That is one of the themes of Fallujah, the world premiere of which Long Beach Opera (LBO) is currently producing at the Army National Guard Armory downtown. It is the first known opera about the Iraq War, and it’s inspired by the real-life experiences of U.S. Marine Christian Ellis.
After having been trained in classical and jazz music since age 10, Ellis enlisted in the U.S.
Marine Corps at 19, entering a machine-gunner program in which he developed expertise in infantry machine-guns. During his first tour in Iraq, Ellis’s unit was responsible for most of the area of operations for the city of Al Fallujah. Responsibilities included counter-mortar missions, cordon and searches for known or suspected terrorists and insurgents, escorting U.S. military personnel and their equipment, re-establishing diplomatic relations between local sheiks and the U.S. government, and providing humanitarian aid, according to LBO’s program for the opera.
When his platoon was ambushed, Ellis’s back was broken, and he was one of the few who survived the attack. After eventually returning home, he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attempted suicide four times.
With the help of various organizations— including Sun Valley Adaptive Sports, The Annenberg Foundation, explore.org, The Semper Fi Foundation and City Opera Vancouver— Ellis was able to take his trauma and convert it into an art piece that gives audiences insight into modern-day war and its effects on soldiers, as well as their families and the residents of occupied lands.
“But going through this opera has allowed me to have my guilt, or shame or demons, presented to me in a way that music can help heal,” Ellis says. “It was something no amount of medicine could help with. I’m fixing things which I didn’t think I needed to fix. But I do.”
With the contributions of Canadian composer Tobin Stokes and Iraqi-American playwright Heather Raffo con, Fallujah powerfully presents the dual stories of U.S. Marine Philip Houston (LaMarcus Miller), who is in a veterans hospital after his third suicide attempt, and Wissam (Jonathan Lacayo), a young Iraqi boy trying to survive in his war-torn homeland. Houston’s mother Colleen (Suzan Hanson) is outside his hospital room, desperate to see her adopted son, who is psychologically scarred and cannot face her. He is inundated with memories from Iraq and troubled by visions of Wissam, whose relationship with his own mother Shatha (Ani Maldjian) is also a tormented one.
While, in flashbacks, Shatha is on the verge of losing her son, Colleen is already losing hers. (More tragically, Colleen had already lost her biological son and is now facing the loss of her adopted child.)
The opera vacillates between scenes in the hospital and past occurrences in the Iraq city, where, on the eve of the Battle of Fallujah, Philip and his fellow Marines call their families back home while Wissam and Shatha face having to abandon the home where their family has lived for centuries.
The effectiveness of the production is owed not only to the story, music and powerful performances of the cast, but also to the technical aspects. At stage right is the orchestra (led by Kristof Van Grysperre) somewhat concealed behind a camouflage scrim. Onto the set, which stretches the length of the armory, images— both static and moving, prerecorded and live— are projected, adding to the confusion of war and the overwhelming feelings associated with PTSD. (Credit goes to video designer Hana S. Kim for this visual achievement.)
Kudos to LBO, in general, not only for producing a work that is culturally significant, but also for hosting other programs associated with this show. An art exhibit with work created by veterans is featured in the armory, and, on Feb. 20, LBO presented a “Hope and Healing” event at Veterans Administration Hospital of Long Beach that focused on how Fallujah could help bring veterans out of isolation and on a path to healing. The creators behind the opera participated in the program, which emphasized how how art and music can deepen understanding of war and its consequences, as well as facilitate hope and rehabilitation.
Long Beach Opera’s Fallujah will continue at the Army National Guard Armory, 854 E. 7th St., with the following performances: Friday, March 18 at 8pm; Saturday, March 19 at 2:30pm and 8pm; and Sunday, March 20 at 2:30pm. Visit longbeachopera.org or call (562) 432-5934.
