Ah, my mind is filled with beautiful music! "Her voice enters my heart... and makes me a better man." "Sweet hope and cold fear are battling in my heart."
I just got home from attending Bay View's presentation of La Cenerentola. What an incredible production! I'm not normally a huge fan of opera, but after reading about this one and seeing a preview in the park downtown, I decided to go.
All I can say is: wow.
What was truly incredible about this production is that they added so many little things to keep it interesting. The most noticeable is that when the valet dressed up as the king, he actually dressed up as The King. Yes, Elvis was large and in charge. This setup helped add a lot of spice throughout the opera. Whenever Dandini would sing a long solo piece, he would always keep it interesting by trying out a few of Elvis' moves. In an ordinary opera performance, he would just sing out his rather repetitive song; in this performance, he was constantly moving and - while I'm sure this detracted from his ability to sing to the utmost - it enhanced the audience's enjoyment considerably.
This pattern was repeated all througout the opera, especially during the repetitive, repetitive, repetitive songs. There was one additional fellow who kept showing up (dressed as a Blues Brother, I believe). He was credited as "supernumerary", which is just a fancy word for an extra, and I doubt if he's actually in the opera proper. Clorinda's solo near the end of the opera involved her and the unnamed extra sitting at a table, with a constant joke of not quite smoking and him drinking out of her glass.
Another memorable little item was when Alidoro was proclaiming Cenerentola's arrival at the ball; the other four characters in the room all ask him questions (over and over again). This was handled in a very creative fashion: as they were repeating their questions to him, they would step closer and closer until (just at the moment they all start singing together), they are all literally just inches from his face singing right at him, and his voice is breaking through the wall around him "No one knows..."
The stand-out character (and the one who made me want to see the opera) was Don Magnifico, whose acting was absolutely incredible in every way! Enough cannot be said about this one! He totaly stole the show.
Another running joke was the instant camera. When the sisters are introduced to the "prince" (actually Dandini dressed up as the king, er, The King), during that piece each of the sisters took a turn getting their picture taken with Dandini. Then, Don Magnifico had to have his moment in the spotlight and got his picture taken with him too. All of this action is done while they are all singing their parts without missing a beat. The camera returned at the end of the opera; at the close of the final song, Mr. Extra returned and took a picture of them all striking a pose.
The singing, of course, was excellent. Cenerentola had an awesome voice, with the sisters close behind. Some of the ensemble got a little off during the sextet in the second act, but c'mon, it's not like I could sing it any better! Almost flawless music throughout.
As much as I thoroughly enjoyed the opera tonight, though, what I took away was the intermission.
I stepped outside the Crooked Tree Arts Center for some fresh air and stood at the corner of Division and Mitchell. There, I saw a single star a little above the new stately library building. Polaris, beautifully situated. And I started thinking.
Some people exclude others, leaving them alone. Just like that star is alone. I am like that star.
But the star is not alone. There are other stars there waiting; I just cannot see them now. Millions of others will follow the first star into the night, where their light will shine more brightly because of the darkness.
It is only needful, for a time, that the star appear alone.
For one must lead.
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