At 95, Dolores Huerta could rest on her laurels with no reproaches. Labor leader, tireless fighter for immigrant rights and civil rights, as well as feminist, Huerta has continued her work for decades.
But, said Nicolás Lell Benavides, composer of the new opera, Dolores, Huerta knows there is always more to do. The fight for justice is ongoing. And even when a life-altering tragedy occurs, Huerta does not give up, but finds a way to persevere.
That is one of the main themes of Dolores, having its world premiere with West Edge Opera in Oakland this August. Knowing there was no way to fully depict such a life as Huerta’s, Benavides, who is her third cousin, and librettist Marella Martin Koch chose to focus on one pivotal episode, its prequel and its sequel, that epitomizes Huerta’s courage: the assassination of Robert Kennedy, a major ally.
“Dolores as a person is so monumental,” said Benavides.”But there are people who know little or nothing about her. The opera doesn’t work unless you care about her.” Thus, he said, he and Koch picked the time when she lost one of her greatest supporters as the opera’s setting.
Koch said they focused “on who she is becoming over the series of events she endured in 1968.” Huerta had spent months canvassing for RFK. She was present at the Ambassador Hotel on June 6, when his primary victory party turned into an American tragedy. “[Fellow farm labor leader] César Chavez was just recovering from his fast, and [fellow organizer] Larry Itliong had left the party early,” she noted. “But she was right there, facing an unimaginable loss.”
She added, “There are relatively few women in acknowledged leadership roles. But she was named by RFK … she intersected with so many movements going on at the time.” Unlike powerful women in other operas—Violetta, Susanna, Angelica, Carmen—“Dolores’ love is not a romantic love. It’s about the wholeness of the human family.”
East Bay Magazine has been following the opera’s journey since it was chosen by WEO through its “Aperture” development project, which ran from 2020-2022 when live performance was not possible. (See eastbaymag.com/si-ella-puede.) “We created an online platform to fund, develop and commission new works—a milestone, not just for us but for the process of making new opera. Dolores was the first winner of the program. In 2027, we will have Claude and Marcel, the second winner,” said WEO’s general director, Mark Streshinsky.
“There was a lot of positive energy around us throughout the process,” said Koch. “The first draft [of the libretto] was much too short,” but WEO curators had faith she would find a way to align the characters with their emotional truth and honor the history. “We were creating a piece about someone who is real and who means a great deal to many people,” she added.
“We both felt [Dolores] would happen one day,” said Benavides, “but we were floored [when it was chosen by Aperture] … there is a lot of trust involved in a commission.”
Koch and Benavides saluted their collaborators in the years-long process, including mezzo-soprano Kelly Guerra, who plays Dolores, music director Mary Chun, and, more recently, director Octavio Cardenas. “Mary comes from a San Gabriel family and knows the world of itinerant farm workers,” said Benavides.
In composing and evolving the music, he hears the singers’ voices. “With music, we can do all the inflections,” he said.
Speaking of the music, “I can smell the dirt and see the grapes,” said Koch.
With a new project, the evolution continues. For example, at one point, Koch and Benavides cut back the role of RFK, because the opera is not primarily about him. “It’s all about balance … we recently added a new intro,” Benavides said. Dolores is already slated for 2025 productions at San Diego Opera, BroadStage and Opera Southwest.
Asked about the timeliness of this piece, Koch said, “I feel like people connect to [her] struggles. My hope is that people will be inspired no matter what side of the dialogue they’re on. Dolores doesn’t think of just herself. She is part of a massive eco-system.”
And asked the same question, Benavides responded, “I don’t know if it’s more relevant right now. History is so cyclical.” But, he said, Huerta is an inspiration to “take up the mantle of civil rights leaders to protect and fight.”
Streshinsky spoke about the production design. He explained, “The concept was inspired by the strike picket line. Slogans and chants are a big part of the opera, and we wanted that reflected in the design. Also important is the propaganda against the movement, so we wanted to create a design where that duality was represented.”
He added, “One of the reasons I wanted to do the opera is that right after my parents got married in 1966, my father, who was a photojournalist, flew to Delano with my mom to cover the grape strike. They got to know both César and Dolores. Dad’s photos were used in the John Dunne book, Delano. I grew up hearing about these people and how impressed my parents were with them. The photos are archived at the Bancroft Library at Cal Berkeley, and we have chosen many of them to be projected during the production.”
“In the end,” said Streshinsky, “bringing Dolores Huerta’s activism to life on the grand scale that only opera can do will be an experience that will resonate in the history of West Edge Opera. It shows that we can create pieces that speak to our time.The energy around the opera is electric.”
‘Dolores,’ Aug. 2 and Aug. 8 at 2pm; Aug. 16 at 8pm, West Edge Opera, Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Dr.; westedgeopera.org.
I believe the second performance is August 10 (not August 8)