Elena Park
Elena Park
SESSION #5: Dead Man Walking
FEATURING: Elena Park, Independent Filmmaker/Producer, then Public Relations (1991-1998)
Interview conducted by: Dr. Clifford (Kip) Cranna, Dramaturg Emeritus, on 06/27/2025
(transcript read time ~ 14 minutes)
ELENA PARK [EP]: My name is Elena Park, and back when Dead Man Walking was in formation I worked in the press department at the Opera.
KIP CRANNA [KC]: And I’m Kip Cranna, called Dramaturg Emeritus now. I was also around in those days, on the administrative staff. Elena, so nice to talk with you.
EP: You, as well.
KC: Before we get into your recollections about the beginnings of Dead Man Walking, say a little bit about the beginnings of your association with San Francisco Opera. How did you come to us?
EP: Yes, that actually is interesting, because I was working just out of college at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, as it was then called, and I went to an Opera America conference, and there I met John Finck, who was then the director of public relations. And it was one of those fortuitous things, because it was the last morning of the conference, and he was about to get on the plane, and he said, “I’m looking for someone in San Francsico. Are you interested?” And I said, “Yes, sure.” I mean, San Francisco Opera, the Bay Area? And then that night, I told my then-boyfriend, “I think I’m moving to San Francisco,” because I just had a feeling. And so I came out in the fall for I think it was piano rehearsals of War and Peace, if memory serves. Could that be right? In any --
KC: War and Peace was 1991.
EP: Is that right? I think that might be right. Anyway, I came, and I met Lotfi [Mansouri, General Director, 1988-2001], and other key people, and fell in love with the place, and that was my first trip to San Francisco. And then my second trip was to move all my stuff to San Francisco and start work here. And it was just a dream, because I had studied music, and fallen in love with opera, but had only seen, you know, things in Philadelphia, and the occasional thing at the Met [Metropolitan Opera, NYC]. And then to be immersed here with these artists and craftspeople and everything was just a dream, so... And then I still see them all the time now, whether here or at the Met.
KC: So say a little bit about what your duties were back then. What would be a typical day at San Francisco Opera when you were here in the ’90s?
EP: In the ’90s, as you well recall, we had a lot of productions in the fall and winter, and then we had a break in the spring, when the [SF] Ballet came in, and then we had a very busy summer season. I think we had four operas in the summer season. So my job was to manage and coordinate all the PR activities, so, you know, pitching press, doing research, overseeing writing and publications -- and that’s actually how Jake Heggie ended up in the picture. But it was a lot of on-the-ground work with the artists and the Company, and pitching and promoting of the things that the Opera was doing.
KC: So by “pitching,” you were pitching to editors and critics, publishers?
EP: Yes. In fact, I was here only a day or two, and Denyse Graves was singing Carmen, and she broke her... Did she break her foot? Or she had a cast on.
KC: Her ankle, I believe.
EP: Her ankle.
KC: I remember the rehearsal quite well.
EP: Yes.
KC: You heard the crunch out in the audience. (laughs)
EP: So I’m new, don’t really know who anybody is, and they say, “Hey, well, why don’t you pitch the Chronicle?” It was like, okay. Like, just throw me right in. And there was a newbie at the Chronicle, by the name of Joshua Kosman, so I called him up, and I said, “Hey, this thing happened, but she’s going to soldier on, and she’s going to sing and dance and play Carmen, in a cast. Are you interested in writing about it?” And he said, “Yeah, yes.” And so he did a blurb. I still remember the picture. And, you know, then we’ve been in the same field ever since, but that was my first couple days working in the press department.
KC: Yeah, you hit the ground running in the world of public relations. (laughs)
EP: Yes.
KC: We were doing quite a few world premieres in that period, during Lotfi Mansouri’s time with San Francisco Opera as general director. The first of those was Dangerous Liaisons in 1994, and then came A Streetcar Named Desire in 1998. Do you have recollections about working on press for those events?
EP: I do. The Streetcar Named Desire, we did some really fun things. We actually got a San Francisco streetcar, and we took pictures with --
KC: You mean a New Orleans streetcar.
EP: Yes, the New Orleans one that came to San Francisco, which were then in use. Some of them were in use; I don’t know if they are anymore. But I remember we got one, and we did photoshoots with André Previn [composer], and remind me the librettist.
KC: Philip Littell.
EP: Philip Littell, of course. We did photos with them, and Lotfi. And I remember the whole arc of that, because I hadn’t seen a commission up close, the challenges, the stress, you know, being around, hearing different stages of their process, and then being able to see it from the commissioning through the opening night on the stage. Yes.
KC: Well, they still have the antique streetcar lines that run on Market Street. I haven’t seen a New Orleans one. It may not have survived the maintenance challenges, but I do remember we had A Streetcar Named Desire from New Orleans.
EP: Yes, and you always have a lot of rigor, but now I’m wondering if that green and yellow streetcar that we did the photoshoot in was the New Orleans one, or just a streetcar. (laughs)
KC: Well, we won’t delve too deeply into that. It makes a good story, anyway.
EP: Yes, yes.
KC: And at some point Jake entered the picture here. Tell us about that.
EP: Okay, so in December of 1993, I was invited to a champagne tasting party, and I don’t even like champagne, but I went, and it was a very festive group. And somehow almost the first person I ran into was this young, lovely, personable fellow named Jake Heggie, who was a recent transplant from L.A. And we got to talking, and I just... I mean, anyone who’s met him... I just loved his energy, and his spirit. And then I come to find that he’s a classically trained pianist, and a composer, although doing neither of those at that moment, working at Cal Performances, in the PR department.
KC: At UC Berkeley.
EP: Yeah, UC Berkeley. And we had an opening in the PR department, and I was looking for someone. I think the position was called staff writer. And he just had great knowledge, and a personable way about him, and so the next morning I called my friend who was hosting the party, Sean Fraser, who worked at Cal Performances, and I said, “Sean.” And he loved Jake. I said, “I’m really sorry to ask you this,” I said, “but I think it would be a really good fit for Jake. Could I offer him this job that’s open?”
Also, I knew that Jake’s position was a temporary position, and so I felt he would be gainfully employed. He’d be in an environment where he would thrive. It would be great for me. And my friend Sean took a beat, and he said, “Yeah, okay,” because he didn’t want to stand in Jake’s way.
Later, it was very funny, because they realized, Robert Cole was running Cal Performances at the time, and then they tried to entice him back. He sent a couple staffers, at some point, you know, to take them to lunch or something, and say, “What do you need?” and, “We’ll pay you what you want,” and everything, because they realized that he was of great value, as a PR person, as a writer, someone who knew and loved music, and someone who was easy to work with in terms of administrators and artists. So anyway, he landed in the PR department. He was 33, and he started in April of the following year, because we’d had to go through a process, and then he had to give them enough notice, and then he came on staff.
KC: So that would have been ’94?
EP: Ninety-three. Oh, sorry, you’re right. Sorry, Kip. Yes, April of ’94 is when he started here.
KC: That was the Dangerous Liaisons year --
EP: Yes, yes, the fateful Dangerous Liaisons year.
KC: -- so he got plunged right into the middle of that.
EP: Yeah.
KC: And his association with Flicka [Frederica von Stade], of course, is something that grew during that period, we know, because he’s talked about that himself.
EP: Well, you know, it was interesting: when I met him, he had focal dystonia in his right hand. He had dropped out of school. He couldn’t play piano. I’ve asked him since, “Why did you stop composing?” And he said something very poignant: he said he felt he had betrayed his talent, to have that happen to him. I guess he felt in some way responsible. And so he put all of that aside, and he was smart and industrious, and so he needed to find a way to work in the business that he loved, without being an artist or a creative generator of music and things.
And so he made his way in L.A., and then he needed a life change, so he came up here. And I think that when he came here, he was just surrounded by, really, a loving community. It was such a friendly staff, and people. And then he’s got a very winning personality, and so artists took to him right away, which is great, because, you know, he’d also be going and saying, “I know you’re really tired. Could you do an interview tomorrow morning,” you know, for the radio station, or for whatever. And so that kind of sent him on a trajectory where he was in an environment that he loved, and he was surrounded by music, and people making music at the highest level, and it kind of set the ground for what was to come. And Dangerous Liaisons played a big part of that, which I’m sure he’ll tell you about himself, but shall I keep going, or...?
KC: Please.
EP: Yeah. So Flicka took an immediate like to Jake, and he just adored her, and her singing. And we were watching her negotiate everything with this Conrad Susa piece, so he decided to give her a gift. He did a setting of three folk songs, “Barb’ry Allen,” “He’s Gone Away,” and “The Leather-Winged Bat.” And he gave them to her as a gift. And he was really nervous about presenting her music, because, you know, you have a relationship, and you’re the PR person, then you’re like, “Hey, I’m a composer; here's my music.”
But, Flicka being Flicka, she was very, very gracious, and she accepted it. And then she looked at them and she got very excited, because she knows writing, and she’s discerning. And so she invited him; she’s like, “Let’s play this. Let’s play through them together.” He’s like, “Oh my gosh.” So -- and it’s better coming from him, obviously -- they played through it soon thereafter, and she just said, “Hey, would you ever want to do a concert together sometime?” And, you know, I’m, like, hearing from him before he’s going to give her these things, “Do you think it’s a good idea?” “Sure, yes, give it to her.” And then her being so receptive, and then championing his work. And so everything just started happening, I think, really organically, in terms of his starting to write again, and getting confidence to begin that process, and feeling joy, and then having people to share it with.
KC: One of my memories from that period is that Lotfi Mansouri, our general director, had indicated quite soon after taking over the leadership of the Company that he wanted three new commissions: one, Dangerous Liaisons, that subject matter; another, Streetcar Named Desire, that particular subject matter; and a third one, a piece with a libretto by Terrence McNally. Were you aware of Lotfi’s idea of asking Jake to be the composer for this Terrence McNally opera?
EP: No, I was shocked, and thrilled. But when I heard, it was completely shocking. You know, first-time opera composer, sourced from your PR department. It was a remarkable risk, and leap of faith. However, you know, Flicka, Renée Fleming, Carol Vaness, Jenny Larmore, I mean, all of these people started to request that he write for them, or, “Do you have any songs for me?” And it was funny because people would show up in the PR department, and you’d think they’d have a question about something they were supposed to do, and they’d be like, “Just here to talk to Jake.” And then they’d, like, kind of chat him up and be like, “Do you have any songs for me?” And then one thing that happened was Dawn Upshaw was helping to judge, I think, the Schirmer Competition, and he won. And so, you know, we remember Lotfi very well. I mean, he was very savvy, and he was picking up that singers of great stature and talent were recognizing in Jake that there was something extraordinary. Patrick Summers, who was young at that time -- I mean, not to say that we’re not youthful now -- I think he also recognized the talent. And so I think Lotfi observed all of this, and seized upon this idea. But when I heard that he had casually said to Jake, “Would you ever want to write an opera?”, I was shocked and excited. And then Lotfi followed up really quickly to have a serious conversation about it.
But I have to ask you: I mean, what did you think? Were you surprised at the idea, or did you know him mostly as the PR person, or had you heard some of the music?
KC: I was only sort of tangentially aware of Jake’s songs. I knew, of course, that he was writing, and a lot of people were singing his songs, even recording them, but I hadn’t, of course, thought of him in this context. What I was aware of was that the subject matter Lotfi had in mind was something very different from what ultimately came to be, and you may have been aware of that. He wanted this French story called Les Belles de nuit, about romances in various eras throughout history, and he thought that would be an ideal subject for the Millennium, and, of course, that’s not at all what interested Terrence McNally, who was the catch that Lotfi wanted to get. He had been after Terrence for a long time. He thought he’d be an ideal librettist, since he’s such a well-known dramatist and lover of opera. And so that was my awareness, and so I assumed that’s what was going to happen when Lotfi sent Jake to New York to meet with Terrence, and I assumed that an operatic version of Les Belles de nuit would emerge from all that. Not what happened.
EP: Yes, and I think that the idea didn’t appeal to Terrence in the least.
KC: Right. He has said that before, that he was never very interested in period pieces. I’m only aware of one in Terrence’s many plays. He wrote one that had to do with the premiere of a Bellini opera, but I think all of his other plays that I’m aware of were from our own time -- certainly, of course, Master Class; Love! Valour! Compassion!; all the others; Lisbon Traviata, and so forth.
EP: And I would say that when the idea didn’t excite Terrence, I think there was that stage, that lasted a number of months, where Jake could see an enticing idea, partnering with Terrence McNally, the great dramatist and playwright, writing an opera for the San Francisco Opera. But in that stage, it was very, very uncertain. He was writing music, and things were going along. He was plying his trade very, very well in the press department, because, as you know, during that time we were preparing for the seismic renovation, and we were out of the Opera House in ’96, ’97.
But as we were leading up to that, I remember distinctly one conversation that we had, sitting outside Gordon Getty’s house. There had just been some donor reception, and Jake was feeling just kind of down, because things weren’t moving forward, and he really, really wanted to be able to write an opera, and explore those gifts that he had, but he just didn’t know that there was going to be a path forward. I remember Donald Runnicles walked by, and we’re like, “Hey.” Donald, the music director at the time. And I remember just saying to him, you know, “I really believe that, like, greater forces are at work, and something’s going to happen for you, and hopefully it will be this that has been mentioned to you from Lotfi.” But it did take a number of months to seize upon the right thing. And Jake will tell you himself about the serendipity that involved Matthew Epstein and Renée Fleming. Did you hear about that?
KC: That involved what?
EP: Renée Fleming and Matthew Epstein.
KC: Oh, Matthew Epstein.
EP: Yeah. So, apparently, when Terrence went to see Renée backstage at Carnegie Hall, and she had been doing the Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and somehow the talk turns to a new opera, and Terrence was there, and so Matthew and Renée said, “You should have Jake Heggie write an opera with you.” Because Jake had written a song for Renée that she was putting in her concert programs; “I Shall Not Live in Vain” I think is the title. And so then Terrence got in touch with Jake and said, “I believe in serendipity,” and, “Let’s talk further.” And then things began going forward again. And as Jake’s... I mean, we worked together, we shared an office together, but we were really, really good friends, and so I just saw all these little highs and lows and things happening in his life that were extremely exciting.
KC: Did you have an impulse to say to Lotfi, “Oh, no, don’t take him away from me; I need him in the PR department”? (laughs)
EP: No. I mean, in the same way that Sean gave him up to the San Francisco Opera when asked, I mean --
KC: You can’t stand in the way.
EP: -- how could you stand in the way of such an opportunity? Although I have to say, because things took a while, he did not start his composer in residence position until just after I had left and moved to New York, (laughs) so I never had to work in the press department without him. So I guess that’s my little gift for being very, very, very supportive and happy.
KC: So the sacrifice for you personally wasn’t quite so dire.
EP: (laughs) No, no. You know who adored Jake beyond words? Kori Lockhart, the longtime --
KC: Yes, was our publications person in those days.
EP: -- director of publications, and did a lot of the archive stuff. He just made friends all over the building, and people just believed in his abilities, and so, you know, you just want someone to go off and fly.
KC: Now, you were dealing with the press in those days, and the press got wind of this commission, I’m sure, from this unknown composer working on the staff. What sort of reaction were you hearing from critics and publishers?
EP: You know, we love the critics, but they’re not the first, necessarily, to run with an idea untested. I mean, it was a big risk, truly, anybody who hasn’t written an opera, and orchestrated an opera, and gone through a dramatic arc of an opera. I think the fact that it was with Terrence gave them a measure of confidence, because Terrence had such craft, and had established himself, and he thought Jake was up to it. You know, he really liked the music. I think it required a huge mindset change for the press. You know, I don’t think Allan Ulrich and Stephanie von Buchau were the kinds of people to say immediately, like, “That’s an amazing idea. I’m sure your very talented PR department person would be a great person to write opera for one of the main companies in the United States, and a rare commission.” But I think, also, his songs had gotten such traction, and, again, they were being performed at the highest level, by people, again, who trusted him. But there was a lot of, I think, wait and see, you know, like, really?
KC: Obviously, critics, by instinct, are sort of trained to be cynical, because they are being fed a lot of PR, as the saying goes, and they have to sort of read between the lines and find the truth amongst all the publicity, so it’s remarkable that they didn’t all sort of damn the project before it got off the ground.
EP: Yeah, I think there was a watchful cynicism, but I think, in some ways, it maybe helped that it landed so powerfully, because it’s like, wait, what? What just happened? You know, where if you were commissioning somebody to do their next opera -- John Adams or something -- like, you expect it to hopefully knock it out of the park in some way. But you could be forgiven to not have the highest expectations.
I mean, the weird thing is that Jake started in the PR department, and then his opera’s now one of the most performed operas in the repertoire internationally, and I always, you know -- I also work at the Met, and Peter Gelb started as an usher and then became the general manager, so you just don’t know. I mean, Joe Volpe started as a stagehand. I mean, you just don’t know what the trajectory is going to be. But, again, I really give Lotfi so much credit, because it could have been a terrible idea, a well-intentioned but a terrible idea.
KC: It was a gamble, for sure.
EP: Yeah.
KC: Now, the opera’s been done in many places. You were not actually on staff here when it premiered. When did you first encounter it?
EP: I came to the world premiere. Couldn’t miss it. And I was stunned by it. I had been hearing things from Jake along the way. I don’t know if it’s public record, but you know Sister Helen used to send him voicemails?
KC: Yes.
EP: Yeah, I don’t know if you have those, but... And I loved that she was such a willing person to turn her story over. And I also thought, to choose the subject that they did, with a figure like Sister Helen, and themes of forgiveness and love, it just made so much sense to me, and also knowing Terrence a little bit, and the kind of work that he had done. So I remember having the highest of hopes, and then just being enthralled by the drama and the choices. And the audience loved it. I mean, they were just so moved, and the reviews were great and everything. So in every conceivable way, really, I think it was a triumph.
KC: Do you remember what the buzz was in the press room that night? Did you pop in there?
EP: Yeah, I would have popped in, because, you know, there’s free refreshments and things. (laughter) Yeah, I just think it was a very, very buzzy night. As far as I remember, I think it was a little... I mean, it certainly must be overwhelming for Jake, and then there were all these celebrities in the audience, and then people like Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, who had been involved with the film and everything. So it was just a little over the top: contemporary American subject, timely; the living icon and force that is Sister Helen; Susie, Susan Graham, embodying it with such commitment and force; Flicka was just completely, completely devastating; and John Packard was powerful, as well. But just the casting, and to a person... Since I knew we were going to be talking, Kip, I looked at the cast again, and I was like, Robert Orth as the father. I mean, so moving.
KC: He was the father of the murdered girl --
EP: Yes, could not forgive.
KC: -- and has amazing scenes where he confronts Sister Helen, and --
EP: And you felt for him so deeply. And then just things about the choices that Jake had made, and also since Terrence is a man of Broadway, like, just very freely pulling all these different influences. And also it was funny, you know, the Elvis reference, or other touches, which I think would be true of Sister Helen. And the little bit that I had met her, she’s just a straight-talking, kind of hilarious, deeply committed, serious at the same time person, and I felt that she came across. So all of that, I just think... It was an amazing, amazing night. And I just remember the scene where the parents and Sister Helen are together just being so, so, so powerful. I think I got very, very teary, and I think the audience -- everything landed so strongly. You know, the “Comb your hair...”
KC: Yes, that’s the big sextet -- the mother of the murderer’s involved -- and they’re all thinking about the last mundane words they said to their children, not realizing that they would be the last words.
EP: Yeah, “Brush your teeth,” all of that. And something, like, when seeing some moment like that, then you’re like, ah, Terrence McNally, of course he’s going to paint something like that, those words, something we can all relate to, and then the incredible regret, and then the way that Jake set those, and the way they all intertwined. And, you know, that thing that can only happen in opera, where everyone’s having their own moment, and their own story, but it weaves together for a whole. I was just like, this is amazing.
KC: Yes, you’ve touched on an important sort of distinction about opera -- I’ve often mentioned this in classes -- that if you try this in a play, or in a movie, or in a television show, where everyone’s talking at once, voicing their separate ideas, it would be a jumble. It would be a mishmash, and incomprehensible, but it works in opera.
EP: And I think both Terrence being such a lover of opera, and then Jake having such insight, they could do that ensemble, that Mozartian or Verdian -- you know, the thing where all these things are happening. And obviously, okay, when you’re seeing it, that would be an obvious choice, and yet to see it done at that level, with such ease, and it was a first-time librettist and a first-time composer, it’s pretty, pretty amazing.
And then I just love -- because Jake is just a lover of folk songs, and writing things like “He Shall Gather Us Around,” like, you think... You and I were at the Rhiannon Giddens concert the other night, and you know how she said that certain composers, they’ll take something out of the air, a song, and you’ll be like, this has always existed, because it has a magic about it, and, like, it should always have been there, and “He Shall Gather Us Around,” it sounds like something that people have been singing for a hundred years, you know?
And then to have him weave those things in, and, again, to weave themes then associated with the characters throughout the whole thing, in the way that some of the great composers have done... So you’re sitting there, trying to take everything in that’s happening. You know, it’s only really... I’m sure you apprehend a lot more, given your training, and also being through rehearsals and stuff, but these layers of things would reveal themselves to me, over repeat listenings, but they were all embedded in this. And it was such a triumph, I feel, in every conceivable way.
KC: It certainly was an amazing night. I have great memories. Now, the opera’s been done in many, many places. I think Jake’s website lists now 13 different countries --
EP: Crazy.
KC: -- five different continents, and including the Metropolitan Opera --
EP: Yes.
KC: -- in 2023, which we saw in the HD telecast. I went to see it here. Say a little bit about your involvement in that.
EP: Well, I’ve been lucky to see Dead Man Walking at City Opera and Washington National Opera, and then the Met. And I didn’t have that much to do with it. I think at that point I only worked on the radio version of it. It’s fascinating to see it in different people’s hands. There was something about the use of the cameras in it that I liked, where... You know, it’s a convention that you see in theater quite a bit now, but the way that it would be carried through, and project things in real time, contributed to a sense of displacement and jitteriness and everything. And then it was, you know, Joyce -- it was just so beautifully and powerfully cast.
KC: Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen.
EP: Yes. Yes. And I like to see it in different people’s hands. So I thought it was very interesting. Yeah. The opening of it... One of the things I loved about it, with Jake and Terrence, the writing itself, was that there be no doubt of the person’s guilt. You know, that was an important decision. And, in fact, in this recent article in The Atlantic, the writer who went into the death chamber specifically chose to accompany someone, for the purpose of her research on her article, where there wasn’t really doubt that the person had committed the crime, versus if you were to spend time with somebody who could have possibly been innocent.
KC: Any other recollections you have from those early days working with Jake that you want to share with us?
EP: One thing, which is different than that, was John Adams has said to me how beautifully Jake writes for the voice, and after he said it to me I told Jake -- and they know each other, of course. But I think that his vocal writing just soars through, in terms of the songs that he was first doing, and then in operatic form. I have to confess that Jake -- I guess the throughline for me is just really more my friendship with him, and then seeing him write all of these operas -- End of the Affair, Moby-Dick -- haven’t yet seen Intelligence, but I know the recording is out soon -- I suppose, for me, Dead Man Walking and Jake, it’s intertwined, like my friendship and my admiration for him, and the trajectory of this production. So I just love that Lotfi took this gamble on the PR guy.
And then it just has such a long tail, and especially in Europe, and foregrounds an issue which Sister Helen says is still incredibly pressing. And I’m working now -- I don’t know if I told you, but I’m working on the events with Jake and Sister Helen, and people who are in the activism community, or law, or confronting all these issues in real time. And so it’s amazing to me that something that was written, and was kind of shocking, and a little controversial in 2000, is still immediate and relevant today, and part of, like, Sister Helen’s ministry. And the graphic novel version of her book is coming out in November on Random House. I sound like I’m selling books, but I’m not. (laughs)
KC: I’ll look forward to reading that. Elena Park, thanks so much for talking with us.
EP: Kip Cranna, long an admirer of your work.