Behind the villain

Leah McRath, who plays Fata Morgana, shares insight into her evil character and her experience singing in “The Love for Three Oranges.”

Indiana Daily Student: Describe your character.
McRath: Fata Morgana is a witch, literally. She’s not interested in killing everyone because that’s not good enough. She wants despair all around her. That is what feeds her and makes her happy. My personal goal is that I look and play and absolutely reek of Fata Morgana so much that any trace of my own personal being is lost. I don’t want people to say, ‘Oh Leah’s on stage.’ I want, ‘Oh, Fata Morgana.’

IDS: What is your favorite song in this opera and why?
McRath: My aria is loud and bombastic, and it is very short. There are 15 characters in this opera, so you don’t get very many long passages to sing by yourself in this opera. So, I have an official aria, or curse. ... It’s my favorite part because the director has put me downstage center, and you don’t always get that luxury.

IDS: Why does Fata Morgana make the Prince fall in love with oranges?
McRath: What is more agonizing than love? Seriously ... and love for three oranges, something that possibly cannot love you back. Anybody who has experienced that, it’s like, ‘I love you, but you don’t even know me.’ That’s agonizing.

IDS: What is it like working with the conductor Robert Wood?
McRath: Robert Wood is so impressive. After our first rehearsal with him, I was nervous. ... He could pinpoint one note in a series of 16th notes the pianist was playing. It was miswritten, but he could hear it when none of us could. So, yes, I was nervous, but that just made me work harder.

IDS: Which scene do you think the audience will respond to best?
McRath: The cook scene in Act III is so funny. I have one of those horrible laughs that you just don’t want to expose unless you are around family. I was really trying to keep it together, and I couldn’t. It just all came out. Opera comedy is usually very slow. It’s the grand chuckle, ‘Ha ha ha, that was pleasurable.’ But with this opera, you will have guffaws. It is real comedy, and it is moving at a pace that is perfect for a 21st century audience that watches sitcoms and are used to punch lines every three and a half minutes.