The Dallas Opera premieres “Great Scott” this weekend. Photo: Karen Almond.

Can you imagine a big opera premiere opening on the same night as the Super Bowl? In the same city as one of the big game teams? That’s just one of the turns in the opera “Great Scott,” which opens this Friday at Winspear Opera House.  KERA’s Bill Zeeble caught up with those responsible for this weekend’s premiere.

Some operas are bigger than life. Others are based on real life. This one blends  both. In a storied European opera house, the lead character Arden Scott finds the music for an old opera in the back of a drawer. She decides she wants to sing the part of Rosa Dolorosa, a bel canto role of fluid and challenging vocal lines. The work’s never been heard before.

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is one of the stars of Great Scott. In effect she’s singing two roles; Arden Scott, and her character, Rosa Dolorosa.

Sid Taylor (Nathan Gunn) reconnects with his high school sweetheart, Arden Scott (Joyce DiDonato).
Photo: Karen Almond, Dallas Opera

“Rosa’s journey, in the opera Rosa Dolorosa is- aahh- breathtaking!” DiDonato says. “She’s made to sacrifice herself to save the people of Pompeii. Arden Scott – hers is quite personal, in some ways it feels autobiographical. She’s an American diva coming home, doesn’t quite fit there anymore. She’s not sure she’s made a difference.”

The old opera will have a premiere the night of the Super Bowl. And the town’s team is in the game. The twist allows composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally to mix contemporary and old fashioned operatic styles. McNally, who first worked with Heggie on “Dead Man Walking,” wrote the story.

“What is opera meant to be?” McNally asks.  “A repository for the works of the 19th century? Or does opera have a real role in our life as 21st century people? It argues that too.”

The blend of eras challenged Heggie. He’s best known here for “Moby Dick.” That opera premiered in Dallas five years ago. Heggie used McNally’s script to explore bel canto writing. Both men knew they wanted DiDdonato and the other key performers.

“We both feel very strongly we have to know who we’re writing for and how we can imagine them presenting and performing it,” Heggie said.

He’s written for DiDonato before. As soon as she heard he and McNally wanted her, it was an easy ‘yes.’ She calls both geniuses.

“Jake said what do you want to do? And we batted about titles, we batted about ideas, and I said Jake you know it doesn’t matter, can we please do a comedy?” DiDonato explains. “And a week later, I called him back and I said, no no, no I want an old fashioned mad scene. Well, leave it to Jake and Terrence. They found an original story that actually accomplishes both of those.”

Heggie’s happy Dallas invited him back to do this.

“It feels miraculous and a dream come true and a homecoming as well. And it’s…there’s no place like home,” Heggie says, smiling.

It feels that way for McNally too . The multiple Tony winner has influenced every opera Heggie’s written. But it’s a homecoming for McNally not just because he’s working with Heggie again.

“I’ve always been an opera lover since the 6th grade. It began in Dallas Texas,” McNally says. “I went to Christ The King School for a few years. Our nun played opera records for us and I liked opera right away. So it all began here. So I’ve come home too.”

DiDonato’s home plays a role as well. On the same night she sings the  Dallas premiere, there won’t be a Super Bowl. But her hometown Kansas City Royals will be play in the World Series. She’ll catch updates at intermission.