Arts and Culture Texas

Creative team Heggie, Sheer, and Jo Zollar take on Civil War history in HGO’s Intelligence
September 2023

Jake Heggie visited the Smithsonian Institution a few years ago. “I was sitting on the sidelines,” the composer recalls, “and a docent from the Smithsonian came up to me and said, ‘I have a great idea for your next opera.’ If only I could tell you how many times I’ve heard that! It’s usually a dreadful idea.

“This guy said, ‘Have you ever heard of Elizabeth Van Lew and Mary Jane Bowser? Look them up. They were spies in Richmond (the Confederate capital in Virginia) during the Civil War. That’s something that needs to be explored, and an opera by you is the way to do it.’ I had time, and I googled the names. My jaw fell open, and I started falling in love with the idea.”