Opera / Play

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So, I went to an opera on St. Patrick's Day.

....

So, now that you're done laughing, here's my review:

I went to the Kansas City Lyric Opera to see the preformance of Lucia Di Lambermoor. Pretty standard storyline. You've got a girl, and her brother. You've got a hero, and you've got a bad guy. The girl wants to marry the hero, but the brother wants her to marry the bad guy. Hero goes to war, brother lies about the hero, forces girl to marry the bad guy, hero comes home, people fight, people die. It was my first live opera experience, and I have to say, it was pretty damn good. If you are looking for a musical selection, and you want to find a contemporary verson, I found out that in the film "The Fifth Element," starring Bruce Willis, the opera song that is preformed there, is actually the song preformed just before Lucia goes all nutbag on everyone. Anyway, it was well preformed, and I really enjoyed the music. I would recommend it.

Though Don Giovanni would have to be my favorite.


Last night, I went to a play called Vieux Carre, by Tennesse Williams. Decent play about a writer that goes to New Orleans to find himself. I would have to say that it seemed a little long for its themes, and was a bit over-emphaisized. As for the actors, I think they did a wonderful job. Of course, that doesn't really apply here, as Im sure no one here actually was at the corner playhouse. Anyway, the story is about a hotel-esque place, housing all sorts of different people, from a gay man, to a drug peddler, to an abused girlfriend, to a photographer, to a writer questioning his life, in all aspects. I would suggest you check it out if you want. It reminds me of something Faulkner would write....somewhat...but maybe that's because I felt it was a little longer than it needed to be. Either way, good story, and if it's playing anywhere locally, I would suggest it.

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Well, went to another Opera. It was called "The Merry Widow." Though I would have to argue that it really wasn't what I'd consider to be an opera. Though there was operatic singing, the music would stop some times to allow time for dialogue, something rare in an opera. The story followed the theme of most 1950s films. A rich widow is looking for a suitor. This all takes place in France. There is a king there, who wants to make sure that the widow marries a Frenchman. By doing this, it keeps the borders safe, or something. I couldn't really say, as it didn't seem all that important when they mentioned it.

To solve this problem, the king calls upon a friend of his to come and fight off all the suitors that are trying to win the hand of the widow. This man, of course, has already been with this woman years ago. He has no interest in being with her. But, as most 50s films go, over time, he comes to realize that he's never really gotten over her, and in his efforts to fend away the suitors, he tries to win her over. Lucky for him, she still wants him. And in the end, budda-bing, budda-bang-bam-boom. They get together, and everyone's happy.

There was a side story that didn't make sense to me at all. The King is an older man, and his wife is somewhat younger than him. She is having an affair with a man of the court, and they run around every now and then to...fumble around... when the king isn't looking. I think the only reason this is happening is to provide some quick laughs (It was a comedy, I seemed to forgot mentioning that)

Anyway, I think that I would suggest this. But if you're going for an opera experience, I would say Stay Away from this one. This isn't really a musical. It reminds me of "The Music Man" or especially "Top Hat," or many other 1950 stories about loves re-kindling and acting as if there really isn't attraction. The music was good, and sounded professional, so kudos to the Kansas City Lyric Opera, and their staff. The acting was solid as well, but as I said, the story...not as great as I'd hoped, and really, not much of an opera. It was more of a musical, or stage play, that happened to have operatic singing.

Again, this was called "The Merry Widow."