Treemonisha is a triumph for several reasons.
The score may not show off the voices like some of the bel canto classics, it takes until the end of the first act to get to the central conflict (though I do love a cliffhanger), the libretto is awkward at times, and the ending feels dragged out if sweet. However, considering that this was written in the United States in 1911 and stars a young black woman stepping into her power, plus the fact that it is a blend of ragtime and other American genres with opera, this should be considered a gem of American history and culture. And let all be aware: Scott Joplin created this before Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. We should be thanking him for this work, and I never saw something so wonderful as Washington National Opera’s recent production, a welcome addition to the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Before the show started, General Director and CEO Timothy O’Leary stepped onto the stage to make some remarks, and I cannot remember hearing a warmer, more enthusiastic reception at a WNO production. Along with lengthy applause and cheering, some audience members stood for O’Leary as he celebrated the newly independent company and its return to Lisner Auditorium, where it started seventy years ago. This elicited a feeling of unbridled enthusiasm and freedom that made It impossible to not enjoy this opera.
One point in the production’s favor was having a pianist and banjo player onstage. In fact, the music started with the banjo alone at the beginning, which I loved. I also loved the staged overture, with the corps of dancers acting as the winds during a storm. It is in this storm that Monisha, played with aplomb by Tichina Vaughn, finds a baby under a tree and gives her an apt variation on her own name. As a child, Treemonisha is sent off to be educated by whites, and seven years later returns to her home the only educated black person in its vicinity. This causes trouble when local conjurers find they can no longer make money selling superstitious trinkets after Treemonisha starts telling everyone that they aren’t real and don’t work. The conjurers then kidnap Treemonisha, and in the second act her friend Remus rescues her. In the end, Treemonisha forgives her captors, is elected leader of her community (earning applause from the audience at the performance I saw when the men tell her they want her to lead them), and marries her rescuer and friend.
Joplin’s score is an interesting blend of American style with opera. It’s not like your typical grand opera, and let us not assume that it’s supposed to be. One moment that stood out to me as being less operatic than expected was Treemonisha’s second act aria while she is captured. It sounded less like an aria and more like a hymn or parlor song, appropriate to the story’s post-Reconstruction setting but ineffective at conveying the peril she is in. That said, Viviana Goodwin sang it and the entire role beautifully. Her voice and character carried to the very back of the auditorium and made me both regret missing her turn as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and want to see her in more leading roles. This is a woman who owns the stage, so let her take it anytime she wants.
The villain of the piece, Zodzetrick, was played by Jonathan Pierce Rhodes. I loved him in this role, from his physicality to the fun he had with his voice. As the leader of the conjurers and a foil to Parson Alltalk, played by Nicholas Lagesse, Zodzetrick has a lot to do and play with in this show, and Rhodes made use of all of it.
If the conjurers represent ignorance and superstition, Treemonisha and Parson Alltalk represent education and enlightenment. LaGesse as Alltalk with his commanding presence and baritone voice in his sermon scene couldn’t help but bring to my mind the revival scene in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, except in this case the preacher is not a sadistic rapist pig but someone who actually wants to help his community.
All the leads were spectacular, and this show really benefits from its large ensemble. The fabulous corps of dancers not only became the storm at the beginning of the show, but they also danced in other numbers like the lively “We’re Goin’ Around” and became wasps in the second act when the conjurers aim to throw Treemonisha into a nest. For the chorus, Joplin wrote some beautiful harmonies, and the WNO chorus, as per usual, did more than rise to the occasion by being their own characters and making each scene come alive with humanity. This was especially true of the children in the show, who nailed their performances as an adorable quartet of troublemakers, one of whom at the end stomps on Zodzetrick’s foot.
On top of the ensemble work, the musical direction by Kedrick Armstrong and stage direction by Denyce Graves did the work justice by including all that dancing, creating interesting angles and tableaus with the blocking, and keeping tempi up. Visually, the sets were great, and Jason Lynch’s lighting design in particular I thought added a lot to the production with its beautiful colors.
I am so glad I saw this particular production of Treemonisha at this particular moment, because I cannot imagine a production that would do Joplin’s work better than this. Congratulations to the newly-independent Washington National Opera, and I can’t wait for The Crucible.
Maggie Ramsey
Treemonisha
Music and Libretto by Scott Joplin
Musical Adaptation & Orchestration by Damien Sneed
Dialogue & Additional Lyrics by Kyle Bass
Cast and Production Staff:
Treemonisha – Viviana Goodwin; Remus – Justin Austin; Monisha – Tichina Vaughn; Zodzetrick – Jonathan Pierce Rhodes; Ned – Kevin Short; Lucy – Nina Evelyn; Ella – Angeli Jemilda Ferrette; Rose – Brittani McNeill; Beth – Alexandria Crichlow; Andy – Hakeem Henderson; Cephus – Ernest C. Jackson, Jr.; Parson Alltalk – Nicholas LaGesse; Simon – Thandolwethu Mamba; Luddud – Jim Williams; Banjo Player – DeAnte Haggerty-Willis; Pianist – Damien Sneed
Washington National Opera Orchestra. Washington National Opera Corps of Dancers.
Conductor – Kedrick Armstrong; Director – Denyce Graves; Set Designer – Lawrence E. Moten III; Costume Designer – Lynly A. Saunders; Lighting Designer – Jason Lynch; Choreographer – Eboni Adams; Sound Designer – Mark Rivet; Fight and Intimacy Coordinator – Sierra Young; Surtitles – Corinne M. Hayes; Cover Conductor – Donald Lee III; Assistant Conductors – Michael Baitzer, Tongyao Li; Assistant Conductor/Diction Coach – Ken Weiss
The George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, Washington, D.C., March 8, 2026
All photos by Elman Studio
Top image: Treemonisha’s community celebrates