La Bohemian Rhapsody
La Boheme
Fort Worth Opera
March 24, 2006
La Boheme has long been one of the more popular offerings in the opera world. For many people, it serves as a flashback to a certain time in their lives --a group of young people following their artisitc whims while living in poverty, falling in love, and living in the big city. La Boheme is more popular than ever, thanks in large part to the Broadway adaptation Rent. Just as Miss Saigon enhanced Madama Butterfly’s popularity, and to a lesser extent, Elton John’s version of Aida helped it’s namesake, Rent has helped push La Boheme to the top of the popular opera heap. Maybe we should call it a “popera.”
La Boheme is fun to watch, and the Fort Worth Opera assembled a marvelous production. The sets were visually stunning. The apartment scenes were shown in a smaller box raised above the stage, and made the audience feel slightly voyeuristic. The smaller apartment set also helped the audience experience the claustrophobic feel of four guys living on the cheap. In contrast, the cityscapes seemed enormous. When the curtains rose to reveal Cafe Momus in Act 2, there were (literally) audible gasps from the audience, followed by applause. Yes, the audience applauded the sets and costumes. Special props to TCU's LaLonnie Lehman for the costumes -- they were stunning. (Can you give props in an opera review? Shout-outs?)
Which brings me to this: Fort Worth symphony and opera audiences are clap-happy, and have been for years. That's okay. It's nice that you're showing your appreciation for the performers, even if it's during an inappropriate time of the opera. I'm cool with that. But yelling "Bravo!" and whistling during every applause break? Sorry cowboy, but you need to save that stuff for A. the very end of the performance, and B. performances that actually merit it. Yes there were some extremely strong vocal performances in this La Boheme, but I heard "bravos" and whistling during every applause break, and the applause breaks were many... Tip: if you give everybody a gold star, it ceases to mean "excellent job!"
There were a few sound problems during Acts 1 and 2. On several occasions, the orchestra was drowning out the vocalists, and there was a noticeable low level feedback coming from the speakers, but all of the sound problems were ironed out by Acts 3 and 4.
It was a good season for the Fort Worth Opera, and the company seems to have returned to form following a few years of ill-advised "edgier" productions. While I enjoyed La Boheme tremendously, my vote for best opera of the Fort Worth season goes to Dialogue of the Carmelites. Though it was a strong season, I'm still on the fence whether or not to re-up my subscription for this new "festival" format in 2007...
Fort Worth Opera
March 24, 2006
La Boheme has long been one of the more popular offerings in the opera world. For many people, it serves as a flashback to a certain time in their lives --a group of young people following their artisitc whims while living in poverty, falling in love, and living in the big city. La Boheme is more popular than ever, thanks in large part to the Broadway adaptation Rent. Just as Miss Saigon enhanced Madama Butterfly’s popularity, and to a lesser extent, Elton John’s version of Aida helped it’s namesake, Rent has helped push La Boheme to the top of the popular opera heap. Maybe we should call it a “popera.”
La Boheme is fun to watch, and the Fort Worth Opera assembled a marvelous production. The sets were visually stunning. The apartment scenes were shown in a smaller box raised above the stage, and made the audience feel slightly voyeuristic. The smaller apartment set also helped the audience experience the claustrophobic feel of four guys living on the cheap. In contrast, the cityscapes seemed enormous. When the curtains rose to reveal Cafe Momus in Act 2, there were (literally) audible gasps from the audience, followed by applause. Yes, the audience applauded the sets and costumes. Special props to TCU's LaLonnie Lehman for the costumes -- they were stunning. (Can you give props in an opera review? Shout-outs?)
Which brings me to this: Fort Worth symphony and opera audiences are clap-happy, and have been for years. That's okay. It's nice that you're showing your appreciation for the performers, even if it's during an inappropriate time of the opera. I'm cool with that. But yelling "Bravo!" and whistling during every applause break? Sorry cowboy, but you need to save that stuff for A. the very end of the performance, and B. performances that actually merit it. Yes there were some extremely strong vocal performances in this La Boheme, but I heard "bravos" and whistling during every applause break, and the applause breaks were many... Tip: if you give everybody a gold star, it ceases to mean "excellent job!"
There were a few sound problems during Acts 1 and 2. On several occasions, the orchestra was drowning out the vocalists, and there was a noticeable low level feedback coming from the speakers, but all of the sound problems were ironed out by Acts 3 and 4.
It was a good season for the Fort Worth Opera, and the company seems to have returned to form following a few years of ill-advised "edgier" productions. While I enjoyed La Boheme tremendously, my vote for best opera of the Fort Worth season goes to Dialogue of the Carmelites. Though it was a strong season, I'm still on the fence whether or not to re-up my subscription for this new "festival" format in 2007...
posted by Steve at 5:54 AM
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