Librarian Takes the Stage, Plays Soldier in Opera

Butler bibliographic assistant and part-time student by day, Theo van Joolen is a Cossack soldier at the Metropolitan Opera by night.

Van Joolen was cast as a non-singing, precision-marching soldier in the Met’s December production of War and Peace. He answered a cattle call audition for the part, encouraged by his classmates in Spectacle and Theatricality in Russian Culture.

“I thought it was a really fun way to get the most out of one humanities course,” van Joolen said. “I’m reading, viewing, and now partaking in Russian culture.” The class, taught by Tatiana Smoliarova, assistant professor for Slavic languages, has already seen four Russian plays and will watch van Joolen in War and Peace.

Although his family emigrated from the Netherlands, van Joolen has been exposed to Russian culture since childhood. “My brother used to play old Russian records on vinyl,” he said. “My family had a subscription to Soviet Life magazine.”

Van Joolen later studied Russian when he served in the United States Navy in the 1980s, eventually being stationed in Japan and Turkey to listen to Russian naval operations. “The Navy was really just a job—I’m more interested in Russian culture,” he said. “It’s kind of funny that now I’m playing a Russian soldier.”

“[I’ve] switched sides to save the Motherland!” he added, regarding his role in War and Peace.

Van Joolen first read the Leo Tolstoy novel War and Peace, from which the opera was adapted, after he served in the Navy. “It changed my life,” he said. “It gave me a real solid understanding on my feelings for pacifism.”

Van Joolen continues his interest in Russian culture as part of his job in monograph acquisitions at Butler, as many of the books he processes are from Eastern Europe and in Russian. His cubicle includes a reproduction of a Soviet-era poster that reads in Russian, “Have you done your part to eradicate illiteracy?”

Van Joolen will be marching with about 100 other Cossacks in two scenes of the opera. The Metropolitan Opera’s Web site calls War and Peace “one of the biggest productions in Met history.” Van Joolen describes the play as “more than a decent job of the adaptation of a 1,200-page novel.”

“I’ve never been to the Met,” he added. “My first view of the Met stage will be underneath my feet.”

Daniel Amzallag can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.