Take, for instance, the first opera we saw together (which I'll not name here because it was so awful we actually walked out at intermission) where the romantic leads were played by a college-sophomore-soprano and an over-40 baritone with a beard. The enjoyable part was ripping it to shreds afterwards over fried ice cream and margaritas.
Then there was this lovely one last year. Yeah, that's right, the one where two characters had sex whilst singing in each other's faces. That definitely counts as enjoyable.
So, in the latest episode of Let's Go See a Crazy, Messed-Up Opera, we went to the Minnesota Opera's amazing production of The Adventures of Pinocchio. Holy crap, it was good. And holy crap it was weird...but "good weird".
From the moment the wood cries out "make me" to where Pinocchio becomes a real boy it was a dark, psychedelic trip through Carlo Collodi's original Italian series from the 1880s. It was not Walt Disney's morals-obsessed, half-tale of the same name...and this is precisely why the piece (in its American premiere) was fresh and good.
Adriana Zabala played the title role to perfection (I know that's corny to say, but she did) and the enormous smile on her face as Pinocchio is granted his wish at the conclusion of the piece is something I won't soon forget. It literally beamed off the stage.
But that's all well and good. Bottom line: this thing was effed up. The boys getting dragged off in the Funland Express and their eventual transformation into a bunch of donkeys was one of the most unsettling and creepy things I've ever seen on stage.
It helped that the coachman taking them off in this vehicle was played by a countertenor (he also played the Fox). I rarely like how these guys sound in an opera but I was pleasantly surprised by Randal Scotting. He was awesome. (This isn't him, by the way. I snagged this photo from the British premiere a few years ago.)
Another thing I remember vividly was the guy playing the Fire Eater. He had these massive, black-and-red-striped, platform boots on that made him look like Bootsy Collins. Remember that guy? He would not have looked out of place in this production.
Then there was the Big Green Fisherman. (Was he in the Disney movie? I can't remember.) He was played by a 10-foot-tall puppet operated by two guys and sung by the bass who worked his left hand.
I was wholly unprepared when this thing lumbered out onto the stage. He actually ordered the boy-puppet to let him nibble on his fingers so he could prove that he wasn't a fish. WTF?
All in all it was a great opera. Jonathan Dove's score was strong and didn't seem self-aggrandizing at all. It simply let the story tell itself. And, despite the fact that Alasdair Middleton's libretto seemed incredibly episodic at times (this is, I think, a result of the fact that the original 1880s story was serialized), it served the music well and stayed away from ever sounding corny.
I would imagine that The Adventures of Pinocchio will be revived often as a show that's family-friendly without pandering to slapstick nonsense. There are some great reviews by The Star Tribune here and here as well as a better-than-decent clip of the original British production here. It features the Ape Judge being lowered from the ceiling (he kind of reminds me of King Louis).
In non-opera news, someone recently gave me JJ Alberhasky's CD, Only the Bony, and I've had it on a loop ever since. The title track is mesmerizing and "Underwater" is one of those over-5-minutes songs that's so good it always feels too short.
p.s. I saw Watchmen this weekend. Big-time cheers to using Leonard Cohen's original "Hallelujah". It's about time for LC to reclaim that one from the hands of Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright. I love both of those versions dearly, but the original is the original is the original. You know what I'm talking about. Right, Dolly Parton?
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