MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Hundreds of people signed up to be an extra in an upcoming opera in Detroit, not a classic like "Tosca" or "Aida." NPR's Neda Ulaby stopped by auditions for "The Handmaid's Tale."
DETROIT OPERA CHORUS: (As characters, singing) I've been...
NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: This operatic version of Margaret Atwood's bestselling novel was written in 1998. It's been recorded and performed all over the world.
DETROIT OPERA CHORUS: (As characters, singing) Filled with grace, filled with love.
ULABY: This is the Detroit Opera Chorus in rehearsal. If you've read the book or seen the movie or the Hulu TV series, you know the story. "The Handmaid's Tale" is about a young woman trying to survive in a U.S. in the near future, run by misogynistic authoritarians with a warped view of Christianity. Women have no rights. Handmaids must wear scarlet robes and white bonnets. Nearly a thousand women in Detroit signed up to audition to play handmaids. They're lining up in a cavernous rehearsal room. One even wears a handmaid's outfit. Assistant director Ky Chassells instructs them to bow.
KY CHASSELLS: That bow is just going to be with the head. A little bow to our right and a bow to our left.
ULABY: Extras in operas have a special name - supernumeraries. They play the background roles, like crowds in crowd scenes. Usually, when the Detroit Opera puts out a call for supernumeraries, 20 people or so say they'll show up. This time? More than 900 women and nearly 200 men.
ELIZABETH ANDERSON: This is my 26th year with the company, and I've never had this response.
ULABY: Elizabeth Anderson is the opera's production coordinator and artistic administrator.
ANDERSON: It's overwhelming.
ULABY: Anderson does not think all these people are necessarily fans of Danish composer Poul Ruders. She's pretty certain why so many Detroiters showed up.
ANDERSON: Because of the television show. Because of people's interest in politics. This is part of our conversation today.
ULABY: And art, she says, should be part of that conversation.
ANDREA BEASOM: Let's start with feet together and your at-attention positions.
ULABY: Associate director Andrea Beasom is auditioning the bad guys - members of the secret police known as the Eyes. Cameron Delano (ph) explained why he hoped to play one.
CAMERON DELANO: Anything that gets people thinking about the important issues is good in my book, even if it involves playing a despicable character.
BEASOM: We're looking for a strong presence. You are guards, and you are here to intimidate the handmaids.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Ladies, in this room.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLAPPING)
ULABY: When groups leave the rehearsal room, those still waiting to audition clap for them. Robin Floyd (ph) says she and her boyfriend are actors and fans of the TV show.
ROBIN FLOYD: I was like, babe, we got to go.
ULABY: They are not the only pair auditioning. Here's a mother and daughter, Mattie (ph) and Mary Weakly (ph).
MATTIE WEAKLY: We've never done anything like it, but we saw it on Facebook, and I think she looks just like Aunt Lydia.
ULABY: Ouch. That's not a compliment. The Weakly women have a sense of humor, and they are curious about opera.
MARY WEAKLY: Never seen one.
MATTIE WEAKLY: No. I didn't even know this place was here, really.
ULABY: But some people here, like Haile Eliza (ph), love contemporary classical opera.
HAILE ELIZA: This is why I'm here.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, singing) To destroy the corrupt, to cut off the wicked.
ULABY: But Eliza says the music is not the only reason why she wants to stand on stage in a non-singing role.
ELIZA: It's important to tell this story for what is happening in our country and in many countries around the world, for what has been happening already in our society for many, many groups of people.
ULABY: The many, many people who showed up on a snowy Michigan evening said playing even a small role was a way to take part in something important. It was a way to be present.
Neda Ulaby, NPR News.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) Red... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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