I want to begin by saying that my assessments of the performer’s voices, honest though they are, are based solely upon my own opinions and may therefore be wildly off the mark. Both Hannah and I loved the show. Hannah, in fact, felt that she has never seen an opera that she enjoyed more. I don’t know if I would go that far, but I did truly love what they did with the production.
So first, the performances:
I found Monostatos particularly unimpressive. He constantly sounded underpowered to me and just generally not on his voice. I thought he was an excellent physical performer, however. They gave him a Nosferatu sort of look, and he played into it quite well.
I didn’t love Pamina either, sadly. She was often difficult to hear (perhaps an orchestral issue?) in the first half of the show. I will say that I found her much better after intermission. I remember feeling the same way about the Pamina I saw with Bliss in Seattle. Is the music for Pamina in the first half particularly difficult? Does she perhaps have to overcome a more lively orchestra? Most of her singing after intermission is more thoughtful and contemplative, so it may just be that her voice is able to shine more when there is less going on around her.
The Queen of the Night had a beautiful voice. She did not really “act” per se. The actress was wrapped in a blanket above the stage and a giant spider was projected over her to perform the physical actions needed. As such, I can’t comment on her acting ability, but she can definitely belt her aria.
The Three Ladies were excellent. They sounded fantastic and they performed well. They, too, were often stationary, but their projections allowed them to interact with one another in a really fun way, and they did a great job.
Sarastro was good. He didn’t strike me in any particular way, so I can’t say that he blew me away, but his voice was powerful, and his acting was able, though he, too was stationary for much of the show.
For the first time that I can remember, I truly liked Tamino. I’m not sure why I always find Tamino underwhelming, but I was definitely perfectly whelmed by Ben Bliss’ performance on Sunday (and not just because his name is Bliss, nor because he’s from Prairie Village, Kansas). I found his voice rich and full, and his physical performance, though not as over the top as Papageno’s, was expressive and suited his character well.
Jarrett Ott did a fantastic job as Papageno. He was styled on Buster Keaton, I believe, and really played into it. His performance was evocative and funny. He was wide-eyed and wide-mouthed for most of the production, and really acted the hell out of his role with dramatic reactions and antics. I don’t think that level of ridiculousness would have worked as well for, say, Tamino, but it was perfect for Papageno. I will say that I was sadly not overly impressed by his vogelfaenger at the top of the show. In a show that was all about projections, I found the video during his intro strangely dull, and he sounded as though he had perhaps not quite warmed up fully. Certainly I thought his voice improved dramatically thereafter. I was also frustrated by the staging of Vogelfaenger. I don’t understand why, with an actor who was so expressive and lively for the rest of the show, they parked him on a tree to sing that aria. Anyway, that disappointment aside, he was absolutely fantastic. It is also worth noting that Hannah did not share any of my concerns about Vogelfaenger, so it is possible that I am being unreasonable.
On to the Production
Now, I don’t know how much you know about the production, so I will do my best to describe it for you. The production essentially played out in front of a 2-dimentional screen. There was very little depth on the stage. All movements were between stage right and stage left, and whenever someone was supposed to be moving downstage, they ran in place and the projectors ran a flashing corridor behind them to give the illusion of movement. It was pretty cool. The actors were made up like mimes, with white faces to help the audience see their expressions.
The use of projections was really well thought-out. It opened up a whole new world of visual jokes that would not otherwise exist, or would have to be done differently. It is hard to describe them in any specificity, but they added levity and humor to scenes that are often otherwise staged as two people singing at one another. Overall, I felt that the producers really aimed for the moon with their projections. When adding a new wrinkle to an established art form, producers are often tempted to play it safe and only partially integrate their alterations. Not so here. The silent film projections infused the entire production. The performers leaned into the constraints and opportunities that the show imposed upon them, and the result was really incredible. Stand out projections were:
- The Dragon’s pursuit and its aftermath (including the three ladies)
- Papageno’s flight with Pamina
- Papageno’s stand-off with Monostatos
- The Queen of the Night
- Sarastro’s Realm
- The trial of fire and water
- Papageno’s attempted suicide and union with Papagena
I can’t say enough good things about the elimination of speaking in the show. I usually find the dialogue in Flute ponderous at best. Here, they stripped out 90% of the dialogue, and replaced the rest with speech bubbles projected on screen. They thereby neatly avoided the question: “Do we have our performers sing in German and then speak in English? That’s weird. Or do they sing in German and then speak in bad German? I did not feel the loss of the expository dialogue at all. They used the words that they needed to move the story along, and the actors’ expressions did the rest. It was one of my favorite facets of the production.
Overall, I loved the piece. In an art form that rarely develops beyond setting stories in unfamiliar times and places, this felt like a real development. It felt truly new. Certain things didn’t fully work or could have been done better. I always find that much of the second half of Flute requires some endurance. This quality was mitigated, rather than eliminated, by the production. I also found the end strangely abrupt. I suppose it always is to an extent, but I felt like another 15 seconds between the invasion of Monostatos and the Queen of the night and the curtain drop for the final culmination song would have served the show well. Hell, 10 seconds. These were quibbles, however, compared to the enjoyment that I derived from the show. We had a great time, and highly recommend it if you ever have a chance to watch this production.