Lesbian mezzo-soprano Jill Grove has received rave reviews for her role debut of Klytamnestra in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's wildly acclaimed new production of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's 1909 opera Elektra.
Since Elektra calls for one of the largest orchestras of any standard repertoire opera, singers are typically asked how they can handle singing over the waves of sound blasting from the pit.
"I love it because it's written so well. It's inspiring and exciting when it needs to be and helps your voice to soar," Grove said about singing the role of Klytamnestra during a recent telephone interview. "And I must say that (conductor Sir Andrew Davis) does the best he can with a more-than 100-piece orchestra to temper it just a little bit to help us compete."
But the query Grove seems to field the most for the Lyric's new Elektra is about her seemingly bare breasts.
"The biggest question that I've gotten is 'Are they real?'" Grove said.
In out director Sir David McVicar's staging of Elektra, Klytamnestra is depicted as a corrupt and mentally unstable co-ruler with her murderous lover, Aegisth, of what is strongly implied to be a Greek royal court that has degenerated into a sexually decadent S&M torture cult.
Grove laughed when she remembers her reaction to seeing production designer John Macfarlane's costume sketches for Klytamnestra last season when she was appearing as Amneris in the Lyric's revival of Aida.
"The designer said, 'We'd like you to be topless," Grove said. Although she was more than willing to personally go topless to help fulfill Macfarlane and McVicar's artistic vision for Elektra, Grove brought up some realistic concerns tied to gravity.
"In the pictures they showed me, I pointed out that real women's breasts don't do thatthey just don't sit there," Grove said. "So the next option was to just build them with a silicone prosthetic. So last year I went in and they did a mold of my upper torso and made a whole cast for these breasts that are relatively realand they look great!"
Grove is set for even more prosthetic prodding from designer Macfarlane later this season, since she'll be making her role debut as the Witch in a Lyric revival of Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel. In this production by director Richard Jones where each act is set in a different kind of kitchen, production designer Macfarlane depicts the Witch as a cannibalistic cousin to a demented Julia Child.
Compared to Klytamnestra, Grove said the Witch "will give me the opportunity to be more buoyant, even though I think I'll be wearing a fat suit and prosthetic makeup to give me a few more chins."
When she was last interviewed by Windy City Times in 2008, Grove and her wife, Keren James, had married earlier that year in California before Proposition 8 put a halt to same-sex marriages. The two also welcomed the arrival of a son, Gryffen, born to James through an anonymous donor that same year.
Since then, Grove and James relocated their family to Santa Fe, N.M., in 2010, but they have also recently separated.
"It's completely great and fine. We kind of get the 'gold star' when it comes to divorce," Grove said, adding that she and James are both co-raising their son and that they're "much better parents than we were as companions and lovers."
Grove said that Gryffen has shown an early interest in operahe recently sat quietly and attentively through a Metropolitan Opera HD movie theater re-screening of Wagner's Die Walkure. Yet Grove said he doesn't like it when she sings at home since it typically means she'll be leaving to perform.
Still, Grove plans on taking Gryffen to see her perform in Hansel & Gretel this winter at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, a company where she has previously received acclaim for past performances in Lulu, Die Frau ohne Schatten and the Ring Cycle in 2005.
"I love Chicago and I really consider it to be my home opera companythese are the people who give me the opportunity to do these roles for the first time and take a chance," Grove said. "It's such a great experience every time."
And now that she's single, Grove did ask if her professional head shot could run alongside any Elektra production images, lest people think that Klytamnestra is what she looks like all the time. But when asked if she wouldn't mind wearing her Klytamnestra costume for forthcoming events like the North Halsted Street Halloween Parade or the Pride month Dyke March, Grove quipped, "I'll be their queen."
Elektra plays for two more performances at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Dr. Jill Grove also appears as the Witch in the Lyric's revival of Hansel & Gretel with 7:30 p.m. performances Dec. 7 and 12 as well as Jan. 8, 11, 14 and 19, with 2 p.m. matinees Dec. 14 and 16 as well as Jan. 17. Both operas are sung in German with projected English translations. Single tickets for both operas run $34-$239. Call 312-332-2244, ext. 5600, or visit www.lyricopera.org .