You know this is really a crummy story. Two starving kids, a witch in the forest who says, 'I'm going to bake you in an oven and eat you". Hansel and Gretel is the live production of the Metropolitan Opera in the theater today. The movie theater had less than 6o people in it but they were appreciative. The production was originally created for the Welsh National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. The costumes were fabulous as were the sets. I particularly liked the fat chefs and the forest men. The witch (played by a man) was absolutely marvelous.
Once again it was neat to watch the Met as it filled up. I noticed a lot of children in the house. Then I though to my self well DUH! it is supposed to be a fairy tale. If it doesn't give some of them nightmares I will be surprised. There were even a couple of kis in the theater but most of the people were my age or older.
The nice thing about seeing it in the theater is that the cameras will focus in on individuals or a musician as they warm up. It is very professionally done. You also get to see some of the back stage efforts of the tech crew and there are sometimes interviews. We also got to see the witch and the others putting on their fantastic costumes. It makes for a full experience. I enjoyed it tremendously.
Hansel was played by a woman and so was the sandman. The witch was played by a man and I guess it doesn't really matter what sex you are if you can act. It was a great way to start off the New Year. Oh one more thing we got to see close-ups as the conductor led the orchestra. Usually you only see the back of his head. All in all it was a delightful experience.
CAST
Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski
Gretel: Christine Schäfer
Hansel: Alice Coote
Gertrude: Rosalind Plowright
The Witch: Philip Langridge
Peter: Alan Held
I am now anticipating the January 12 production of Macbeth. Hugs, j
1 comment:
I used to tell children's stories to my kids, but I was always willing to use my own words and embellish things a bit. The grandparents were usually mortified when they heard about the Billy Goats Gruff dying from eating tin cans in the dump. They also didn't appreciate it when Cinderella's step sisters got their eyes bit out and eaten by crows. It was much later that I learned that the fairy tales I had learned as a child had been sanitized by the thought police who didn't think kids could deal with truly horrible things. Turns out my stories were closer to the originals than I thought.
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