Opera lays an egg!!

                             When Grand Opera isn’t.

         The Magic of a successful, grand opera is a mystical experience. It is a poly-euphony of melodious orchestral pieces, the delivery of sonorous vocal arias, in all ranges of the voice, actors clothed in colorful costumes, all offered in an elaborate setting, that transports one back through the ages to enjoy a series of grand dramas

         The secret to a wonderful theatrical performance is a concept enumerated by English Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “It is the willing suspension of disbelief,” claimed the wordsmith. What he meant by that is that the audience and the company of performers engage in a compact. The audience agrees to suspend the reality that they are sitting in comfortable seats, in a Covent Gardens, London  or New York Metropolitan Opera House. They agree to pretend that they are sitting in a drafty Parisian flat, during the 1800’s, watching Mimi draw her lengthy last breath, or watching a flirtatious Carmen charm soldiers at a bull fight in Spain. The cast, for its part, agrees by way of costumes, elaborate setting and vocal arias, in all vocal ranges, to be performing in those settings. When it all works, the effect is magical.

         We had been fortunate to catch a simulcast production of the New York Metropolitan Opera’s production of “La Traviata.” Intermission interviews conducted by famed Diva, Renee Fleming were also of great interest. It was a wonderful production that we much enjoyed.

         So, it was with great anticipation that we awaited a live performance of “Romeo and Juliet” at the Naples Philharmonic Theater. Like most people, we had read the play, seen several television and movie productions of one of Shakespeare’s most famous works. We were looking forward to this romantic and tragic love story. Visions of medieval Italy, with rich costumes and colorful scenery, would much enhance the vocal performances, or so we thought.

       It was a balmy Monday evening. We were enjoying it leisurely as we sat and had coffee in the courtyard of the Artis Naples complex. We entered the theater and found our favorite seats. They are AA 2 & 4, way in the back of the hall. It allows us a quick escape, in the case of a real bomb. We were fortunate that we had them tonight.

       From the very first opening scenes, I began to realize this wasn’t going to work. Why you might ask? The Orchestra was performing brilliantly. The individual actors all had melodious voices. But it wasn’t working for me. The orchestra was on the stage where a set was supposed to be. A line of local enthusiasts stood behind them, gyrating energetically, an apparent  Greek chorus as a back drop for the action.

       There weren’t any costumes either. Business suits for the men and some form of peasant dresses for women were supposed to feed the imagination and create the setting.

        After the thirty minutes of the two-hour-long first act, I turned to Mary and issued my most erudite literary observation, something I remember saying at one of their productions last year. “This sucks! Let’s get the heck out of here.” And so, we did.

        We have been opera goers for 40 years and much admired our many journeys back through the ages, courtesy of the fine composers who crafted these vehicles and the wonderful cast members who sang and acted out the dramas for us. Hopefully, we will see many more magical journeys and those casts will interact with each other and create the magic that we had hoped for. This one didn’t.    

                                                    -30-

                                           ( 585 words)

                                       Joseph Xavier Martin