Carlisle Floyd is best known for his 1954 biblical fairy-tale Susannah. But his finest work, according to the late Robert Jacobson of Opera News, is Of Mice and Men, a 1970 opera for which the Texas composer wrote both libretto and score. Jacobson calls it the “American Wozzeck.” On April 2, Chicago Opera Theater will offer its local premiere.
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Commissioned to write a work for the San Francisco Opera, Floyd was drawn not just to Steinbeck’s story but to his characters: “I find George and Lennie to be extremely vivid characters in highly dramatic circumstances and a very concentrated story,” he says. “Steinbeck gave us a very touching story of the homeless outsider–and the outsider is something most of my operas (Willie Stark, The Fugitives) have been concerned with. But then the outsider is a very 20th-century invention, starting with Wozzeck and Peter Grimes; those operas were also about individuals faced with an indifferent or miscomprehending society.”
Steinbeck’s characters George Milton and the ironically named Lennie Small are two itinerant Depression-era farm laborers with nothing to sell but their sweat. Lennie has enormous strength but a feeble intellect–and a morbid desire to handle soft objects, like the mouse he accidentally crushes. George tries to supply Lennie’s deficiencies; he puts Lennie’s strength to use and calms Lennie with their shared dream of a farm of their own.
Like the other ranch hands, George and Lennie are at the mercy of the sadistic ranch owner Curley, a representative of the “haves” who determine who gets to work. But Lennie’s situation is worse; he’s as dependent on George as George is on Curley, even though the debt is emotional rather than economic.
Of Mice and Men plays at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, through April 13. Tickets are $14-$36; call 663-0048. On April 23, Chicago Opera Theater opens its last presentation of its 14th season with a staging by Charles Nelson Reilly of Rossini’s Cinderella.
