A 'Righteous' path: Faith, power and ambition collide in Santa Fe Opera world premiere

Faith, power and ambition collide in the world premiere of “The Righteous,” opening on Saturday, July 13, at the Santa Fe Opera.

Kevin Newbury will direct the production, set in an unnamed state in the American Southwest. Newbury is a theater, opera and film director and producer based in New York City. No stranger to Santa Fe, he directed “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” in 2017, “Oscar” in 2013 and “Life Is a Dream” in 2010.

A 'Righteous' path: Faith, power and ambition collide in Santa Fe Opera world premiere

“The Righteous” opera opens with David, a preacher, building a church in the American Southwest. He marries into a wealthy oil family and is eventually pressed to run for governor of his state, succeeding his father-in-law. At the same time, he has an affair with Sheila, whose more mystical theology enraptures him, leading them both to a personal crossroads by the end of the decade.

“It’s about the tension between your faith and spirituality and the fraught world of ’80s politics,” Newbury said. “It’s about how his journey affects everyone around him.”

That experience incorporates the current affairs of 1979, 1986 and 1990. The audience will see them on TV sets throughout the performance. The images include the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, the AIDS crisis, and film of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meeting in Iceland.

Newbury says he directs opera like a film and film like an opera.

“Every scene has a natural element to ground you in place,” he said. “It’s very cinematic.”

“The (Santa Fe) sunsets are a character in the piece,” he added. “We’re revealing the sunset in a very meaningful way.”

Influenced by movies such as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), Newbury uses lighting to stage moments when the characters reach a deep spirituality.

“Nature becomes a metaphor for God and spirituality,” he said.

As for costumes, audiences can expect shoulder pads and big hair.

David is an empathetic character who wants to do the right thing.

“He is seduced by the power and he genuinely wants to make a difference,” Newbury said. “How does David stay true to his values and the compromises he makes?”

Much of the text questions whether funding is really going to the underserved or to the wealthy. Someone presses David to sign an anti-gay bill when his best friend Jonathan is homosexual.

Although David at first seems to be the opera’s protagonist, the women gradually grow into prominence.

“The women become the spiritual heartbeat,” Newbury said. The women reveal empathy, while the men struggle, he added.

Born and raised in Maine, Newbury was a pianist and an actor before opera beckoned. At 22, he landed a job with the New York City Opera.

“I fell in love with opera,” he said.

Written by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith, “The Righteous” features an all-star cast, including Anthony Roth Costanzo, Michael Mayes, Elena Villalón, Jennifer Johnson Cano and Greer Grimsley, among others.

“The cast is absolutely formidable,” Newbury said, “the best use of singing actors you could ask for.”

Next, he’s organizing a national tour of the 2016 opera “Fellow Travelers.” The Spears-composed show is about the Lavender Scare of the Joseph McCarthy years, Newbury said.

“Directing opera at the Santa Fe Opera is the culmination of my career,” he added.