The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM LIBRETTIST GENE SCHEER

Traditionally, opera company websites feature summaries of each upcoming opera. Certainly, with standard repertoire pieces, it is helpful to be reminded or introduced to each upcoming production. Having written operas for many years now, I have struggled with this tradition when it comes to premieres of new works because it takes away the element of surprise. Imagine going to La bohème and not knowing whether Mimi will live or die? And even if you do know Mimi’s fate, not knowing how the production will be imagined seems like a good point of departure for a great night in the theater.

I do understand the need to orient the audience to what they can expect to see. An overarching glimpse of what the opera is about and why it moved the composer and librettist to tell the story seems like useful and potentially inspiring information.

Our opera tells the story of Jean-Dominque Bauby, the celebrated editor of Elle magazine. Husband and father, he’s a major contributor to the cultural and intellectual scene in Paris and throughout France. But his life shatters when a devastating stroke leaves him paralyzed and unable to speak—“locked in”—like a diver at the bottom of the sea. Yet Bauby’s spirit is indomitable, and he finds a way—by blinking with the only
muscle he can still control to “write” a book about his extraordinary life.

Although physically incapacitated, Bauby has a brilliant mind that can wander and fly like a butterfly, freeing him to travel through time and space where nothing is impossible. Confronted with the brutal reality of his condition, Jean-Dominique Bauby must find meaning in what remains. Ultimately, it is his love for his family and his love for life itself, which allows him to persist. As he employs his powerful imagination and reflects on the life he has lived, he finds the strength to leave a lasting and meaningful legacy for those he loved.

My own inspiration for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly emerged when, a few years ago, I went to Paris to meet with Jean-Dominique Bauby’s family. About two hours into a four-hour dinner, Celeste, Jean-Dominique’s daughter, said to me that she understood why Joby Talbot and I wanted to turn her father’s memoir into an opera. This story of Jean-Dominique languishing with “locked-in syndrome” and almost completely unable to move, at first blush, seemed like an unusual subject for an opera. But Celeste understood that Jean-Dominique’s heroic effort to leave a testament about his life and identity was the heart of a remarkable journey that music could illuminate.

“You wouldn’t believe how many people keep reaching out to us about dad’s story,” she said. “It’s strange, but for me, it’s a just story about me and my dad—I mean about us. But for others it really is a story about the need to communicate, to be understood and to be loved. I suppose those are the kind of things that music is, in the end, best suited to express.” I smiled and said, “Yes, Celeste, that is exactly why we are so passionate about using music to explore your dad’s story.”

By the end of the evening, Celeste, her brother Theo, and their mother Sylvie all had only one question: “How can we help?” Over the next few days I spent many hours with them discussing their memories of what happened and finding out more about Jean- Dominique. I explained that though we are not creating a documentary, but rather an imaginative work of art, any details that they could offer about Bauby’s life would be invaluable and allow the opera to feel especially truthful and resonant.

A few days after the dinner, I returned to Sylvie’s apartment to continue asking her questions and listen to her talk about her life with “Jean-Do.” Finally, she asked me a question: “So, where might the opera begin?” Nervously, I said to her: “In the Chateau d’If.” She replied, “You mean, the dungeon in The Count of Monte Cristo?” When I said yes, she laughed and exclaimed, “That’s absolutely wonderful!” She instantly got the reference to the Dumas novel perhaps because Jean-Dominique, obsessed with the story, had been planning an adaptation at the time of his stroke. So, as the opera opens with Jean-Dominique lost in a coma, we see what he sees as he lies unconscious in his hospital bed in Berck-sur-Mer…

My hope is that if you are reading this on your computer or phone you will choose to click off this page and go immediately and buy tickets for what I believe will be a very beautiful and inspiring telling of Jean-Dominque’s story. Joby’s score is magnificent and the cast that The Dallas Opera has assembled is absolutely stellar. The reason this book spent years on the international best seller list is because Jean-Dominique’s story speaks so movingly of our deepest need to connect to the world and each other. To me this piece feels especially relevant now. Living through the COVID pandemic has certainly reminded us of our own urgent need to find a way to connect and celebrate those we love. His life-affirming story also poignantly reminds us that there is no time to waste.

For those who are simply too curious to wait you can click here and read a few more details of how the story unfolds.