront of the film. The music had to help in that sense and not trample over her or her life story. Then it was a matter of going scene by scene and developing themes that fit each scene, and the process of going back and forth, making sure that it tied in with what James needed, because he was very specific about what he wanted and very specific about what he didn't want.

I can imagine. It had to be daunting. And Jonathan, what about you, in terms of how you handled your role in the film, with the lighting and the photography?

James and I have been working together for years. We were actually college roommates, and we've done a lot of stuff together. Our background is mostly in narrative and commercial work, and we've done some music videos as well. We wanted to approach this in a way that you don't traditionally see documentaries approached. A lot of the ones that came to mind for us were very rough around the edges, very run-and-gun, and our goal from the outset was to make something that felt as cinematic and as polished as possible. Wherever we could, particularly in the interviews, we tried to make them look nicely lit and nicely framed. And within the natural interactions, like them playing Mario Kart on the couch, we did try to think of things in a narrative sense. We tried to frame it up as we would in narrative. So some rules we had: we tried to avoid handheld wherever possible, and we tried to keep everything locked down and as smooth and elegant and polished as possible. That was a fun challenge.

James actually answered my next question, which was going to be whether you knew much about opera.

I know we're talking about the film, but the production itself is very interesting: a reimagining of this eighteenth-century opera. Tobias, Lucia, is there a particular moment in the production, a reinterpretation, that you particularly liked or want to talk about?

Just piggybacking on the last question, about curating this world and making sure that all the shots were smooth: it's interesting to be doing a documentary about living people and a company that's going on right now. I don't know if you know how many opera documentaries there are, but there are not very many, and not very many of them about living people, because this image is so protected. That's one of the things I appreciate that they did. So it's not necessarily a specific moment, but I really appreciate the carefulness with which it was approached. This is a movie, and it's great, and I hope people can go see it, but hopefully I'll still have a career whenever the world gets going. It's scary to be taking part in something that pulls the curtain back, because opera is so much about this curated image.

The production looks amazing, for sure. We have a question from the audience, from Julian Fox: "Lucia, one of the most interesting parts of the documentary was to hear you talk about your love of puzzles and computer games. How do you think these two areas intersect artistically for you?"

My mother is an electrical engineer and my dad is a civil engineer, so I had all sorts of educational toys, Legos and all sorts of different building things, growing up. I guess my brain was trained to solve puzzles. It's not so strange that my brain works like that; it's more strange that I got into opera. It's a way for me to focus. I play games every single day, at least fifteen minutes with coffee, just to get my brain functioning and to go about the day. And actually my approach to opera is different from a lot of my colleagues', because I look at all of the steps that I need to achieve to do something. I wrote an article about learning a role, and it's not about making sure that you feel good. It's: do this step, this step, this step, this step, and then you will have learned the role. It's just how my brain works.

Julian has a follow-up question: are there computer games you find to be operatic, or operas you find to be like computer games?

I treat opera, the business, like a computer game. It really is about levels. You go from the student level to the young-artist level to the emerging-professional level, and there are different objectives that you have to achieve in the career before you can go on to the next level. So the entire career is very much like that. As far as computer games that are operatic: lots of computer games now are hiring composers to make scores. It's not necessarily through-composed, but they have fragments and leitmotifs that come up at different points in a video game. Most AAA titles, the expensive titles, do have composers on them.

Excellent. James, in the editing process, when you're piecing a documentary together, you established a nice balance between the opera story and the political story, not only with trans politics but with a story set in a red state. Was it your purpose to create that balance in the edit?

Excellent. Thank you.

I was curious, Lucia. You talk a little in the film about your reception in the opera community, whether it's the performers or the institutions of opera. Is there anything you can expand on there? Since this film, or this project, have you noticed any shifts? What's the reaction been?

I think the longer I'm in the business, the less people question me. I hope that they also question trans and gender-nonconforming people less in general. But definitely, when I come into a room, more and more people know who I am, and that makes it easier. Just the thing of "baritone" being beside my name on a check-in sheet: two or three years ago people would say, "Oh, this can't be right." And it's like, no, that's right. That's why I'm here. Now people know who I am when I come in, and hopefully they know that this is possible. Just because you look a certain way to somebody does not mean that you are only capable of this thing or only capable of that thing.

For Tobias and Lucia: what's the status of the opera that Tobias is writing and that Lucia, you're going to be performing? Is it still being written?

That's a Tobias question.

It's being written right now. It's on my desk, right behind me. [partly inaudible] The premiere was scheduled before COVID happened. [inaudible]

Tobias, I think we've lost you a little bit there. Can you speak a little louder?

Oh, sorry. I'm writing it for Lucia, based on The Danish Girl, and it's premiering in 2023 in Switzerland. So I'm writing it right now. So, you know, when you say you hope you have a career [inaudible].

I'm staying in shape, don't worry. I'm not getting a day job.

Lucia, I'd be curious as well: given that COVID has jumped in and thrown a major wrench into things, are there any other plans to come back and perform in the US, or anything else that's come out of this?

Actually, when I was doing Don Giovanni, I had already done auditions for the Met, but one of their casting directors was out there personally to watch me, and I actually ran into him at the ramen shop after, I think, the second performance. So I should be going to the Met. I hope that their part of the 2021 season still goes on. Of course, everything's subject to change, but that's the plan, to come back and do that. The thing is, we don't know anything. We're still at the point where we don't know anything. There's not a vaccine that's finished and just has to be mass-produced, and there's no end date, so we don't really know. And opera companies plan up to five years out, so this doesn't only mess up the next six months or a year. It messes up so many things. There were festivals that were supposed to happen this summer, and those productions couldn't be moved to next summer because next summer is already full, so they had to move them two summers later, just to make sure that most of the cast could still do it. And if you had two projects that didn't conflict before, and now they get rescheduled on top of each other, logistically it's a mess. I'm trying to just stay calm, stay in good voice, stay artistic, do as many artistic projects as I can with the restrictions that I have, and be ready when this is all done.

James, and obviously your team, Nicolas and Jonathan, since you all work together: what's next for you? Do you have a project that you're going to jump on when things open up?

What about you, Russ?

We're in a similar situation. We've got a project that was in the can, so to speak, and it's in post-production now. We hope to get that to the world late this year or early next year, so we'll see where that goes. If you don't mind me tag-teaming on a couple of things that were brought up: someone mentioned the idea that this happened in a red state, Don Giovanni with a trans performer in the lead for the first time in world history. What's interesting about Tulsa is that Tulsa, in some respects, at least according to a lot of people who live there, is really not a part of Oklahoma. It's an island unto itself, culturally. It has two full symphonies. It has an opera company that's been around since before 1950. And it has the internationally renowned Tulsa Ballet as well. A lot of that comes from the oil money that existed, and still does exist, in Tulsa. That laid the groundwork for what you really see in the film, architecturally, in a city that exists in a very red place called Oklahoma. Two other pieces from a producing standpoint. A couple of things that Andy Kinslow and I thought about as we were looking at this particular film: what is the status of opera right now? It is a rare thing, in our mind, that you can actually communicate with a composer of opera who is not dead. Tobias Picker is obviously not dead. We can't talk to the dead, so being able to talk with him and put him on film, and talk about the whole process of what goes on with opera, I think is very important. And then for us to realize that there is a transgender role model, quite frankly, and that we can shine a light on Lucia Lucas's story: those are really driving factors. From an artistic standpoint, what is opera doing? As Michael Cooper from The New York Times articulates in the film, in some respects opera has been dying for four hundred years. So finally we have found someone in Tobias Picker who is creative enough to look ahead, at ideas that can attract new audiences and, quite frankly, audiences that are not about to die. And with someone like Lucia as a role model: if you look at the suicide rate for people who are trans, especially our younger generations, they're choosing suicide. By having a role model, in our mind, someone like Lucia Lucas, whom they can see on the big screen, or at home when they're streaming, they hopefully will make another choice. Those are really important things from the producing standpoint, artistically and for the LGBTQ community, that we focused on, and that's why we're very passionate about the film. We're very excited that we've been contacted by international distributors, just last week, and there is now someone we're in talks with to do a theatrical release, if at some point theaters open back up. And we've had a lot of conversations with streamers as well. It's an important story for so many reasons, and we cannot wait for the world to see it.

Excellent. And bringing it home, I guess Tulsa is like the Austin of Texas: the one different area.

I couldn't agree more. The filming is beautiful.

I was just piggybacking off of what James said. That was a really fun process: to see what we had to work with, and then figure out who we could place where, in a way that really embodied either the role in the opera or, for the people within the city, their character, and how we could represent that visually.

I have to say, in that regard, I did not want to step on Mozart's shoes, because I cannot. I'm not a prodigy at all. So we developed a romantic approach to the film, using the thematic material that we developed. But again, we arranged a few of the Mozart pieces.

Amazing. We're just about at time, but we would love to hear closing thoughts from everyone. Mostly, takeaways from the film: there's obviously a lot going on, a lot of things you can take away from it, but if you had one nugget, what would you want an audience to walk out with? Go ahead, James.

How about you, Russ?

I would say we have miraculously found a beautiful and amazing opera singer who just happens to be trans. And beyond that, we are highlighting a little bit, just a touch, of work from a living operatic composer.

How about you, Jonathan?

Piggybacking off of what Russ just said: thinking about the film industry and media at large, as someone who's part of this community, I think the future of it is moving away from characters whose focus is their sexuality. Obviously that's a good starting point for the conversation, but I think James and Russ made a really good decision in this, in that the focus of the movie is not Lucia being trans. Lucia, you say it yourself in the film: that's such a small part of your identity. That's not what defines you. It's part of who you are, but it's not your defining characteristic. I'm so thankful that that's what they chose to do with this, and I think it speaks to where media can go as a whole: whether it's doc or narrative, if an LGBTQ character is featured in the film, the focus of that character doesn't have to be the fact that they're LGBTQ. That's just an aspect of their character. I really appreciate that.

What about Tobias?

[partly inaudible] Yes, well, that's the future. But something had to be done for the first time, and I'm very proud that it was done by Tulsa Opera, and that we could present her as Don Giovanni and not ask her to present masculine all the time, but to be herself. So to me, the film is the documentation of a very important breaking of a glass ceiling in this country, and perhaps in the world.

And Nicolas?

I think this is a film that encompasses the humanity of a person in their most vulnerable state, and it showcases a place where they can express themselves and have a lot of fun. She just happens to be trans. That's not the end-all, be-all. She's an amazing artist, and it's a film that everyone will hopefully resonate with and be in touch with. We're just lucky to be a part of telling her story.

And of course, Lucia.

I would say, always try to show and share your humanity with others, but always demand respect. Always demand respect, because you deserve it. And keep the people who love you and work with you, and don't worry about those who don't.

What a great way to end.

Everyone, thank you very much for your time. We had a really excellent Q&A, we had comments from the audience, and we had good viewership. Again, thank you very much, James, Russ, Jonathan, Tobias, Lucia and Nicolas, for being with us here tonight. I'm sure our audience who watched the film will be rating it very highly in our audience vote.