The evolution of Aral: A Folk Opera: The story behind the production

By Anne-Marie Oomen
Sun contributor

There’s a murder in our past. For those of us who live in Benzie and Leelanau counties, the story of the town of Aral is the story of murder and mayhem laced with romance. It alternately sounds like a soap opera, gothic romance, faded Western, old-fashioned melodrama and serious dramatic literature. But the fact of the matter is — it’s history — though some of the facts have been blurred by time.
Based on the three versions of the story I have read, it goes something like this: In 1886, Dr. Arthur O’Leary leased his logging mill at Otter Creek (in the bustling town of Aral) to Charles Wright who ran it successfully for the next three years. Wright was apparently a big personality, a drinker, singer, big talker, but also a good businessman. However, at some point, Wright stopped paying the taxes on the mill logs. In 1889, after several warnings, Sheriff Case from Frankfort sent two deputies, Frank Thurber and Neil Marshall, with a Writ of Attachment to close the mill and take possession of the logs. In the confrontation that followed, Wright shot and killed both men. He was eventually caught when an Ottawa named Lahala, under torture, betrayed where Wright was hiding (this part of the story comes into question; in one version Case’s men found Wright before Lahala told). Despite a lynch-mood mentality of the townspeople, Case managed to get Wright to the Frankfort jail before things got out of hand. Wright was sentenced to life in prison.
One would think that would be the end of a sad story … not so. Unbelievably, after twelve years, Wright was paroled and returned to Aral where, according to one version of the story, he visited his former wife (she had divorced him) and won her back with a song. Though there are other versions of this final visit, this one claims they returned to Wisconsin where they lived out their days.
There’s a lot more to the story, but if you want details, you’ll have to attend a very special event — this year’s premier production of Aral: a Folk Opera, to be performed by local poets and sayers, the Beach Bards and the dynamic and eclectic musicians who work under the name the Lizard Lickers, for the Manitou Music Festival on July 26 at the Lake Street Studios.
Making a Folk Opera: How it came about
I first discovered the Aral story several years ago when Norm Wheeler, Beach Bard and colleague in storytelling and poem-saying, handed me a newspaper clipping written by Larry Wakefield, regional historian. Mr. Wakefield’s article gave us the basic plot of this fascinating tale of murder and romance which took place in Aral, a town that has long since disappeared, but which was originally located near the mouth of Otter Creek. Norm thought the story would be a good one for the Beach Bards to tell at the Friday night bonfire, our local forum for stories and poems. Though the story met our need for local tales, we didn’t get our version written that summer, or the next, or even the next. We set it aside, though both Norm and I continued to talk about the story. Norm even began to tell the story at informal gatherings. And last summer, I wrote an English style ballad, “The Aral Murders,” for the four voices of the Beach Bards, but even then, we agreed the ballad didn’t do justice to the tale. Again, we set it aside.
Early this summer we found reason to resurrect the project. Crispin Campbell, director of the Manitou Music Festival, approached the Beach Bards about a collaboration concert between the Bards and the band, The Lizard Lickers. Crispin, who for several years has put together the festival as a luxurious mix of serious, classical and contemporary music, wanted to try something different, and with the renewed interest in poetry in the community, he suspected combining original poetry and music in concert would be unique and appealing. Then the Aral story came up. Would the story, with it’s hot-tempered and hard-driving energy, along with some sweeter moments, make a good combination piece for the two groups? That’s when Crispin coined the term “folk opera” — visualizing it as a lush mix of original poetry and music. We would tell the story as poetic narrative in parts, but would retain the friendliness of the “folk” tale by writing music for it.
When both groups met informally, the creative juices started running wild. We discovered that not only would the story lend itself to such a format, but once we began planning, we found that the story had more to offer than history. Interpreting the tale became a way for us to talk about some universal concerns. “The story actually connects us with ideas and problems we’re thinking about today,” said Bronwyn Jones, newest member of the Beach Bards. “Themes of land, stewardship, our relations to the native people — all come to the surface through the story.”
Eventually, in one of our most exciting rehearsals, we discovered that one of the minor characters, Lahala, the Ottawa who may have helped Charles Wright hide, was actually a very important character. “As we developed the characters, he was the only one who could speak the spiritual consciousness of the piece,” explained Gary Warden, musician, who first suggested we look closer at Lahala’s role in the plot. As a result of the demands of creativity and good story-telling, the version which will be performed on July 26th will be an interpretation of the historical events, but should not be considered a history play per se. “We’ve taken these characters and given them form, energy and especially music, but we know there are places where the truth has turned a bit. In those cases, we’ve tried to honor the spirit of the story. Even so, the characters seem more real to us now than when we first read about them,” said Norm Wheeler, who plays the role of Sheriff Case in the folk opera.
From my perspective as a writer, one of the finest aspects of this process is how it breaks down the myth that we write alone. The pleasure in this writing project came from collaboration. Though I wrote the first raw draft, I left large gaps for other performers to fill in as we discovered more about the characters. The Bards wrote their own monologues and rearranged passages to fit the voices which were coming alive in their heads. Then we began meeting with the musicians who found ways to make the instruments assist and assume the voices as well. “The great thing about this piece is that the music is completely intertwined in the process of the storytelling, just as you would find in an authentic opera,” said Ray Nargis, who plays the murderer, Charles Wright. But everyone involved is quick to put the emphasis on the “folk” aspect of the Aral production. “It’s not Italian; it’s pure American,” said musician Rick Jones.
Aral: a Folk Opera will premier as part of the Manitou Music Festival on July 26 at 8:00 at the Lake Street Studios.