Composer Jake Heggie has reflected on the 25th anniversary of his groundbreaking opera Dead Man Walking, which premiered at the San Francisco Opera on 7 October 2000. At 39, it was his first opera, and he recalled meeting Julie Andrews on opening night, who exclaimed: 'But you’re so young!'
The opera, based on Sister Helen Prejean's memoir about a nun accompanying a death-row inmate to his execution, was considered a bold choice at the time. Since then, it has received more than 85 productions in 13 countries, staged by companies, colleges and community groups. Heggie noted that nobody could have predicted its enduring success or the surge in new operas it inspired.
Heggie said the opera feels more resonant in 2025, with cruelty normalised in the US and elsewhere, threats to democracy rising, and empathy often dismissed as weak. After its 2023 premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the cast performed excerpts at Sing Sing prison, where incarcerated participants joined in – a 'shattering experience' with armed guards wiping away tears.
Heggie's path to opera was unconventional. After a hand injury ended his piano career, he worked in public relations at the San Francisco Opera. In 1995, the company's general director, Lotfi Mansouri, urged him to write an opera, initially suggesting a comedy for the millennium. But librettist Terrence McNally insisted on a bold drama, and in 1997 proposed adapting Dead Man Walking. Heggie said he felt 'shivers from head to toe' and was 'on fire' with the story.
