Monserrate Portrayed As Gay, Sad Clown
By KAITLYN KILMETIS
Last weekend in Long Island City Pocket Opera of New York performed a modernized version of the Italian opera “Pagliacci” with a political spin especially appealing to theatre patrons across the borough.The tragedy’s program read that in the updated adaptation of the opera, the iconic sad clown Conio was inspired by former Queens Sen. Hiram Monserrate.
Traditionally in the play, Conio murders his lover Nedda and the man she is cheating with in a jealous rage. In Director Jimmy Smith’s version, in addition to the murder, to tailor the piece to the Monserrate situation, the chorus, who turns on Canio at the play’s close, is meant to depict the Senate who voted Monserrate out earlier this year. Additionally, in Smith’s adaptation, Nedda is actually a man who pretends to be a woman, signaling that main character Canio is a covert homosexual.
Smith said he used the rendition of “Pagliacci” to explore Monserrate’s domestic abuse charges, the former Senator’s “no” vote to Gay Marriage and the vast differences in Monserrate’s public and private life. He also added that the only reference to Monserrate was in the show’s program and attendees would not know about Smith’s inspiration otherwise.
He said although initially he decided to loosely model Pagliacci after Monserrate, in the end he was pleased the show ended up being more poetry than documentary.
“At first, I wanted people to see the hypocrisy of someone who is espousing one thing and then has this violent dark life and is also very homophobic,” Smith said. “I think people walked away not thinking of Hiram Monserrate. I think they just walked away seeing a sad story. I think ultimately it wasn’t so much a big comment on Hiram Monserrate as just a starting point to get the creative process going.”
Smith said PONY endeavors to re-imagine traditional operas in ways that appeal to contemporary theatergoers.
“There’s definitely a modern approach or at least an attempt to rediscover a work for a modern audience,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean the story is updated, just thought about in a way that’s relevant now.”
Monserrate did not respond to multiple requests for comment on PONY’s depiction of Pagliacci.
For more information about Pocket Opera of New York, visit pocketoperany.org and for information about LIC’s Secret Theatre, visit secrettheatre.com.
Reach Reporter Kaitlyn Kilmetis at kkilmetis@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 128.