Opera Theater of Saint Louis is hosting the world premiere of The Golden Ticket, a new opera based on Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. One of my favorite mezzos, Jennifer Rivera, is playing Veruca Salt. (Of course the mezzo would play the bratty kid...)
As exciting as this is, this brings up a topic that I've been thinking about/talking with other people about recently. What is with this new trend of making musicals out of movies? Granted, Charlie is a book, but there are two big movies and a musical based on it already. Now there needs to be an opera of it? I think the question needs to be: is this good operatic material?
So here's my problem: medium. Every medium -- be it opera, broadway musical, movie, play, novel, whatever -- has its inherent strong points. Some stories just work in a certain medium. When you start juggling it around, the story loses its original impact. Shrek the musical? Spiderman the musical? An opera based on An Inconvenient Truth? I mean, come on -- who thought this was a good idea? You see the same thing happen when they make your favorite book into a movie. Some movie renditions are wonderful and they even enhance the original story, but some books just lose all their power when they're put into movie form.
I've noticed a trend, especially in broadway musicals, and I think that these media are being compromised because everything new that is being written isn't taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of the form in mind. I could blame it all on commercialism, but this trend began before the recession came in full-force. I think the cause is more laziness than anything. There isn't a commitment to the craft. There needs to be a commitment to the craft! Nothing good ever came from half-hearted writing.
Joyce Didonato said it perfectly in her last post when she explained Dr. George Gibson's philosophy. He believes in the three Ds: Dedication, Disclipline, and Determination. I think that is such a great motivator and thing to live by. If only the entertainment industry would do the same...
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1 comments:
Kim,
I enthusiastically concur with your opinion. Recently in the world of opera we have had some pretty scary new compositions. Howard Shore composed an opera entitled "The Fly" based on the horror movie of the same name which you could not pay me to see, and now there is a musical based on Tolkien's magnum opus "The Lord of the Rings." I think Mr. Shore should have dedicated himself to that project by reworking his score from the motion pictures. If this were the case, I should most assuredly have Enya make her Broadway debut as Arwen, and Arwen would figure much more prominently into the story, and she would get songs to match "May It Be" in beauty and simplicity. My imagination is already running wild with ideas for an Elven chorus to propel the story in much the same way as the Storytellers do in Stephen Schwartz's "Children of Eden."
To return to your thoughtful subject, however, do you have any ideas about literature that would make good operatic material? I would be interested to hear them. As for me, please cancel any expectations of seeing me attending "An Inconvenient Truth: The Operatic Message of Saving Mankind and our Universe" at a venue near you. Finally, I absolutely do not want to hear that there are plans to make the life of Barack Obama and specifically his bid for and tenure in the Presidency of our beloved country into a musical and definitely not into an opera!
-Tyler.
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