One of the most interesting operas of our time was staged by the New Orleans Opera Association this past weekend.
“Dead Man Walking” told the story of a man convicted of rape and a double murder that actually happened in St. Martin Parish, La., in the late 1970s.
It was put into book form by Sister Helen Prejean, a catholic nun who served as his personal spiritual adviser during his incarceration in Angola. He was condemned to the death penalty by injection.
The book was later made into a movie that won an Academy Award and a stage play that has become an opera.
The New Orleans performance was staged at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts but the last performance locally was Sunday
Singing the lead roles in fabulous voice were mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera as Sister Helen and Michael Mayes as the real live murderer, Elmo Patrick Sonnier, who was given the pseudonym of Joseph De Rocher by the librettist.
An extremely effective choir set the mood for the dark drama that enfolded as Sister Helen proceeded with her opposition to the death penalty.
She knew that many people had died from the death penalty after mistaken guilty verdicts had been issued. And Sister Helen, in real life, proceeded to oppose it for anyone to receive.
The opera ends with Sonnier being administered the injection that ended his life.
Since then, it has led Sister Prejean to oppose the death penalty under any circumstances since it is a penalty that cannot be corrected if given to an innocent person.
It is certainly better to keep the person in prison, guilty of murder or not, than to end his life if there is a possibility he is not guilty.
And that has been the case for many.
Sister Helen has carried on her campaign for many years to prevent the possibility of people being put to death mistakenly.
It is a punishment that cannot be reversed.
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