Four years later, operatic ‘Staggerwing’ takes flight again in Wichita

When “Staggerwing” was performed by Opera Kansas as winner of the Zepick Modern Opera Competition in July 2021, its composers were certain it still had gas left in the tank.

“People love the story,” composer Lisa DeSpain said. “They love the characters. They’re so grateful to learn about the bravery of these women and to know more about the depth of their sacrifice to help build our aviation industry.”

“Staggerwing” tells the story of Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes, who competed and won the transcontinental Bendix Trophy Race in 1936, the first year that women were allowed to race in teams. They flew a Beechcraft C17R Staggerwing, created and manufactured in Wichita, to victory, stunning all experts as well as their competition.

The opera has been performed in Utah, Oregon, Nashville and, as of earlier this month, excerpts were staged at the Manhattan School of Music, and the libretto will soon be published.

It returns to Wichita next weekend, with two performances at Wichita Children’s Theatre, as well as an additional date Thursday at McPherson Opera House.

When it returns, it will be a 90-minute version, 50% lengthier than what was performed at the Kansas Aviation Museum in 2021.

“If you thought you knew these characters, you’re going to get to know them a lot better,” librettist Rachel J. Peters said. “We also have the addition of several more, including Herb Thaden, who was Louise’s husband. He was also an engineer and quite integral to the experience.

“We get to see both of these couples sort of struggling with the very real challenges of having careers in the economy of that time and also working out family dynamics, you know, like when you’re very pregnant, you can’t fly a plane, for example. Challenges like that. It was such a dangerous time to be a pilot — especially a female pilot who was being sabotaged by men, which is a very, very real and complicated part of the story.”

All of the characters in “Staggerwing” are based on real people, many of whom came close to death several times.

“Basically, anytime you’re getting in a plane, you’re cheating death” Peters said. “And we had some real daredevils in this story also. And so even though we know from the history of it how the story ultimately ends and who survives and who doesn’t, that just even getting there feels like the stakes are ratcheted up so much higher.”

The additions give the story more depth, DeSpain said.

“By being able to add another 30 minutes, we were able to develop these deeper relationships between Dewey (Noyes, a pilot killed in 1935) and Blanche. We were able to see their fraught dangers. We were able to bring those up. We were able to bring in Herb and so we could show a little bit more of what Louise’s sacrifices were.

“It’s been just a delight to add those details because it felt like we were just skimming the surface in 60 minutes,” she added.

All of the additions were created after the original “Staggerwing” premiered.

Opera Kansas executive director Matthew Schlonegar said bringing the opera back was an easy decision.

“I was even more excited that we could have a new expanded version, so that gives a great reason for people who . . . saw it the first time to come back again,” he said.

Schlonegar was a member of the opera company board at the time and remembers the performance as “the best production that the company ever did.”

Schedules and budget issues, Schlonegar said, kept the opera from returning to Kansas Aviation Museum.

“When we premiered it, we were still mid-pandemic. It was summer 2021,” he said. “And we had good audiences, but they weren’t huge. And I know a lot of people, you know, at that time, we all know a lot of people just didn’t come out. So, we really wanted to do it again and allow more people to see the show. And then, of course, I think I’m not sure I even realized that, so it was an easy decision.”

Only one singer – Nathan Snyder, who plays Dewey – returns from the 2021 production. The rest of the cast includes singers familiar to Opera Kansas fans and newcomers, and a chorus has been added.

Jesse Koza, cultural arts administrator for the city of Wichita with a degree in opera direction, is directing “Staggerwing.” Simon Hill, a regular musician at Roxy’s Downtown and director of choral activities at Southwestern College, is the music conductor. Music Theatre Wichita scenic designer Jordan Slusher returns with the set design for the opera.

Wherever it has played, the composers said, it has received rave reviews from the toughest critics possible – actual pilots.

“Every time we meet actual aviators they say, yes, this is accurate,” Peters said. “This is correct. This is how it feels. This is what the manual says you’re supposed to do. These are the right coordinates, you know, like all of those little nerdy things.”

“Staggerwing” was the second collaboration for DeSpain and Peters. The third was based on the Dorothy Parker short story “Men I’m Not Married To,” and they are currently at work on a musical for young people.

Although DeSpain and Peters won’t be able to attend the expanded “Staggerwing,” they still have vivid memories of their time in Wichita in 2021.

“I remember that day when we walked into the Kansas Aviation Museum and that backdrop was there and it just felt like an MGM film,” DeSpain said. “You know, there was some magic.”

The work, they were repeatedly told, resonated with the Wichita audience.

“You always hope that something you write speaks to the audience and therefore has legs. And I know the one thing to that we definitely felt was something special happened,” DeSpain said. “I remember when we first heard ‘On Wild Wings’ and we were sitting in the (rehearsal) room and Rachel just grabbed my hand and we both burst into tears.

“We felt that we had done that, the art,” she added. “The fact that we cared and it seemed that people cared, that was that was the best.”

Peters added, “But the real joy has been seeing that positivity reflected in audiences outside of Wichita, and then to have it come full circle here is just so wonderful.”

‘STAGGERWING’ BY OPERA KANSAS

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 31 and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 1

Where: Wichita Children’s Theatre, 201 S. Lulu

Tickets: $24.82-$47.86, with discounts for students, at operakansas.org

Additional performance: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at McPherson Opera House; tickets are $26.25-$47.25, with discounts for students, from mcphersonoperahouse.org